Hello,
I'm glad that sheet helped you. Regarding its origin: it was meant to extract data from the norms related to HID lamp parameters for several reasons
— access being one of them. These norms are expensive to purchase (in the three-digit range), so if you have free access through an institution, you should use it
— unscattering. The norms contain much more additional information that may be interesting for fitting designers (optical characteristics, light center, glass temperature, dimensions, etc.), but this information is generally not crucial for simply operating the lamps
— publishing. Even though I have downloaded the norms, I cannot share them legally or anonymized. My IP address and full credentials are watermarked all over them. Publishing them would also be a criminal offense, as they are intellectual property.
The groundwork includes norms such as DIN-EN 60188 (MV lamps), DIN-EN 60192 (LPS lamps), and DIN-EN 60662 (HPS lamps). I believe I still have the norm for metal halide lamps somewhere. The norm for fluorescent lamps (VDE 0715-12) I cannot access because as it is a VDE standard, and the VDE are bastards when it come to making their norms available.
Theoretically, these are available on a university computer for a university of 25,000 people, where you can view them and make notes on paper with a pen. However, downloads or pictures are not allowed, and that computer is booked out for the next months, and I don't fancy feeding that cancer 100´s of euros just for FL lamp norm...
However, apart from that, I wanted to build an extensive database for lamps to run on not the intended ballasts. So I tried to find a way to calculate it. The easiest approach is to model a lamp as a resistor, fairly close, but it does not match the impedances given for HID lamps in publications. So my next thought was a model of a nonlinear, voltage-dependent resistor with harmonic currents and ballast —> MATLAB numerical calculations can be done, but yeah…
However, the norms contain something else that is quite interesting, at least for European lamps: a ballast impedance and voltage to characterize the lamp, which makes ballast comparison very easy. That’s why I chose these as the basis.
For American lamps: due to their different control gear, I was not able to find a publication with similar data. One good source is the engineering bulletins of the major manufacturers; these can be found with some research on Google. However, I have not yet been able to find a fully compiled list of ANSI codes with lamp parameters. I do not include random lists that come up here, compiled by members without any sources noted — more on that later.
Then there are the datasheets online. From my experience, OSRAM/LEDVANCE/SYLVANIA (USA) are useless. The best are Philips; I don't have much experience with GE. Based on my experience, the standard Philips datasheet for a single lamp or similar lamps contains all the electrical parameters you need. However, there is something better. While researching data for another one of your threads, I found a "technical datasheet" where even more information is shared, including ballast impedance for operation on a 220V system like in European standards. That is the reason why there is only a single entry for metal halide lamps, which comes from that datasheet.
Of course, you also want information on older lamps than those covered by the norm: HgH or MA series medium-pressure lamps, 175W MH and HPS lamps from East Germany, some strange UV lamps, etc. Researching these lamp parameters is mainly limited to books (university libraries or expensive reprints from Springer) or private collections of very few collectors. A good starting point is James Hooker's literature site:
http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Literature.htmSources: My preferred sources are the norms, older datasheets, and engineering bulletins. I have a certain distrust regarding datasheets because, in recent years, they have not been created by engineers but seemingly by people in marketing with questionable technological understanding. It is also very helpful to download the source document and record the source, so you know where to look for the information if later questions arise.
Why not use some "random lists from others"? Are you willing to risk damaging a rare lamp, like a HgH mercury lamp, because someone else supplied you with questionable data without a source to verify it?
A final note: AI can be a useful tool but doesn't have to be your friend. It can be used to search for documents where the information is located. However, AI gets about 50/50 accuracy on specific lighting questions for simple topics; for more specialized issues, it can surpass some members here in producing verbal litter.
