Energy Saving Lamps - poor performance ?

[spark1973]

Hi Im interested if anyone has experienced poor performance from energy saving lamps, by this I mean that they are taking a long time to reach there optimum levels of output.
One lamp in series lights up way faster than the other ?
I know the lamps take a little longer to warm up but this seems to take sevral minutes to operate.

Anyone experienced any weird scenarios when using these lamps ??

Thanks

Rik

 

[dpc]

What type of lamps are we talking about? Compact fluorescent or T8 or what?

The ballast probably has as much influence as the lamp.

 

[jraef]

The rumor is, if you fail to "burn-in" a CF lamp by running it continuously for at least 24hrs when you first install it, it will forever more take a long time to get to full output. If you do burn it in, it will get to full in a matter of seconds. I have witnessed what you have and had no answer, but I saw this in another forum and have yet to try it out (no new CFLs yet). Nor can I wrap my head around this "burn-in" concept and why it would make a difference.

 

[EEJaime]

With older T-12 lamps we used to require the burn-in of the lamps for 100 hours prior to accepting the installation. Current lamps, with either T-8 or T-5's, we call for a 24 hour burn-in. My understanding is that this allows the lamp phosphors to adequately mix and evenly adhere to the inner wall of the tube after having sat idle after manufacturer test and shipping, storage, purchase and re-shipping. A Phillips engineer told me that when a lamp is not burned in, the phosphors which are on the glass are not of consistent mix and thickness, making the lamp appear less than full brightness in some areas and lowering the overall efficiency and output of the lamps.

I do not know if you have instant start lamps, rapid start lamps, 3000 deg K lamps, etc..., but also look at the lamp ballast combination and make sure you have a completely compatible pairing. For the most part we have had great success with almost all the energy saving lamps save one. I cannot stand and have had miserable luck with that odd ball lamp known as the "Double D" lamp. It has started fixture fires and lord knows how many other problems. Make sure that you get a decent ballast as well, many "off-shore" ballasts lack the quality controls and tight technical parameters of say Advance/Motorola, GE etc....

Good luck.

 

[jraef]

EEJamie,
I was thinking he meant Compact Fluorescents, but thanks for the explanation of why the burn-in is necessary.

JRaef.com
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