Compact fluorescent Without a delay?

[Justin]

I installed a few CFLs around the house and I can't stand the one second
or two delay when I switch the power on. Are there any brands of CFLs
that don't have that delay?

 

[Bill Kaszeta / Photovoltaic Resources]

I installed a few CFLs around the house and I can't stand the one second
or two delay when I switch the power on. Are there any brands of CFLs
that don't have that delay?

A dozen years ago I installed a Panasonic EFT16LE CFL in place of
a 60W incandescent lamp. There are two lamps in the hallway, the
other is another 60W incandescent lamp. I see no noticable difference
in start between the two. Now that I realize that there is still one
60W incandescent lamp, I will replace it with a CFL.


Bill Kaszeta
Photovoltaic Resources Int'l
Tempe Arizona USA
[email protected]

 

[Justin]

A dozen years ago I installed a Panasonic EFT16LE CFL in place of
a 60W incandescent lamp. There are two lamps in the hallway, the
other is another 60W incandescent lamp. I see no noticable difference
in start between the two. Now that I realize that there is still one
60W incandescent lamp, I will replace it with a CFL.


Bill Kaszeta
Photovoltaic Resources Int'l
Tempe Arizona USA
[email protected]

CFLs were wround back then?

 

[Jeff Jonas]

A dozen years ago I installed a Panasonic EFT16LE CFL in place of

CFLs were wround back then?

Oh yes! Around 1988 I bought some Philips 3-U compact fluorescent lamps
because PSE&G (NJ electric company) was discounting them.
They've not been in constant use since then but I still have some going.

 

[Justin]

Oh yes! Around 1988 I bought some Philips 3-U compact fluorescent lamps
because PSE&G (NJ electric company) was discounting them.
They've not been in constant use since then but I still have some going.

Interesting... Did they use electronic or magnetic ballasts? Remember,
this was when I was ten years old...
When I was in Europe in 1994, some of the hotel rooms I was in had CFLs
and they were loud. Sounded like a pissed off bumble bee.

At any rate, I still have to find a particular brand that doesn't have
the delay. My brother refuses to use them for that reason, and I have
one int he garage that does NOT have a delay... one that does.
The brand name on the non-delayed version is nowhere to be found. This
is the first product of any kind that doesn't have any sort of ID on it.

But I do know the delayed CFLs are from Wal-mart.

 

[Justin]

Oh yes! Around 1988 I bought some Philips 3-U compact fluorescent lamps
because PSE&G (NJ electric company) was discounting them.
They've not been in constant use since then but I still have some going.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=vh7rwn&s=3
All the lights in that room are CFLs, the one on the right is a three way.

Just to show I'm not crazy....

 

[[email protected]]

| But I do know the delayed CFLs are from Wal-mart.

The ones I bought from Lowe's have no delay ... except in cold weather
around 0C they take a few seconds to a minute to reach full brightness and
normal color, from a start at about 50% brightness and slightly orange.

 

[Don Klipstein]

CFLs were wround back then?

Electronic-balasted ones came out around 1991, and Consumer Reports had
an article on them in October 1992.

I had a couple magnetic-ballasted ones in use in 1989, and I first saw
one of those in a hardware store around 1981 or 1982, certainly before
1984.

- Don Klipstein ([email protected])

 

[Victor Roberts]

I installed a few CFLs around the house and I can't stand the one second
or two delay when I switch the power on. Are there any brands of CFLs
that don't have that delay?

The CFLs you have use what is called Programmed Start or
Programmed Rapid Start. These do have a delay of about 1
second that is designed to protect the electrodes.

You can by so-called Instant Start CFLs, but they will not
last as long if operated for less that 10 hours per start -
which is almost always the case in homes - and the
difference in life becomes greater the more frequently the
lamps are started.

If you really need instant on light and cannot adjust to the
1 second delay, you can buy electrodeless CFLs. These start
instantly, can be cycled millions of times with no damage
because they do not have electrodes. Look for Sylvania
Dura+One A19 CFLs. They are more expensive than normal
CFLs. They are available for about $17 each in cases of 6
lamps from www.goodmart.com .


--
Vic Roberts
http://www.RobertsResearchInc.com
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[Andrew Gabriel]

I installed a few CFLs around the house and I can't stand the one second
or two delay when I switch the power on. Are there any brands of CFLs
that don't have that delay?

I don't know of any retrofit type, but you can get instant start
electronic ballasts if you want to make your own fittings.
I've done this using the Philips Matchbox ballasts to drive 2D
compact fluorescents. These Philips ballasts are available with
blue label (instant start), or red label (programmed start).
Note the instant start ones still require all 4 connections to
the tube as they still apply a heating current to the filaments.
I use two in the bathroom. Don't know what the tube life is yet,
as they've both still got their original tubes (probably around
5 years old).

BTW, I suspect the Philips Matchbox ballasts are sold under the
Advance name in the US, but I'm not sure if they will be exactly
the same.

 

[Andrew Gabriel]

Electronic-balasted ones came out around 1991, and Consumer Reports had
an article on them in October 1992.

Pretty sure we had them by 1990 in the UK -- I'd already
nicked the control gear out of a Philips one to use for
something else in 1990.

I had a couple magnetic-ballasted ones in use in 1989, and I first saw
one of those in a hardware store around 1981 or 1982, certainly before
1984.

I bought my first SL18 in 1981 (I can remember where I was
living at the time). Unfortunately I left it behind when I
moved out, but my parents still have an SL25 which I bought
a couple of years later and I still have an SL9 -- one of three
bought in 1986 IIRC. I think these were the last magnetic
ballasted CFL's available in the UK.

 

[Ken]

CFLs were wround back then?

My oldest still working CFLs (Philips PLC 20W Electronic)
are more than 15 years old now and still going strong.

 

[Justin]

I don't know of any retrofit type, but you can get instant start
electronic ballasts if you want to make your own fittings.

Um, no... I won't be opening up electronics running at 120v.
I'm a computer guy switching to Accounting, my hands don't belong in there.

 

[Andrew Gabriel]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
[snip]

I bought my first SL18 in 1981 (I can remember where I was
living at the time). Unfortunately I left it behind when I
moved out, but my parents still have an SL25 which I bought
a couple of years later and I still have an SL9 -- one of three
bought in 1986 IIRC. I think these were the last magnetic
ballasted CFL's available in the UK.

I still have my SL18 from 1982 or thereabouts. It takes forever to come up to
full brightness and weighs around 400 grams, due to a huge magnetic ballast
inside.

I think these still had a glow starter behind the glass envelope, because I see
a very weak pale glow when I switch it on.

Yes, these are all just conventional switch-start (US, preheat)
circuits with series ballasts. The SL18 was first, and probably
a couple of years later, a whole range appeared. There was the
SL9, there was one between 9W and 18W which I never bought, and
the SL25. The originals came with a glass tumbler style prismatic
diffuser, but later ones were available with opal diffusers, both
spherical and tubular with a spherical end. There was a waterproof
version of the spherical 18W one (sealed round the base of the
glass) which was for external exposed use in a specially designed
outdoor holder.

They were all superceded by electronic versions though, and
rapidly vanished from the marketplace.