Wiring Diagram of Flourescent Lamp

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Have you ever wondered how a fluorescent light works? Even though they're nearly as commonplace as incandescent fixtures, their unusual shape and well-known idiosyncrasies make them seem more mysterious.

There's more than a difference in appearance separating fluorescent and incandescent lamps. An incandescent bulb generates light through heat. When electrical current passes through the tungsten filament, it heats to the point where it glows and gives off a yellow-red light. To keep the filament from burning up immediately, it's housed in a vacuum. Even so, the intense heat of the filament ensures a comparatively short and expensive life span.

A fluorescent lamp has no filament running through it. Instead, cathodes (coiled tungsten filaments coated with an electron-emitting substance) at each end send current through mercury vapors sealed in the tube. Ultraviolet radiation is produced as electrons from the cathodes knock mercury electrons out of their natural orbit. Some of the displaced electrons settle back into orbit, throwing off the excess energy absorbed in the collision. Almost all of this energy is in the form of ultraviolet radiation.

To turn this radiation into visible light, the inside of the tube has a phosphor lining. The phosphors have the unique ability to lengthen UV wavelengths to a visible portion of the spectrum. Put another way, the phosphors are excited to fluorescence by bursts of UV energy.

The easiest fluorescent fixture to explain is a design offered by Sylvania in 1938. This early preheat model is no longer made, but millions are still in service, and its principle design features are found in every new fixture.

THANKS FOR THE INFO TS ... I ONLY HAVE A QUESTION WHAT IF I WOULD LIKE TO CONVERT OUR FLOURESCENT TO DC SUPPLY WHAT SHOULD I DO???

how much your dc source?
is it lower rather that your ac?

you need a inverter circuit.

here's my DC powered version, still the source is AC, but the use of diodes in bridge connection eliminates the use of starter thus avoiding flicker during switching cycles.



20W fluorescent tube & ballast should be used for the above value of capacitor

caution should be exercised at all times, the above ckt can have peaks as high as 600VDC, make sure all exposed parts must be insulated.

How the ckt works? Simple, the high voltage generated "excites" the mercury atoms making them move at a very high speed & striking the phosphor coating thus the light, no pre-heat necessary...

thanks for sharing sir nerfe.

pa tambay...