Re: flourescent lights

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "davep by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <davep-at-quik-dot-com>

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <PeterCGMN-at-aol-dot-com>

> While watching an overhead fluorescent light today, I noticed it
> was pulsing very quickly.

	Was anything else going on?
	Coil firing?
	etc.

> How fast I'm not 100% sure but it was at least several dozen
> times per second, but can anyone explain why it did this?

	Two usual possibilities:
	the tubes (sometimes the ballast) age.  As they age,
	the detailed firing characteristics change.  This can lead
	to marginal firing, at a variety of rates.  Put another way:
		Its dying...
 
	Alternately:
	Fluorescents are more or less temperature sensitive.
	If the ambient air is low in temperature (garage, shop) the
	firing can get marginal.

	and both can happen at once:
		A weak lamp that fires fine at 70F may get
		flickery at 50F, or lower, as it ages.

	best
	dwp