Lighting question
 

Ian Jackson wrote:

Mark Carver wrote:

Remind me how long fluorescent tubes have been in use domestically in
the UK ?

I first started using CFLs four or five (?) years ago.

Over 20 years here (in fact I moved some of them from the previous house
because they *were* expensive back then).

Lighting question
 

On Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:55:02 +0100, brightside S9 wrote:

On Sat, 9 Oct 2010 18:43:35 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Oct 9, 4:21*pm, Mark Carver wrote:
Remind me how long fluorescent tubes have been in use domestically in
the UK ?

When I was at junior school in the mid/late 1950s the classrooms had
fluorescents. We were told when the school opened that it was the
first school in the West Riding to have them, but that probably wasn't
quite true [snip]

When I started secondary school in 1948 in Sheffield, the corridors,
physics and chemistry labs had flourescents, but the classrooms had
tungsten filamant bulbs.

A chap at work, who retired in 1985 so was born about 1920, worked in a
factory (BTH or similar - EE, GEC?) as a youngster. He was there when the
first tube was developed there and was fitted over a lathe. The lathe
operator wasn't injured but the tube was removed PDQ!
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

Lighting question
 

On Oct 10, 3:49*am, "j r powell" wrote:
" wrote in message

...



When I was at junior school in the mid/late 1950s the classrooms had
fluorescents. We were told when the school opened that it was the
first school in the West Riding to have them, but that probably wasn't
quite true because a lot of identical schools were built at that time.
The lights were unreliable and the teachers used to have to whack the
starters with their canes.

Are you making this up? In an traditional glow-type starter, the switching is
done by a bimetallic strip (similar to the ones used in some thermostats)
encased in an airtight glass bubble filled with a special gas. When you power up
the fluorescent light, the gas heats up (and glows of course), causing the two
strips of metal to bend and touch, which then switches on the heater filmaent at
each end of the flourescent tube.
As soon as the strips touch and make the circuit, the gas cools down again, the
strips separate again, and the lamp starts glowing.

How could "whacking the starters with canes" have any effect on this process?

Assuming they had bimetallic strips, presumably the vibration caused
by the whacking encouraged the them to operate properly. Certainly
such whackings encouraged us to operate properly. I have very vivid
memories of this problem with the lights. In particular there was one
woman teacher who I hated, a student. She seemed to have no sense of
humour when it came to my little pranks.Her method of getting the
lights to come on was to stand on a chair and reach up with a
blackboard rubber to do the whacking. I would watch her and literally
pray to God that she would be be electrocuted.

The whacking wasn't always successful, and occasionally we would have
lessons under a light was was flashing on and off. Luckily epilepsy
hadn't been invented then; just fits, which happened quite a lot.

Thinking about this now, I wonder if the teachers actually were
whacking the starters, or if they were just whacking the side of the
fitting.

Bill

Lighting question
 

On Oct 10, 8:31*am, charles wrote:
In article , j r powell

It could have been dirty contacts that needed a jolt. *I certainly know
that hitting older starters made them work.

Yes I suppose that was it.

Bill

Lighting question
 

"Dave Farrance" wrote in message
...
"Graham." wrote:

I know CFLs and linier fluorescents contain Hg, what I was trying to say
is the CFLs
in question don't contain *enough* Hg. Is that clearer?

The Health Protection Agency more or less agrees. Their guide says pick
up all the bits and open the doors and windows for 15 minutes.

http://tinyurl.com/3yg45yj which points at

http://www.hpa.org.uk/ProductsServic...rcuryandMCFLs/




has anyone told these guys?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8VycEwKU0w




--
Gareth.

that fly...... is your magic wand....
http://dsbdsb.mybrute.com
you fight better when you have a bear!

Lighting question
 

On Oct 10, 9:18*am, Mark Carver wrote:
Dave Farrance wrote:
"Graham." wrote:

I know CFLs and linier fluorescents contain Hg, what I was trying to say is the CFLs
in question don't contain *enough* Hg. Is that clearer?

The Health Protection Agency more or less agrees. *Their guide says pick
up all the bits and open the doors and windows for 15 minutes. *

http://tinyurl.com/3yg45yj*which points at

http://www.hpa.org.uk/ProductsServic.../ChemicalRiskA...

I remember at my primary school one of the teachers attempting to replace a
fluorescent tube in the classroom. It slipped out of his hand and smashed on
the desks below, he then enlisted us to help clear up the debris !

Circa 1972

--
Mark

Blimey Mark, that makes me realise that if we'd lived in the same town
you could have been one of my pupils! Groan!

Bill

Lighting question
 

On Oct 10, 9:46*am, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article ,
* *j r powell wrote:

When I was at junior school in the mid/late 1950s the classrooms had
fluorescents. We were told when the school opened that it was the
first school in the West Riding to have them, but that probably wasn't
quite true because a lot of identical schools were built at that time..
The lights were unreliable and the teachers used to have to whack the
starters with their canes.
Are you making this up? In an traditional glow-type starter, the
switching is done by a bimetallic strip (similar to the ones used in
some thermostats) encased in an airtight glass bubble filled with a
special gas.

And if you actually knew what a bi-metal strip was you'd realise they can
'stick'or make a poor contact.

That reminds me that I used to have a Bedford van which had a problem
with the indicators. Sometimes they didn't flash, but giving the
flasher unit a clout fixed it for the time being.

Bill

Lighting question
 

When I was at junior school in the mid/late 1950s the classrooms had
fluorescents. We were told when the school opened that it was the
first school in the West Riding to have them, but that probably wasn't
quite true because a lot of identical schools were built at that time.
The lights were unreliable and the teachers used to have to whack the
starters with their canes.

Are you making this up? In an traditional glow-type starter, the switching is done by a bimetallic strip (similar to the ones
used in some thermostats) encased in an airtight glass bubble filled with a special gas. When you power up the fluorescent light,
the gas heats up (and glows of course), causing the two strips of metal to bend and touch, which then switches on the heater
filmaent at each end of the flourescent tube.
As soon as the strips touch and make the circuit, the gas cools down again, the strips separate again, and the lamp starts
glowing.

I think the heater filaments are on all the time to ensure the gas is ionised at a reasonable voltage. The starter interrupts the
supply to generate an extra large voltage using something like the induction coil in a car to start off the conduction.

At least that's how I've always thought they worked.


No they run in cold cathode mode once struck. The circuit is very simple
http://tinyurl.com/33nudbu

The contacts must get welded together, a whack will often separate them, I
just assumed everyone knew that :-)

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Lighting question
 

When I was at junior school in the mid/late 1950s the classrooms had
fluorescents. We were told when the school opened that it was the
first school in the West Riding to have them, but that probably wasn't
quite true because a lot of identical schools were built at that time.
The lights were unreliable and the teachers used to have to whack the
starters with their canes.

Are you making this up? In an traditional glow-type starter, the switching is
done by a bimetallic strip (similar to the ones used in some thermostats)
encased in an airtight glass bubble filled with a special gas. When you power up
the fluorescent light, the gas heats up (and glows of course), causing the two
strips of metal to bend and touch, which then switches on the heater filmaent at
each end of the flourescent tube.
As soon as the strips touch and make the circuit, the gas cools down again, the
strips separate again, and the lamp starts glowing.

How could "whacking the starters with canes" have any effect on this process?

Assuming they had bimetallic strips, presumably the vibration caused
by the whacking encouraged the them to operate properly. Certainly
such whackings encouraged us to operate properly. I have very vivid
memories of this problem with the lights. In particular there was one
woman teacher who I hated, a student. She seemed to have no sense of
humour when it came to my little pranks.Her method of getting the
lights to come on was to stand on a chair and reach up with a
blackboard rubber to do the whacking. I would watch her and literally
pray to God that she would be be electrocuted.

The whacking wasn't always successful, and occasionally we would have
lessons under a light was was flashing on and off. Luckily epilepsy
hadn't been invented then; just fits, which happened quite a lot.

Thinking about this now, I wonder if the teachers actually were
whacking the starters, or if they were just whacking the side of the
fitting.

Bill

Reminds me of that Latin looking woman hitting that satellite dish with a broom-
handle during a thunderstorm.
Talk about a Hot-Bird!
I wish I'd had a camera.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Lighting question
 

I know CFLs and linier fluorescents contain Hg, what I was trying to say is the CFLs
in question don't contain *enough* Hg. Is that clearer?

The Health Protection Agency more or less agrees. Their guide says pick
up all the bits and open the doors and windows for 15 minutes.

http://tinyurl.com/3yg45yj which points at

http://www.hpa.org.uk/ProductsServic...rcuryandMCFLs/




has anyone told these guys?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8VycEwKU0w




Good Grief.

What's "Have a good week, till next week" in Japanese?

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%