Fluorescent lighting troubleshooting guide

[marconi]

In the course of working on a problem on the EF to do with a strobing fluorescent light fitting I have been researching this type of lighting technology and how it becomes faulty or fails.

I came across what I think is a very useful troubleshooting guide which others may want to have handy:

https://unvlt.com/pdf/literature/tr...intenance for Linear Fluorescent Lighting.pdf

 

[Lucien Nunes]

The buzzing in a triac dimmer comes from the suppression choke that is there to limit the risetime of the switching edge. The winding and core vibrate in sympathy with the switching; that's why the buzz is usually loudest mid-travel and quiet at the ends when the switching is taking place near the zero-crossing.

Note that triac dimmers are always leading-edge. The triac fires at the desired point in the half-cycle and remains in conduction until the zero-crossing. Trailing-edge dimmers require a transistor, e.g. MOSFET or IGBT, that can be turned OFF by its gate, while a thyristor/triac can only be turned ON by its gate.

BTW I totally agree, I am always amazed by new and interesting things that surface almost every day. Even after studying the history of electrical devices for decades there's always more to learn.

 

[DPG]

You got another 'dumb' Lucien!

 

[ipf]

Ruggish....the buzzing is from flies trapped in the diffuser......you stop it by opening the gate on either the front or back edge, to let them out.....

 

[ipf]

You got another 'dumb' Lucien!

Couldn't resist it....

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Dummmmmmb - the sound of a large transformer being switched on at the wrong point of the mains cycle.

 

[DPG]

And what a lovely sound it is.

 

[I2C]

In the museum collection I have resistance units from the 1920s, phase-angle units from the 1960s (including some for fluorescents), and I do have some variable transformer dimmers but they are the size of a bucket, weigh 20kg and are for film lighting.

By the way Lucien Nunes, I've got to see this collection, it sounds awesome. Do you have a website or similar?

 

[Kamikaze]

By the way Lucien Nunes, I've got to see this collection, it sounds awesome. Do you have a website or similar?

Electrokinetica - Welcome - http://www.electrokinetica.org/

 

[I2C]

Electrokinetica - Welcome - http://www.electrokinetica.org/

I've taken a brief look so far through this website and it's incredible! You guys clearly have a great passion for electrical systems and components, with a dedication to educating other people and accurately explaining the history and importance of the peices shown.

I'm genuinely taken back, and thrilled. I'll explore some more but in the meantime you guys should open a thread on here relating to this page (if there's not already one). Exceptional work!