Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!uunet!philmtl!philabs!ttidca!sorgatz From: sorgatz@ttidca.TTI.COM ( Avatar) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Re: Fluorescent light ballasts Keywords: advance Message-ID: <7835@ttidca.TTI.COM> Date: 19 Nov 89 07:16:36 GMT References: <22334@gryphon.COM> <4995@ae.sei.cmu.edu> Reply-To: sorgatz@ttidcb.tti.com (Erik Sorgatz - Avatar) Organization: Citicorp/TTI, Santa Monica Lines: 55 In article <4995@ae.sei.cmu.edu> rsd@sei.cmu.edu (Richard S D'Ippolito) writes: +In article <22334@gryphon.COM> richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton) writes: + +=There are two kinds of ballasts: magnetic and elecronic. The +=former is by far the most common type, and is little more than +=a transformer. It is cheap to puchase. It has the drawbacks +=of being noisy (this is the source of the humm, or buzzing +=so often ascociated with fluorescent lights) and not +=terribly energt [sic] efficient. A fixture with two 40 watt bulbs +=may actually draw 250 watts. + +Twentyfive years ago, when I did lighting design, the typical transformer +ballasts for two 40W tubes consumed less than 20W, making the total fixture +demand less than 100W. I know this because I also had to calculate the +air-conditioning load. + One point that seems missing, 25 years ago the lighting industry was not totally saturated with YUPPIE-MBA assholes! This has had a severe impact on the QUALITY of the Ballast transformers being produced. The older units that I have should last well into the next century..built like the proverbial brick privy! The newer transformers are made of thin, cheap steel and are just painted. The newer units run very hot and I've noticed they rust within a few months in humid climates. The older ones use thicker metal (hence they run cooler!) that is galvanized (hence they don't rust!) and then painted. Inside is another horror-story; the older ballasts had true-lamnate windings not so with the MBA-specials! The modern (read: cheap!) ballast is just set of windings (some don't even use copper wire! they use ALUMINUM on the really cheap Korean ones!) around a minimal core, some use a shell-core made of more cheap sheet steel. The case is usually filled with some polyu-foam, but I have seen some that are filled with ordinary black tar! Yeech! No wonder these things hum so bad! My 20+ year old transformers are audible, but just barely. Mostly you hear the tubes at 60Hz. In conclusion, the next time you curse cheaply made electrics of this ilk remember that the guys to blame are the so-called "Value Engineers"..most of whom DO NOT have an EE, and have next to no knowledge about anything except accounting. These are the bastards that insist on such garbage being sold in the marketplace. It is unfortunate that the management of most companies cannot distinguish between 'value' and 'cost'...they just keep letting the MBA-dickheads screw things up. ps- If you were asked by someone where YOU work to substitute inferior materials or workmanship in the job you do...would you comply? -- -Avatar-> (aka: Erik K. Sorgatz) KB6LUY +-------------------------+ Citicorp(+)TTI *----------> panic trap; type = N+1 * 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2973 +-------------------------+ Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun,philabs,randvax,trwrb}!ttidca!ttidcb!sorgatz **