This document discusses factors that affect fluorescent lamp performance and lifetime. It explains that lamps designed to operate at low temperatures have higher vapor pressure and better output. Starting difficulties at low temperatures can be reduced using a thermal switch starter. Lumens decrease over time as lamps are used, with the rate of decline related to the arc power to phosphor area ratio. Pre-heat lamps are rated based on hours of operation per start since each start degrades the cathode coating. Cold cathode lamps are less affected by starting frequency as their starting relies more on high voltage than the cathode coating. Higher voltages are needed for starting than operation. Starting methods include pre-heat and instant starting using thermionic or field emission from electrodes.
This document discusses factors that affect fluorescent lamp performance and lifetime. It explains that lamps designed to operate at low temperatures have higher vapor pressure and better output. Starting difficulties at low temperatures can be reduced using a thermal switch starter. Lumens decrease over time as lamps are used, with the rate of decline related to the arc power to phosphor area ratio. Pre-heat lamps are rated based on hours of operation per start since each start degrades the cathode coating. Cold cathode lamps are less affected by starting frequency as their starting relies more on high voltage than the cathode coating. Higher voltages are needed for starting than operation. Starting methods include pre-heat and instant starting using thermionic or field emission from electrodes.
This document discusses factors that affect fluorescent lamp performance and lifetime. It explains that lamps designed to operate at low temperatures have higher vapor pressure and better output. Starting difficulties at low temperatures can be reduced using a thermal switch starter. Lumens decrease over time as lamps are used, with the rate of decline related to the arc power to phosphor area ratio. Pre-heat lamps are rated based on hours of operation per start since each start degrades the cathode coating. Cold cathode lamps are less affected by starting frequency as their starting relies more on high voltage than the cathode coating. Higher voltages are needed for starting than operation. Starting methods include pre-heat and instant starting using thermionic or field emission from electrodes.
This document discusses factors that affect fluorescent lamp performance and lifetime. It explains that lamps designed to operate at low temperatures have higher vapor pressure and better output. Starting difficulties at low temperatures can be reduced using a thermal switch starter. Lumens decrease over time as lamps are used, with the rate of decline related to the arc power to phosphor area ratio. Pre-heat lamps are rated based on hours of operation per start since each start degrades the cathode coating. Cold cathode lamps are less affected by starting frequency as their starting relies more on high voltage than the cathode coating. Higher voltages are needed for starting than operation. Starting methods include pre-heat and instant starting using thermionic or field emission from electrodes.
I E S LIGHTING HANDBOOK Operation of ordinary lamps at low ambient temperatures and in loca- tions exposed to high winds results in below-optimum, bulb-wall tempera- tures and low lumen output per watt. However, a special lamp, designed and manufactured with a higher vapor pressure for operation at low tem- perature, may have quite good lumen output per watt under similar con- ditions. Starting difficulties encountered at low temperature with pre- heat-type lamps may be minimized by the use of a thermal switch starter. Hours in operation. Like that of other light sources, the lumen out- put of fluorescent lamps decreases as the hours the lamps are operated increase. Although the exact nature of the change of the phosphor which causes the phenomenon is not understood, it is known that at least during the first 4,000 hours of operation the reduction in lumen output per watt is directly related to the arc-power: phosphor-area ratio. 32 This relationship in several typical lamps is shown in Fig. 6-39a. As would be expected, lamps with different arc power-phosphor area ratios have differ- ent lumen maintenance curves, as shown in Fig. 6-396. Fluorescent lamp life and lamp starting. Hours operation per start. The oxide cathode coating must be in good condition to ensure proper starting at rated voltage of the preheat-starting fluorescent lamp. However, each time a preheat-type lamp is started a small amount of the oxide coating is consumed. A sufficient quantity of the material may be removed in about one thousand starts to cause starting failures. For this reason, the average life of these lamps is rated on the basis of hours operation per start. See Tables 6-9 and 6-10. Because the proper starting of cylindrical (cold) cathode lamps depends primarily on a high voltage rather than on the oxide coating of the cathodes, the life of this type of lamp is not appreciably affected by starting frequency. Effect of voltage and humidity on starting. To start a fluorescent lamp requires a higher voltage than is necessary to keep the lamp in operation once it has been started. Although all aspects of starting phenomena have not been explained, it is believed, on the basis of one theory which fits the available experimental data reasonably well, that capacitive current in the lamp is a necessary prerequisite to starting of the lamps now available. 34 The two methods used are called preheat ("hot") starting and instant ("cold") starting. The usual sequences are: Preheat starting: (a) A heating current is passed through the electrodes and electrons are ejected from the electrodes by thermionic emission, (b) Upon the application of a transient (600-1,200 volts) provided by the ballast and timed by a manual or automatic starting switch, electrons will flow through the tube, ionize the gases, and initiate a mercury vapor dis- charge. Instant starting: (a) By the application of a high open circuit voltage (400-3,000 volts depending on the type of lamp and electrode) electrons are ejected by field emission from the electrodes, (b) Electrons will flow through the tube, ionize the gases, and initiate a mercury vapor discharge. The high-voltage transient induced by rapid dissipation of the ballast magnetic field upon separation of the contacts of the starter switches
