Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « on: May 11, 2022, 03:21:08 AM » Author: 108CAM
In the US & Canada when rapid start fluorescent lights became popular and preheat lights fell out of favour, some countries like Australia didn't follow suit and kept producing preheat fixtures instead of switching to the newer rapid start technology. I can't find any information as to why Australia continued to produce preheat lights instead of the newer rapid start lights that were popular elsewhere. Anyone know why us Aussies stuck with preheat?  Fun Fact: Many Australian lighting collectors (including me) are happy that preheat lights and ballasts are inexpensive and very easy to find due to not transitioning over to rapid start like the US & Canada.
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Fluro starter pings combined with a 50hz ballast hum and blinking tubes is music to my ears.

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Bring back the AJF Zodiacs!

Total incidents since joining LG: 18
Lamps accidently broken or smashed: 15
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	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #1 on: May 11, 2022, 04:06:02 AM » Author: funkybulb
The main differences that between the US and Austraila Is the Mains voltage in the USA residental lighting and light Commeral lighting is 120 volt.  While Austraila being on 240 volt.   Well in order for Fluorescent to work on preheat u need twice the Arc voltage of a fluorescent lamps.  While we can preheat 4w to 8w  T5 , 10-18 watt in T8s and14 to 25 watts in T12.  As most of these   a   Here in the US longer tubes need tte ago have a spontep up auto transformer with just enough current to run and preheat the lamps Around 210 ocv.  It did not take long to take auto transformer ballast  To wrap 3 low voltage cathode winding to the preheat ballast componets. The cathode heating lowers the Striking voltage running the lamp 2 in series F40T12 lamps.  Only different is these lamp are constantly heated.  And uses little more energy than normal T12 40watt preheattuned. Places that have 240 volt.  All u need is a simple choke as 240 volt Will strike up  30 to 100 watt fluorescent tubes with ease with out stepping up the voltage.  And cathode heating done by preheating the cathode and lamp ignites.  Some ballast will allow u to series The lower wattage tubes in switch start.  While US can only series Few hand full of tubes on a choke ballast in manual switch starting  Such 2 x 14 watt T12 and 2 x 4 watts T5.     I do know Austraila and UK do have what u call Quick start fluorescent.  It basically heating transformer added in on top of  Preheat choke.  With lack of a starter.  Basically that how American Rapid start works.
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No LED gadgets, spins too slowly.  Gotta  love preheat and MV. let the lights keep my meter spinning.

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #2 on: May 11, 2022, 04:09:10 AM » Author: 108CAM
Thanks for the information. I had a feeling it was something to do with the difference in mains voltage
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Fluro starter pings combined with a 50hz ballast hum and blinking tubes is music to my ears.

Rest in Peace Electronic Lamp Manufacturers of Australia
1925-2002

Bring back the AJF Zodiacs!

Total incidents since joining LG: 18
Lamps accidently broken or smashed: 15
Ballast explosions/burnouts: 3

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #3 on: May 11, 2022, 07:06:14 AM » Author: dor123
This is also true to the rest part of the western world. As in Europe the voltage is 230V and in the UK is 240V, they can uses series choke also in high wattage lamps, so preheat is the simplest system for starting fluorescent lamps.
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I"m don't speak English well, and rely on online translating to write in this site.
Please forgive me if my choice of my words looks like offensive, while that isn't my intention.

I only working with the international date format (dd.mm.yyyy).

I lives in Israel, which is a 220-240V, 50hz country.

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #5 on: May 15, 2022, 10:23:23 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
When doing research on fluorescent lighting in Japan, I found out that even when rapid start fluorescent ballasts came to Japan, preheat ballasts including autotransformer ballasts still remained quite popular. You can still easily source both "preheat" 4 foot tubes and "rapid start" 4 foot tubes pretty easily on Japanese websites even in 2022.
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Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #6 on: May 30, 2022, 11:01:27 PM » Author: bulb_tester2009
Quote from: 108CAM on May 11, 2022, 04:09:10 AM Thanks for the information. I had a feeling it was something to do with the difference in mains voltage Regarding the RS ballast, I had a friend who found an RS ballast in a nearly scrapped fixture when collecting fluorescent lamp fixtures, indicating that it exists at different voltages
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My interest in lights began when I was a child
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Lamp bases in China:E12(CES) E14(SES) B22d(BC) E27(ES) E40(GES)
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	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #7 on: May 31, 2022, 05:39:06 AM » Author: dor123
I think that the rapid-start ballast shorten the lamp life, since as it apply voltage and current and heat the cathodes simultaneously, the discharge strikes before the cathodes has been fully warmed (The dim glow exhibited for several seconds before reaching full brightness in rapid-start ballasts) result in cold cathodes mode for several sec. This mode can cause rapid sputtering, as I've seen in the 54W T5 HO fixture in my kitchen of the low floor of my hostel (Despite different technologies, magnetic vs electronic ballasts, the starting process of both ballasts is the same)
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I"m don't speak English well, and rely on online translating to write in this site.
Please forgive me if my choice of my words looks like offensive, while that isn't my intention.

I only working with the international date format (dd.mm.yyyy).

I lives in Israel, which is a 220-240V, 50hz country.

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #8 on: May 31, 2022, 08:37:10 AM » Author: funkybulb
No dor that not true about rapid start shorten lamp life.  I had pair of westingouse lamps in the garage as a kid it lasted nearly 25 years  It lasted until it can no longer strike up. It had 4 orange glow like  A stuck starter.   When turn om a rapid start fixtue both cathode and ballast ocv is predent at same time.  So it relys on cathode heating for it to even strike two lamps right at 210 volt OCV   T12s  is rated for 24,000 hours on rapid start.  Other wise  12,000  Hours on preheat.  Each time lamp blinks on preheat it sputtees off  Some emission materals.  What do kills tubes in a hurry on  rapid start is bad socket connections  or a bad cathode transformer.   It will Sputter and blacken new lamp within hours of running. Plus there no way for lamp to strike until cathode get heated and warmed  Up.  As soon as cathode heats up it ionize the gas inside and ramps With in second or two. So there no cold cathodes from the start. If u want longest tube life and even longer tube life dor?  U manually Preheat the tube with normally open switch.  There been desk lamps Found with 1940s tubes here in the US. So that tells u somthing about manual preheating.
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No LED gadgets, spins too slowly.  Gotta  love preheat and MV. let the lights keep my meter spinning.

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #9 on: May 31, 2022, 01:18:55 PM » Author: Roi_hartmann
I agree, but 24 years in a garage, 80 years in a desk lamp doesn't really tell anything about the amount of hours that a lamp has done.
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	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #10 on: May 31, 2022, 03:05:12 PM » Author: funkybulb
Ok 24 years on that westinghouse pair tubes I had on rapid start   It being in resdential garage.  The light runs any where from 5 mins  To 24 hours of running.  And me being a kid with all that short switching the tubes watching them start up is hard on the tubes  Try that on switch start or instant start it would been dead long  Time ago with way more sputtering and shorter life like a kid playing  With light switch.  And it took my child hood abuse,  have dog in the garage leaving lights on half the time.  And all this short switching 5 10 mins then back off this can be few times a day.  Now this kinda What saying just so random hours of use and excessive switching cycles than normal.    Now the old desk lamps just a ovservation on manual preheat Lasting longest.  It because u dont find 20,  F30 and F40s working Today and tubes in the 40s never lasted very long. So low use desk lamp from that era and be found.  And manual preheating is least sputtering on the tubes by observation.
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No LED gadgets, spins too slowly.  Gotta  love preheat and MV. let the lights keep my meter spinning.

	Re: Rapid Start Fluorescent Lights « Reply #11 on: May 31, 2022, 07:37:55 PM » Author: 108CAM
Since I discovered I had a USA market F20T12 Philips rapid start tube in my collection, I now know why it wasn't fully working in any of my preheaters. It lit up but was very dim and you could actually see the mercury struggling to vaporise
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Fluro starter pings combined with a 50hz ballast hum and blinking tubes is music to my ears.

Rest in Peace Electronic Lamp Manufacturers of Australia
1925-2002

Bring back the AJF Zodiacs!

Total incidents since joining LG: 18
Lamps accidently broken or smashed: 15
Ballast explosions/burnouts: 3