Re: electronic ballast

most if not all ballast out in the market today are electronics.i'm not particular with the one you bought but you might want to buy the advance brand.

Re: electronic ballast

I also had some bad experience with electronic ballasts some years ago. However, technology may have already improved as all the CFLs have electronic ballast. But for non-electronic ballasts, I prefer name brands like Osram, Toshiba, etc.

Re: electronic ballast

I remember installing a Kyowa electronic ballast in my sister's room. It lasted for more than 10 years. I don't know if its still available.

Re: electronic ballast

the last time I bought one was 6 months ago together with the round ceiling lamp with glass cover. Until now I have not encountered any problems with it...got it from ACE hardware.... Sometimes the more crudely made ones...made of vintage technology..... are more dependable... I was also quite shocked with the prices of the modern ones...grabe...

Re: electronic ballast

i bought ours from deeco in raon april of this year. there were two brands to choose from, wheeler and another one (i forgot the brand) but both are exactly the same. only the printing is different. if i remember it right, it cost around Php300 or 600. quite expensive since a good quality ordinary ballast can be bought at around Php100 - 120.

for those who have used or currently have one, did you notice an increase in brightness when using the electronic ballast. also, did your fluorescent lamp last longer?

i didn't had the chance to observe lamp life since ours conked out after only two weeks. but i did notice an increase in brightness. but then again it might only be psychological (my mind telling my eyes that it's brighter to justify the cost:))

Re: electronic ballast

for those who have used or currently have one, did you notice an increase in brightness when using the electronic ballast. also, did your fluorescent lamp last longer?

i didn't had the chance to observe lamp life since ours conked out after only two weeks. but i did notice an increase in brightness. but then again it might only be psychological (my mind telling my eyes that it's brighter to justify the cost:))

for me the only diffrence is the stater ;D...while on the tubes, maybe you also changed your tube say from cool white to daylight that's why you noticed brightness ;D

Re: electronic ballast

yes, Vtec is correct. the only advantage of electronic starter over the ballast-starter is that the former is almost instantaneous while the latter takes some time, due to the action of the ballast. The ballast is actually a transformer that works like a step-up transformer that generates sufficient voltage while the tube-like starter interrupts that voltages to appear as spikes in igniting the florescent gas inside the bulb. The voltage spikes works like lighting a match. Once ignited the flourescent gas starts to become luminous which must be sustained by a fixed voltage.
Perceptions of brightness is always subjective as the luminance of flourecent gas is the same for all types, size, or shapes per given volume. As in all incandecent, florescent bulbs has fix "burning" hours so that it lasts only for a fix period of usage. You will notice that a blankened ends of the tube when the florescent gas has completely burned out. The starter, of whatever type/make, can and will never lenghten its usable life. Though I have not encounter any research or study to prove that florescent lifespan can be increased. Other lamps such as those made from mercury vapor, argon, halogen, etc., burns as easily as that of florescent gas.

Re: electronic ballast

is it true that you can still use a dead fluorescent lamp if only one of the filament is burned out, by shorting it?

Re: electronic ballast

i haven't tried this but looking at the flourescent fixture wiring diagram, shorting the pins at either ends of the lamp would either connect the ballast output directly to the starter or one of the AC line to the starter.

correct me if i'm wrong but i think it would work provided the pins you shorted has an open filament and the other end still has a good filament. shorting it would create a close circuit thereby creating a current flow. don't short pins at both ends because this will create a short circuit.

tungkol naman po duon sa advantages ng electronic ballast over ordinary ballast, maybe if we can get hold of a wattmeter or ammeter, we can measure the power or current consumption of the two. i would like to think that the electronic ballast would consume less power than the ordinary one.

with regards to lamp brightness or lamp efficiency, we could probably use some sort of light meter to measure luminance.

but then again these are lab equipment that would be hard to come by 🙂

Re: electronic ballast

I would continue to use transformer type ballasts for regular fluorescent and electronic for CFLs. Why? Because they are what have been tried and tested. Name brand transformer type ballasts last practically forever, while electronic ballasts have transistors, resistors and other parts that may eventually fail.

On the other hand, CFLs will fail at the bulb, and then the whole thing will have to be replaced, electronic ballast and all.

Re: electronic ballast

is it true that you can still use a dead fluorescent lamp if only one of the filament is burned out, by shorting it?

Sorry agamulak, florescent lamp do not have filament, only incandecent lamp have them as the lighting element.

Re: electronic ballast

OT:due to global warming, incandescent bulbs will soon be replaced by cfl's comes the next 2 to 5yrs.here in the island, we stopped acquiring the bulbs.

Re: electronic ballast

with all due respect Raisedroof, i think there is a filament at each end of the tube...

i found this link at the how stuff works website -->

http://www.misty.com/people/don/f-lamp.htm l"> http://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=fluorescent-lamp.htm&url=http://www.misty.com/people/don/f-lamp.html

great reading on flourescent lamps and related topics 🙂

Re: electronic ballast

"Fluorescent lamps are a type of gas discharge tube similar to neon signs and mercury or sodium vapor street or yard lights. A pair of electrodes, one at each end - are sealed along with a drop of mercury and some inert gases (usually argon) at very low pressure inside a glass tube. The inside of the tube is coated with a phosphor which produces visible light when excited with ultra-violet (UV) radiation. The electrodes are in the form of filaments which for preheat and rapid or warm start fixtures are heated during the starting process to decrease the voltage requirements and remain hot during normal operation as a result of the gas discharge (bombardment by positive ions).

When the lamp is off, the mercury/gas mixture is non-conductive. When power is first applied, a high voltage (several hundred volts) is needed to initiate the discharge. However, once this takes place, a much lower voltage - usually under 100 V for tubes under 30 watts, 100 to 175 volts for 30 watts or more - is needed to maintain it."

Hi Stealthy, the website you gave is very enlightening to an initiated and took the liberty of copying, verbatim as above, the explanation about how the flourescent lamp works. I am a licensed electrical engineer and my word may not mean much to some of us. This will enlighten us all, why I said, and I have/will reiterate to any one, that there is no filament in a flourescent lamp of whatever size or shape. To clarify, the so-called filament in a flourescent lamp is the metal (passive element) where the exciting voltage is channelled so that the phosphor (the active element) will produce luminance when excited, while the filament(active element) in an incandescent lamp is the element that produces the light when electric current passes through it. In electrical terms, you can measure ohmic resistance in the filament of an incandescent bulb, while you can not measure ohmic resistance, or conduct continuity test on the so-called filament of a flourescent bulb.