Fluorescent Batten

[Jimmyb]

I know you need 'High Freq' for workshop use on single phase supply but can someone tell me if 'High power factor' does the same job, sorry if this sounds dumb but the place i buy from only does these 2 types and said everyone just uses the HPF as it does same job but i wanted to check.


many thanks jimmy

 

[Marvo]

Sorry I got the wrong impression from your op. I'm not familiar with the term 'fluorescent batten'.

 

[stuart569]

You wont need to worry about power factor correction that's for sure.The hpf fittings are probably HF anyway.Could you not of just had a look at the fitting?

 

[Jimmyb]

You wont need to worry about power factor correction that's for sure.The hpf fittings are probably HF anyway.Could you not of just had a look at the fitting?

I could but how would i know if they was HF

 

[stuart569]

Have a look at the ballast maybe?The lack of a starter is a dead giveaway as well!

 

[Amp David]

You don't need to use high frequency, but nowadays energy saving is a big point,as they're a little cheaper to run and perform better than a switch start fitting.

 

[Jimmyb]

You don't need to use high frequency, but nowadays energy saving is a big point,as they're a little cheaper to run and perform better than a switch start fitting.

Since when have you not needed to ? I was always told at collage it was a must unless you could split the lights over difference phases

 

[Amp David]

Just re read your post, you mean they have lathes or similar in there. My appologies mate, not thinking before i typed

 

[Richard Burns]

I think HPF battens still run at 50Hz just with correction as opposed to HF battens that run at 20KHz.
So you would still have the flicker problem with HPF battens, however I am not certain so it may be best to see if the HPF batten ballast states an output frequency.

 

[Engineer54]

The only thing wrong with HF fluorescent fittings, is those ballasts don't tend to last too long at all. Whereas, those old switch start ballasts especially the older ones, last for ever and a day.

I wonder how many of these HF fittings will last 30 years or so, not many i think, where those older switch starts, ...that wasn't uncommon at all!! Ah for Progress!! lol!!!

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Fluorescent terms:

High frequency (HF)
Converts mains 50Hz to a high frequency 20-45kHz so tubes last 50% longer and control gear loss reduced 25%, typically 0.95 power factor

High power factor (HPF)
Batten includes a power factor correction capacitor, so light runs at typically 0.95 power factor, low frequency 50Hz

Low power factor (LPF)
No power factor correction, so light runs at typically 0.5 power factor, low frequency 50Hz, current per fitting is twice that of a similar corrected fitting.

If either of the low frequency types are used to light a workshop with rotating machinery, precautions must be taken to avoid the stroboscopic effects e.g. split phasing or lead/lag pairing lamps.

 

[Engineer54]

I don't think i've ever seen a Flu fitting of any type in the past that doesn't have capacitor PF correction. The older switch start fittings may not have had the capacitor power factor correction up to the level they do today, but none i've known have run as low as the 50% suggested above. Typically i would have put them around the 80% mark.

 

[Knobhead]

This myth goes back to MV lamps, which are rarely used in machine shops now.
The simple cure for the stroboscopic effect of fluorescents is to fit an incandescent lamp above the machine.

After using lathes and millers for over 30 years I’ve never seen the strobe effect. Machine manufacturers used to avoid shaft speeds with a multiple of 50. Instead of 500rpm you will get 480. We did have one lathe that could run at 1000rpm, but the only time I’d use it at that speed was for grinding / polishing sliprings. If you can’t see a ½ ton rotor spinning it’s time to get you eyesight / brain adjusted. I didn’t have to worry about the other guys that used the shop, they’d all leg it when they heard the machine spin up. They thought I was mad, polishing rings with a Martindale stone by hand.