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standard current for FL/HID bulb

Since it seems that any ballast designed for a specific bulb type can
be used, there is a standard current level, and standard start voltage,
for each of the types. I'm looking for a table that would list the
various types (type class (e.g. FL, HPS, LPS, MH, MV, etc), type coding,
wattage, dimensions) and the current that type is supposed to operate at.
If I were making my own ballast for a given bulb type, what would be the
electrical parameters to design for.
 
V

Victor Roberts

Jan 1, 1970
0
Since it seems that any ballast designed for a specific bulb type can
be used, there is a standard current level, and standard start voltage,
for each of the types. I'm looking for a table that would list the
various types (type class (e.g. FL, HPS, LPS, MH, MV, etc), type coding,
wattage, dimensions) and the current that type is supposed to operate at.
If I were making my own ballast for a given bulb type, what would be the
electrical parameters to design for.

We have discussed this a number of times. There are various
lamp specification documents available at www.nema.org. many
are free but some are not. For CFLs you want ANSI C78.4 and
C78.901. For linear fluorescent lamps, ANSI 78.81. For HPS
lamps, ANSI C78.42. There are separate specs for MH lamps
of each power rating.

The best data is available from www.iec.ch, but it is
expensive. For example, IEC 60081, Double-Capped Fluorescent
Lamps (linear lamps to us on this side of the pond) is an
excellent and comprehensive document, but will cost you 300
CHF, about $235 at today's conversion rate.

--
Vic Roberts
http://www.RobertsResearchInc.com
To reply via e-mail:
replace xxx with vdr in the Reply to: address
or use e-mail address listed at the Web site.

This information is provided for educational purposes only.
It may not be used in any publication or posted on any Web
site without written permission.
 
| On 20 Apr 2006 17:25:41 GMT, [email protected]
| wrote:
|
|>Since it seems that any ballast designed for a specific bulb type can
|>be used, there is a standard current level, and standard start voltage,
|>for each of the types. I'm looking for a table that would list the
|>various types (type class (e.g. FL, HPS, LPS, MH, MV, etc), type coding,
|>wattage, dimensions) and the current that type is supposed to operate at.
|>If I were making my own ballast for a given bulb type, what would be the
|>electrical parameters to design for.
|
| We have discussed this a number of times. There are various
| lamp specification documents available at www.nema.org. many
| are free but some are not. For CFLs you want ANSI C78.4 and
| C78.901. For linear fluorescent lamps, ANSI 78.81. For HPS
| lamps, ANSI C78.42. There are separate specs for MH lamps
| of each power rating.

I'm sure in the work you do, you need those full standards that detail
everything. All that I'm looking for is a basic table of information.
I don't want ANSI specs. A summary of just the basics is all. For
example, what is the current of a 150 watt HPS lamp. And what is the
minimum voltage it can operate on. Same for other wattages of other
types of bulbs. I'm not interested in exotic bulbs, just the common
ones used for indoor and outdoor illumination.

I've looked at product offerings of bulbs and ballast for various HID
lamps. There appears to be basically one kind of ballast for any given
lamp technology and wattage. So it would seem the proper operating
current for a given technology/wattage is just one number. And there
are not that many different wattages. All this information for all HID
lights could apparently be put in one table on one page. Fluorescent
seems to be more complex due to a wider variety of bulb types and what
I call "sub technology" (e.g. bi-pin vs. mono-pin, instant start, etc).
But even so, it doesn't appear that there would be more than a page or
two for the major common fluorecent types one would see for general
illumination in a home or office.

If I bought _all_ the engineering standards documents that would provide
all the info (operating current, minimum voltage, maximum voltage of that
is a factor), how many total pages would I end up with, and how much would
that cost? I'm sure this basic information has been compiled somewhere.
 
T

TKM

Jan 1, 1970
0
25:41 GMT, [email protected]
| wrote:
|
|>Since it seems that any ballast designed for a specific bulb type can
|>be used, there is a standard current level, and standard start voltage,
|>for each of the types. I'm looking for a table that would list the
|>various types (type class (e.g. FL, HPS, LPS, MH, MV, etc), type coding,
|>wattage, dimensions) and the current that type is supposed to operate
at.
|>If I were making my own ballast for a given bulb type, what would be the
|>electrical parameters to design for.
|
| We have discussed this a number of times. There are various
| lamp specification documents available at www.nema.org. many
| are free but some are not. For CFLs you want ANSI C78.4 and
| C78.901. For linear fluorescent lamps, ANSI 78.81. For HPS
| lamps, ANSI C78.42. There are separate specs for MH lamps
| of each power rating.

I'm sure in the work you do, you need those full standards that detail
everything. All that I'm looking for is a basic table of information.
I don't want ANSI specs. A summary of just the basics is all. For
example, what is the current of a 150 watt HPS lamp. And what is the
minimum voltage it can operate on. Same for other wattages of other
types of bulbs. I'm not interested in exotic bulbs, just the common
ones used for indoor and outdoor illumination.

I've looked at product offerings of bulbs and ballast for various HID
lamps. There appears to be basically one kind of ballast for any given
lamp technology and wattage. So it would seem the proper operating
current for a given technology/wattage is just one number. And there
are not that many different wattages. All this information for all HID
lights could apparently be put in one table on one page. Fluorescent
seems to be more complex due to a wider variety of bulb types and what
I call "sub technology" (e.g. bi-pin vs. mono-pin, instant start, etc).
But even so, it doesn't appear that there would be more than a page or
two for the major common fluorecent types one would see for general
illumination in a home or office.

If I bought _all_ the engineering standards documents that would provide
all the info (operating current, minimum voltage, maximum voltage of that
is a factor), how many total pages would I end up with, and how much would
that cost? I'm sure this basic information has been compiled somewhere.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Phil Howard KA9WGN | http://linuxhomepage.com/
http://ham.org/ |
| (first name) at ipal.net | http://phil.ipal.org/
http://ka9wgn.ham.org/ |

Well, you could ask the lamp manufacturer for the full lamp specification
sheet or the OEM package that the manufacturer put together when the lamp
was introduced so ballasts could be designed and manufacturered.

But, your comments indicate that you think a table of starting voltages and
operating currents are all that's needed to design a ballast. Not so. A
metal halide lamp, for example, won't start unless the starting waveform is
of a certain shape and those data can't be put in a table of peak or rms
values. HPS lamps are similar with respect to the required starting pulses.

But, the data that show up in the NEMA/ANSI and IEC publications are what
the industry agrees upon when a lamp is finally standarized, not what the
manufacturer necessarily publishes when the lamp is introduced.
Unfortunately, it is expensive; but I've seen what happens when a ballast
manufacturer doesn't have the whole package -- not a pretty sight.

Fluorescent lamps are just as complicated, by the way, particularly when it
comes to starting and the development of the so-called "starting scenario"
which is increasingly being used in electronic ballast designs.

All of this assumes that you want the lamps to perform properly, not just to
light up in some haphazard fashion.

Terry McGowan
 
| | [snip]
|
|> If I bought _all_ the engineering standards documents that would provide
|> all the info (operating current, minimum voltage, maximum voltage of that
|> is a factor), how many total pages would I end up with, and how much would
|> that cost? I'm sure this basic information has been compiled somewhere.
|
| Write to Sylvania, tell them you are a lighting engineer who's considering
| using some of their products and they /may/ mail you a full engineering
| catalog. They mailed me one when I was in the States, back in 1987. It
| covers all HID's, including custom colored ones, and various incandescent
| types, including halogens and I /think/ some fluorescents, but I am too lazy
| to get up and look.
|
| The full dosier is approximately 400 pages rollodeck bound and weighs around
| 2 kg's. Individual sections can be taken off.

I think that's overkill for the basics I'm looking for. But I will check
their web site and see if they have any downloadable info. I hope it's not
as bad as the Siemens web site.
 
| Well, you could ask the lamp manufacturer for the full lamp specification
| sheet or the OEM package that the manufacturer put together when the lamp
| was introduced so ballasts could be designed and manufacturered.

There are ballasts for specific types (MV, HPS, MH) and various
wattages. They are marketed in general, not for any one brand
of lamp.


| But, your comments indicate that you think a table of starting voltages and
| operating currents are all that's needed to design a ballast. Not so. A
| metal halide lamp, for example, won't start unless the starting waveform is
| of a certain shape and those data can't be put in a table of peak or rms
| values. HPS lamps are similar with respect to the required starting pulses.

But they are consistent across barnds of the same type of lamp
because that is how ballasts are marketed ... not for a specific
bulb brand ... just a specific type (MV, HPS, MH) and wattage.


| But, the data that show up in the NEMA/ANSI and IEC publications are what
| the industry agrees upon when a lamp is finally standarized, not what the
| manufacturer necessarily publishes when the lamp is introduced.
| Unfortunately, it is expensive; but I've seen what happens when a ballast
| manufacturer doesn't have the whole package -- not a pretty sight.

I don't know what you mean by this. Whole package of what?


| Fluorescent lamps are just as complicated, by the way, particularly when it
| comes to starting and the development of the so-called "starting scenario"
| which is increasingly being used in electronic ballast designs.

My original reference to fluorescent being complicated was in regard to
the variety of different kinds of lamps, probably due to its popularity
and variety of consumer demand.


| All of this assumes that you want the lamps to perform properly, not just to
| light up in some haphazard fashion.

I'm sure they will work fine when I match the ballast and lamp properly.
But I want to know about some things like what the current is. The special
waveforms might be nice, too. I'm looking for encyclopedic type info, but
which even wikipedia does not have (but I will suggest to them to expand on
their info in this direction).
 
V

Victor Roberts

Jan 1, 1970
0
| On 20 Apr 2006 17:25:41 GMT, [email protected]
| wrote:
|
|>Since it seems that any ballast designed for a specific bulb type can
|>be used, there is a standard current level, and standard start voltage,
|>for each of the types. I'm looking for a table that would list the
|>various types (type class (e.g. FL, HPS, LPS, MH, MV, etc), type coding,
|>wattage, dimensions) and the current that type is supposed to operate at.
|>If I were making my own ballast for a given bulb type, what would be the
|>electrical parameters to design for.
|
| We have discussed this a number of times. There are various
| lamp specification documents available at www.nema.org. many
| are free but some are not. For CFLs you want ANSI C78.4 and
| C78.901. For linear fluorescent lamps, ANSI 78.81. For HPS
| lamps, ANSI C78.42. There are separate specs for MH lamps
| of each power rating.

I'm sure in the work you do, you need those full standards that detail
everything. All that I'm looking for is a basic table of information.
I don't want ANSI specs. A summary of just the basics is all. For
example, what is the current of a 150 watt HPS lamp. And what is the
minimum voltage it can operate on. Same for other wattages of other
types of bulbs. I'm not interested in exotic bulbs, just the common
ones used for indoor and outdoor illumination.

I've looked at product offerings of bulbs and ballast for various HID
lamps. There appears to be basically one kind of ballast for any given
lamp technology and wattage. So it would seem the proper operating
current for a given technology/wattage is just one number. And there
are not that many different wattages. All this information for all HID
lights could apparently be put in one table on one page. Fluorescent
seems to be more complex due to a wider variety of bulb types and what
I call "sub technology" (e.g. bi-pin vs. mono-pin, instant start, etc).
But even so, it doesn't appear that there would be more than a page or
two for the major common fluorecent types one would see for general
illumination in a home or office.

If I bought _all_ the engineering standards documents that would provide
all the info (operating current, minimum voltage, maximum voltage of that
is a factor), how many total pages would I end up with, and how much would
that cost? I'm sure this basic information has been compiled somewhere.

Many of the ANSI specifications at www.nema.org are FREE. If
you look at them think you will find that they have exactly
what you need.

Older editions of the IES Lighting Handbook have tables with
the data you are looking for, but these older versions are
hard to find and they are also expensive.

--
Vic Roberts
http://www.RobertsResearchInc.com
To reply via e-mail:
replace xxx with vdr in the Reply to: address
or use e-mail address listed at the Web site.

This information is provided for educational purposes only.
It may not be used in any publication or posted on any Web
site without written permission.
 
T

TKM

Jan 1, 1970
0
Victor Roberts said:
Many of the ANSI specifications at www.nema.org are FREE. If
you look at them think you will find that they have exactly
what you need.

Older editions of the IES Lighting Handbook have tables with
the data you are looking for, but these older versions are
hard to find and they are also expensive.

Good point about the older editions of the IES Handbook, Vic. I'd forgotten
that so much lamp electrical data showed up there. It's worth checking
e-bay and other used book sources.

Terry McGowan
 
V

Victor Roberts

Jan 1, 1970
0
Good point about the older editions of the IES Handbook, Vic. I'd forgotten
that so much lamp electrical data showed up there. It's worth checking
e-bay and other used book sources.

My "old" edition is the 1981 Reference Volume.

--
Vic Roberts
http://www.RobertsResearchInc.com
To reply via e-mail:
replace xxx with vdr in the Reply to: address
or use e-mail address listed at the Web site.

This information is provided for educational purposes only.
It may not be used in any publication or posted on any Web
site without written permission.
 
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