Re: Dissecting CFLs

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Andrew Gabriel" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:466c2faa$0$642$5a6aecb4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> In article <yN6dne0Pn5XGRPfbnZ2dnUVZ_ruknZ2d@xxxxxxx>,
> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
> > "Andrew Gabriel" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> This will not have any impact on a tube flickering when exposed to
static.
> >> A while back, I added detailed description of the common tube failure
> >> modes to the Wikipedia fluorescent lamp page:
> >>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Mechanisms_of_lamp_failure_at_
end_of_life
> >
> > Good job!   It seems quite fair and balanced to me, and I see something
I
> > can add:  lots of migraine sufferers are bothered intensely by the light
of
> > fluorescent lamps of all types.  Long before a dying fluorescent's
flicker
> > is noticed by me, it's giving my wife migraines.
>
> I added the reason for this some time back -- see last paragraph of
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Electrical_aspects_of_operatio
n
> This would not apply to electronic control gear in any case.
> You'll need to find a scientific reference for the flicker causing
> migraines, or it would likely be removed as unsubstantiated.
> Unsubstantiated psychological and physiological effects are
> normally removed from the fluorescent lamp article quite quickly.

I'm fairly certain that it's a known migraine trigger.  It's on one of the
fact sheets that my wife's neurologist hands out along with CRT flicker and
other stroboscopic-type light sources.  Finding a clinical trial that
substantiates the effect might be difficult, but I'm pretty sure there have
been studies using PET scans.  I'll see what's out there.

> > I don't know why wiki's got such a bad rep - it's really remarkable.
It's
> > better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  I thought the
failure
> > mode would involve loss of seal integrity but now I understand the
complex
> > processes involved in CFL failures.  The only way to reliably test the
tube
> > on the duff bulb, it seems, would be to hook it up to known good
> > electronics.
>
> Yes. Another test would be to apply a certain voltage to the
> filaments. This will vary depending on the tube, but something
> like 6V should generate a white fluorescent glow from the
> phosphor around the filament, indicating the filament is
> emitting electrons under thermionic emission into the gas.
> An orange glow from the filament without the fluorescence
> would indicate the filament can no longer emit electrons
> under thermionic emission into the gas, and the tube is dead.

That sounds like something that's easy to test.  Thanks!

--
Bobby G.