Guy King wrote:
The message
from "The Medway Handyman" contains
these words:

I'd like to learn a bit more about fluorescent lights. Is there a web site
with any info that would help?

I'm sure someone will tell me that Wikipedia is crap[1] - but this has
quite a lot of info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

[1] And if they do they can go edit it.

actually there are problems with that article. The info Dave needs isnt
there, and a large amount that isnt needed is. The descriptions apply
to North American lighting, which is not the same as ours. The
occasional error doesnt matter as most of it isnt really relevant to
choosing, fitting or fixing fl lights.

What you need to know comes down to a few things, presumably each of
which can be googled:

- circuit diagram of glow start fluorescent fitting (almost all british
lights are glowstart, with some being electronic. The various other
types used in NA are rarely found here.)

- how goddamn horrid cool white tubes are

- repair sequence, covered in previous reply

- the different glow starters, theyre not all compatible

- the fact that with the right type of circuitry, tube and installation
they can look every bit as good as filament lighting, but regrettably
most fl installs are crude and ugly.

- which tubes to choose and which to avoid, different for all fl versus
mixed lighting.

- the once semi-popular idea that fl lights should be left on when not
needed is a myth

I wrote a piece in the 90s explaining the different tube types and how
to do good installations, but I doubt I could find it. Google for
trough and shelf fittings.


NT