Blinkfest 2011: CFL cold start

The light bulb consists of a GE magnetic ballast PL adapter from the 1990's and a brand new Philips PL-C 4000K quad CFL lamp in a Lights of America wall light fixture. The fixture itself had a failed ballast, so it was disconnected and the lamp socket wired directly to the mains. Normally, this light works perfectly, but in very cold weather (well below freezing), it has difficulty lighting. I believe this is because the starter within the lamp base doesn't preheat the electrodes long enough to compensate for the reduced mercury pressure in cold temperatures, which makes a fluorescent lamp more difficult to light at a given voltage.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• fluorescent
• CFL
• magnetic
• ballast
• starter
• cold
• start
• blink
• lighting
• light
• bulb
• blinkfest

[riottaba]

Tube worn out?

[bluearcs]

@riottaba It's not burned out...normally it lights in about 1-2 seconds. It is one of those lamps that is rated for O°C (32°F) or above. It only does this when the temperature is below freezing.

[riottaba]

Ahhh

[electrictroy2010]

That kind of thing will burn-out the ballast very quickly

.

[form109]

lots of blinking!



[suzukir123]

yeeeppp... that's definitely a preheat

in the cold!