At 05:39 PM 6/21/2001 -0400, rafe b wrote:
>On Thu, 21 Jun 2001, Stan McQueen wrote:
>
> > Fluorescents flicker at the AC line frequency--60 Hz in the US. This is
> > because, as you say, the fluorescent light is a plasma device. The
> > discharge turns on and off at the line frequency. It is not a continuous
> > discharge (either in time or in wavelength). The UV from the mercury vapor
> > discharge tube causes the inner coating of fluorescent material to, er,
> > fluoresce. The composition of the coating determines what wavelengths (I
> > would normally use "frequency" but I don't want to confuse it with "AC
> line
> > frequency") will be emitted by the tube.
>
>Stan, I was thinking of more pathological behavior.
>
>A healthy bulb, with a healthy, regulated power
>supply, is not really my concern here. I understand
>that household flourescents are driven by 60 Hz,
>(in the USA) but I also know that the bulbs inside some
>film scanners are driven at much higher frequencies,
>and those frequencies are not well controlled.
>
>But I have seen, on household flourescent lamps,
>situations where the plasma seems to be moving
>about and varying in intensity. It's generally
>when either the bulb or its "ballast" is near
>the end of its life.
[Sorry about the earlier post, I accidentally hit "send" before I had typed
in my response.]
Yes, bulbs that visibly flicker are usually suffering from under-voltage or
possibly vacuum leaks that cause the plasma discharge to be weak and
intermittent.
Stan
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Photography by Stan McQueen:
