Author Topic: Power Groove Tubes  (Read 8802 times)
mobilite
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Power Groove Tubes « on: January 11, 2019, 05:17:45 PM » Author: mobilite
Found a case of brand new 72" G.E. tubes. Cool white, case of 8 .
F72PG17-CW. Price tag of $3.each. I probably should bring them home, but my PG 17's are all 96".
« Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 05:21:06 PM by mobilite » Logged
xmaslightguy
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #1 on: January 11, 2019, 07:36:45 PM » Author: xmaslightguy
If I saw F72PG's for that price, I'd buy some right then & there!
(even though I don't have a fixture for them)
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mobilite
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #2 on: January 12, 2019, 12:09:16 AM » Author: mobilite
Ya, im considering going back tomorrow and getting them. If i were to build a fixture, should i try to find 8'ho ballasts or VHO ballast? What do you think.
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xmaslightguy
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #3 on: January 12, 2019, 10:39:47 AM » Author: xmaslightguy
I'd try to find a VHO ballast, but HO ballasts are allot easier to come by. Either one will work just fine :)
You could build a fixture out of sheetmetal, but I'd say try to find a used 8' HO/VHO fixture & cut it down - that's allot easier! (and will likely have a ballast already) ... plus old used fixtures can be gotten cheap - keep checking craigslist(or an equivalent in your area), and ofcourse the ReStore
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DieselNut
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #4 on: February 28, 2019, 01:50:54 PM » Author: DieselNut
Definitely get the proper VHO ballast while you can.  The tubes will be happier and much brighter!
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bryanrb
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #5 on: March 20, 2019, 11:04:09 PM » Author: bryanrb
I believe all the power groove lamps operate at 1500mA. So a VHO ballast for an F72 would have to be used to get the optimum light output. HO is 800mA. VHO is 1500mA. F72s however arent near as common as the F96s. HO ballast could probably be used, but the lamp may be underdriven.
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #6 on: September 14, 2019, 03:15:30 PM » Author: bryanrb
Was GE the sole manufacture of powergroove lamps? The only ones I have seen were made by GE.
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fluorescent lover 40
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #7 on: September 14, 2019, 05:36:34 PM » Author: fluorescent lover 40
Was GE the sole manufacture of powergroove lamps? The only ones I have seen were made by GE.
Yes, GE was the sole manufacturer of Powergrooves.
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joseph_125
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #8 on: September 14, 2019, 05:59:37 PM » Author: joseph_125
Yeah. The Powergroove lamps were electrically the same as the VHO and SHO lamps that Sylvania and Westinghouse respectively offered though. It would have been interesting if Durotest made a T17 Powertwist VHO as a competitor to the Powergrooves though.
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RyanF40T12
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #9 on: September 15, 2019, 05:03:23 PM » Author: RyanF40T12
What was the purpose of Powergroves?  What advantage did it have over the VHO/HO from Sylvania or Westinghouse?  (other than looking cool)
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High Intensity
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #10 on: September 15, 2019, 05:53:00 PM » Author: High Intensity
I think the extra surface area gave them more light output than a normal HO/VHO lamp.
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James
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #11 on: September 17, 2019, 04:57:30 PM » Author: James
Even if you don’t have fixtures I would definitely buy them for that price - otherwise you will kick yourself in future when they are all gone!

The PowerGroove tubes were invented by GE’s Gene Lemmers and John Aicher in 1956 as a clever way of solving the problem that the efficacy of fluorescent tubes rapidly drops when increasing power.  It allowed an increase to 2.2 times the normal light output with only 2.5 times the power dissipation. The indented glass tube increases electron temperatures within the discharge, which leads to reduced electron density, and under such conditions lamp efficacy is increased. The first lamps had single-sided grooves but in 1960 a further improvement was made with this double-sided groove shape, which fits the arc of a 9-foot lamp into an 8-foot tube and further increases output.  Mercury vapour pressure is kept low (to maximise efficacy) by two special slanted grooves which produce a cool spot near the tube centre, and two missing grooves at one end.  As such, GE’s development introduced the first VHO tubes and the range was set to operate at 1500mA.

It was an exceptionally difficult and expensive lamp to produce, and only possible to keep costs under control because GE used to also make the glass itself.  When Sylvania and Westinghouse tried to copy the design, they were unable to compete because at the time they bought glass from Corning who demanded ridiculous prices to mould the special bulbs.  

Later they both also started to make their own glass, but until that happened Sylvania achieved similar performance as GE’s PowerGroove by a far more elegant solution.  John Waymouth’s brilliant mathematical modelling of the low pressure mercury discharge demonsrated that he could achieve VHO performance in a simple low-cost T12 bulb simply by changing the gas filling from argon to neon, and introducing a pressure control chamber behind one of the electrodes.  Sylvania marketed its far cheaper VHO 1500mA series at the end of 1956, and this was subsequently copied by Westinghouse as its SHO tube.  It was so much cheaper than the Powergroove that GE also ended up being forced to copy the Sylvania T12 Neon solution to survive in this business.  Remarkably GE carried on offering both that and the expensive PowerGroove solution for many years, until eventually dropping the PowerGroove and only offering Sylvania-style VHO tubes.  There is a nice article on these developments here
« Last Edit: September 17, 2019, 05:15:15 PM by James » Logged
RyanF40T12
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #12 on: September 17, 2019, 10:47:25 PM » Author: RyanF40T12
Thank you kindly for the info
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Bottled lightning
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #13 on: October 02, 2019, 03:01:50 AM » Author: Bottled lightning
Here’s one of the early ones  https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=1549&pos=45&pid=145644
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Mr. Orthosilicate
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Re: Power Groove Tubes « Reply #14 on: December 27, 2019, 09:21:08 PM » Author: Mr. Orthosilicate
The early powergroove lamps are quite beautiful, though I’d imagine they are probably even more fragile than the later dual sided lamps. It’s such a pity that VHO lamps are going to be an extinct type soon.
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