Author Topic: Complete list of US fluorescents formats  (Read 6795 times)
trojmiejski
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Complete list of US fluorescents formats « on: January 05, 2017, 06:18:20 PM » Author: trojmiejski
As a European I know different formats of tubes used in Europe, like F20T12 (0,6m), F25T12 (1m), F40T12 (1,2m), F65T12 (1,5m), F18T8 (0,6m, interchangeable with F20T12), F23T8 (1m, replaces F25T12), F30T8 (0,9m), F36T8 (1,2m, replaces F40T12), F58T8 (1,5m, replaces F65T12) etc...
Electrical design of fluorescents in the US is very different and I'm not familiar with all those different types of tubes.
Is there a complete list of US standard tubes, HO, VHO, T17 and energy saving with parameters like power, length?
Wikipedia article just barely scratches the surface of this topic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent-lamp_formats
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #1 on: January 05, 2017, 06:57:35 PM » Author: Solanaceae
Here're the common USA linear versions and lengths on some lamps. Please correct me where I'm wrong. At some some point I'll add the required ocv.
F4T5
F6T5
F8T5 1 foot
F13T5
F14T5,8, and 12. 15" for t8&12. T5 is an electronically ballasted lamp while T8 and 12 are preheat or RS.
F15T8, 12, 18in
F17, 18T8 typically two feet, but 18 watt ones have 26" variants with use in appliances.
F20T8 and 12, preheat, t8 is basically an 18 watt in disguise.
F25T12, 28 and 33", appliance lamps. 33 inch variants saw use in general lighting early on, then was chiefly used in appliances or vending machines.
F30T8 and 12, three foot. RS and preheat.
F32T8 , widely used here on instant start and RS in older systems, apparently universal made a preheat ballast for these lamps.
F40T8 and 12, t8 is a five foot lamp instant start, which usually sees use in coolers or vending machines. T12, 4' is still ubiquitous in lots of places, even with the t8 and led advent. For preheat or RS.
F65T17, three foot. made and used widely in WWII factories, this lamp is practically nonexistent, only two have been seen here, and no known fixtures as far as I'm aware.
F90, 100T17, still found somewhat and new lamps were being made until recently. Preheat five foot lamps.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #2 on: January 05, 2017, 10:36:25 PM » Author: dor123
Here are the lamps that we've used in Israel:
T12: 20W, 40W and 110W HO (110W HO (F96T12 HO) is an american lamp for rapid start ballast).
T8: 18W, 36W (18W and 36W are retrofits for 20W and 40W on series choke or electronic ballasts only), 58W (58W was used as an independent formant here, since we didn't adopted the 65W T12), 15W and 30W.
Short T5: 4W, 6W (4W and 6W common here mainly as UVA lamps for bug-zappers), 8W and 13W.
T5 high efficiency: 14W, 21W, 28W and 35W.
T5 high output: 24W, 39W, 49W, 54W and 80W.
Circular T9: 22W, 32W and 40W.
Circular T5: 22W and probably also 40W and 55W.
Except 110W HO, all of the formats we uses, are common in Europe. 110W HO, is an american format (F96T12 HO), which is used on local made rapidstart ballasts. F20T12, F40T12, F96T12 HO 110W, F15T8 F30T8, F4T5, F6T5, F8T5, F13T5 and circular 22W, 32W and 40W are common in america as well or originated from the americas.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2017, 11:13:42 PM by dor123 » Logged

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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #3 on: January 06, 2017, 03:53:28 AM » Author: Silverliner
You forgot the slimlines, HOs and VHOs.  ;)

Here're the common USA linear versions and lengths on some lamps. Please correct me where I'm wrong. At some some point I'll add the required ocv.
F4T5
F6T5
F8T5 1 foot
F13T5
F14T5,8, and 12. 15" for t8&12. T5 is an electronically ballasted lamp while T8 and 12 are preheat or RS.
F15T8, 12, 18in
F17, 18T8 typically two feet, but 18 watt ones have 26" variants with use in appliances.
F20T8 and 12, preheat, t8 is basically an 18 watt in disguise.
F25T12, 28 and 33", appliance lamps. 33 inch variants saw use in general lighting early on, then was chiefly used in appliances or vending machines.
F30T8 and 12, three foot. RS and preheat.
F32T8 , widely used here on instant start and RS in older systems, apparently universal made a preheat ballast for these lamps.
F40T8 and 12, t8 is a five foot lamp instant start, which usually sees use in coolers or vending machines. T12, 4' is still ubiquitous in lots of places, even with the t8 and led advent. For preheat or RS.
F65T17, three foot. made and used widely in WWII factories, this lamp is practically nonexistent, only two have been seen here, and no known fixtures as far as I'm aware.
F90, 100T17, still found somewhat and new lamps were being made until recently. Preheat five foot lamps.

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trojmiejski
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #4 on: January 06, 2017, 06:52:09 AM » Author: trojmiejski
That helped a lot, in Europe T5s 4-13W are exactly the same since their origin long time ago, longer T5s I think are uniform all around the world, as they need electronic ballast anyway so their design choice isn't affected by the parameters of local power supply. Basic T12s like 20W and 40W are the same, F25T12 are different, european 25W have 1m of length which is ~39in.
In case of T15T8 18in equals strictly 457,2mm or it is 438mm? In Europe there are 15W T8s with length of 438mm and 3ft F30T8. 30W fluorescents are commonly used in buses, while clear ones are common as germicidal lamps. However, I'm not sure if those 15W and 30W T8s are electrically the same in the US and in Europe, the rest of T8s differ significantly between continents.

T17s are nonexistent in Europe.

Nomenclature of HO and VHO lamps is confusing, are there 4 ft HO and VHO tubes? While in case of standard tubes after F there is a number corresponding to the power of that tube in W, in case of HO tubes like F96T12, the number refers to length in inches. After quick googling, I found different 96 inch tubes like 75W, 110W. It is complicated. In Europe there are 96inch T12s like 100W, 125W, but they aren't universally common around Europe, while they are common in the UK, in central Europe they never were present there.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #5 on: January 06, 2017, 07:43:14 AM » Author: Solanaceae
Yeah I kno Dave. Ain't nobody got time fo dat.  :P
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #6 on: January 06, 2017, 12:09:28 PM » Author: dor123
15W and 30W T8, are the same in Europe and the US. With this, the american also have F15T12 and F30T12.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #7 on: January 06, 2017, 03:01:41 PM » Author: trojmiejski
F15T12 and F30T12 could also be found in Europe, though correspondent T8s made them quite rare, while F20T12, F40T12, F65T12 remained strong for a long time. I'm suprised that they are the same, especially when F32T8 and F36T8 are so different.
In Europe, apart from typical F40T12 and F36T8 with length of 1,2m there were also 1m F40T12 and F36T8, same length as F25T12 and F23T8.
Apart from US F25T12 I heard there were also 4ft F25T8.
Philips also made TL-D Eco tubes for Europe which are power saving replacements for typical european T8s. 4ft are rated as 32W (like typical F36T8 there are very different than US F32T8), 5ft as 51W. Due to lower mercury content they are often problematic to start and emit less light.

In the US I've seen that there is a preference for 4ft tubes in use in offices, shops, etc..., often grouped in configuration of 3 tubes.
In Europe when T8s became more popular, a configuration of 4 2ft 18W tubes became popular, even though most recessed fixtures with 4 such tubes have poor light distribution.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #8 on: January 06, 2017, 10:37:41 PM » Author: Silverliner
Ok I will pitch in with a clear list of sizes used in the USA: (Asterisk indicate a common size for general purpose)

Preheat:

*F4T5 4w 6"
*F6T5 6w 8"
*F8T5 8w 12"
*F13T5 13w 21"

F10T8 10w 15"?
F13T8 13.5w 12"
F14T8 14w 15"
*F15T8 15w 18"
F18T8/22" 15-18w
F18T8/24" 15-18w
F18T8/26" 16-18w
F18T8/28" 17-19w
F18T8/30" 18-19w
F22T8/26" 22w
*F30T8 30w 3 feet
F36T8 36w 4 feet
F58T8 58w 5 feet
F70T8 70w 6 feet

*F14T12 14w 15"
*F15T12 15w 18"
F20T12/21" 20w
F20T12/22" 20w
*F20T12 20w common 2 feet length
F20T12/26" 20w
F25T12/28" 25w
F25T12/30" 25w
*F25T12/33" 25w
*F40T12 low temperature (and pre 1960) 40w 4 feet

F65T17 65w 3 feet
*F90T17 82-85w ES, 90-100w 5 feet

Rapid Start

*F25T12/ES 25w 3 feet
*F30T12 30w 3 feet
*F34T12/ES 34w 4 feet
*F40T12 40w 4 feet
*F40T10 40w 4 feet

Electronic IS or RS

F15T8 13-15w 18 inch
*F17T8 17w 2 ft
*F25T8 25w 3 ft
*F32T8 25-30w ES, 32w 4 ft
*F40T8 40w 5 ft

Programmed Rapid Start

*F14T5 14w 22"
*F21T5 21w 34"
*F28T5 28w 46"
*F35T5 35w 58"

Programmed Rapid Start HO

*F24T5 24w 22'
*F35T5 35w 34"
*F54T5 54w 46"
*F80T5 80w 58"

Rapid Start High Output

F48T8/HO 44w 4 ft
F60T8/HO ? 5ft
F72T8/HO ? 6ft
*F96T8/HO 86w 8 ft

F18T12/HO 25w 18 inch
F24T12/HO 35w 2 ft
F36T12/HO 44w 3ft
F42T12/HO 50w 3.5ft
*F48T12/HO 60w 4ft
*F60T12/HO 70w 5ft
F64T12/HO 75w 5 ft 4"
*F72T12/HO 85w 6ft
F84T12/HO 100w 7ft
*F96T12/HO 95w ES, 110w 8ft
F100T12/HO street lighting 100w, 6 feet

Rapid Start Very High Output

F24T12/VHO 70w 2ft
*F48T12/VHO 110w 4ft
*F60T12/VHO 135w 5ft
*F72T12/VHO 160w 6ft
*F96T12/VHO 185w ES, 215w 8ft
F100-120T12 sign lamps 9-10ft
Also Power Grooves in 4-8 feet

Slimline single pin

F42T6 25w 42"
F64T6 40w 64"

F42T8/ES 23w 42"
F48T8 electronic 32w 4ft
F64T6/ES 38w 64"
*F72T8 35w 6ft
F72T8 electronic 55w 6ft
*F96T8 both 200mA magnetic and modern electronic 40w ES, 50w magnetic, and 49-55w ES, 59w electronic 8ft

F24T12 20w 2ft
F36T12 30w 3ft
F42T12 35w 42"
*F48T12 39w 4ft
*F60T12 50w 5ft
F64T12 51w 64"
*F72T12 55w 6ft
F84T12 70w 7ft
*F96T12 60w ES, 75w 8ft

Bipin Instant Start

F40T12/IS 40w 4 feet
F40T17/IS 40w 5 feet

U bent lamps

F16T8 1 5/8" leg spacing 16w
F24T8 1 5/8" leg spacing 24w
*F31T8 1 5/8" leg spacing 31w
*F32T8/6 6" 25-28w ES, 32w
*F40T12/3 3" 35w ES, 40w
*F40T12/6 6" 34-35w ES, 40w

Circline lamps

FCT5 couple sizes
*FC6T9 20W
*FC8T9 22W
*FC12T9 32W (older ones were T10)
*FC16T9 40w (older ones were T10)


« Last Edit: January 07, 2017, 02:11:42 AM by Silverliner » Logged

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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #9 on: January 07, 2017, 01:32:06 AM » Author: dor123
Circline lamps

FCT5 couple sizes
FC6T9 20W
FC8T9 22W
FC12T9 32W (older ones were T10)
FC16T9 40w (older ones were T10)
@trojmiejski: "Circline" isn't a type of lamp, but a trademark of General Electric company, for circular fluorescent lamp, that became genericized for this type of fluorescent lamp in the US. I said this to him, as I'm guessing that he isn't know what is the meaning of "Circline", which only in the US, circular fluorescent lamps called such and he is european.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #10 on: January 07, 2017, 01:28:48 PM » Author: trojmiejski
That's quite the list, even taking into account only those common ones marked with asterisk that's still a lot. Of course in Europe there are also specific lamps with limited use, but most of tubes are based around common standards. In some european countries even some standard tubes are rare, while 8ft 100W and 125W are common in the UK, you won't find such tubes in Poland for example. In Germany U-bent tubes were very popular, probably more than in any other european country. Then again 1m 25W tubes in some countries are something alien (some companies even refusing to sell some types of tubes in given country) while in Poland they are restricted to train interior lighting, but even considering that sole target that's still a lot of such tubes in use.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #11 on: January 08, 2017, 10:02:08 AM » Author: delaware74b
Program/Rapid Start:
    F72T8  72" 65Watts operated by Philips/Advance ICN2S86 (retrofit sign from 2xF72T12HO)
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #12 on: January 08, 2017, 03:54:53 PM » Author: trojmiejski
In case of european tubes I've only recently heard that there are also 740mm tubes with power rating 33W in case of T12s and 25W in case of T8s. Tubes with such length are rare.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #13 on: January 09, 2017, 01:51:50 AM » Author: dor123
I never heard about 33W T12 and 25 T8 in Europe. We didn't have them in Israel.
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Re: Complete list of US fluorescents formats « Reply #14 on: January 09, 2017, 12:59:54 PM » Author: trojmiejski
They are very rare even for european standards, af far as I know if someone wants to find such tube then the best likelihood of getting it is in Germany.
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