This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

I'm finding it difficult to obtain replacements - at a sensible price
- for the latter size (567mm inclusive) with 3400K colour
temperature. TLC only do 4000K..... grr!

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/
To reply by email change 'news' to my forename.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:17:15 -0800 (PST), Richard Russell
wrote:

This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

I'm finding it difficult to obtain replacements - at a sensible price
- for the latter size (567mm inclusive) with 3400K colour
temperature. TLC only do 4000K..... grr!

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/
To reply by email change 'news' to my forename.

http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co....roductid=16943
right length and wattage but doesn't say Col Temp

On 10 Nov, 17:30, wrote:
http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co....roductid=16943
right length and wattage but doesn't say Col Temp

Yes, I'd already found that and I've emailed them about the colour
temp. They're still twice as expensive as TLC's 4000K ones though....

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/
To reply by email change 'news' to my forename.

"Richard Russell" wrote in message
...
This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

I'm finding it difficult to obtain replacements - at a sensible price
- for the latter size (567mm inclusive) with c colour
temperature. TLC only do 4000K..... grr!

Richard.


Just having a look at most of the sites advertising these. It's cheaper to
buy a whole new fitting than just the lamp on its own. How can that be
viable?

This is the cheapest price I can find online
http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/pro...w-569mm-3400k/
Any good?

"BigWallop" wrote in message
om...

"Richard Russell" wrote in message
...
This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

I'm finding it difficult to obtain replacements - at a sensible price
- for the latter size (567mm inclusive) with c colour
temperature. TLC only do 4000K..... grr!

Richard.


Just having a look at most of the sites advertising these. It's cheaper
to
buy a whole new fitting than just the lamp on its own. How can that be
viable?

This is the cheapest price I can find online

http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/pro...w-569mm-3400k/
Any good?

Apologies. Here's a better on for ya
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20W-Replacemen...mZ170255755069 eBay always to the rescue. :-)

On 10 Nov, 17:51, "BigWallop" wrote:
Apologies. *Here's a better on for ya
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/20W-Replacemen...te-3400k-5...*
eBay always to the rescue.

Not this time. The photo shows the 'Eterna' variety (567mm between
the end caps, not inclusive). That's one of the stupid things, they
*both* have a 567mm dimension, it's just a different dimension....

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/
To reply by email change 'news' to my forename.

In article ,
Richard Russell writes:
This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

There aren't any standards for T4 tubes, unfortunately.
Most fluorescent tube sizes were developed and standardised
in Europe and the US. T4's came from the far East, and there
are different ones from different manufacturers.

I've got a number of Omicron fittings which were sold by CPC,
Maplin, and some other places. AFAIK, these are no longer
available. I've got a stock of 16W tubes, and one spare 8W
and one spare 20W. When I run out of one of the sizes, I'll
probably have to replace the lot (as I won't be able to get
any matching colours). More recently, I've fitted the newer
T5HE and T5HO tubes (14W to 80W) as these are standardised,
and lengths match common kitchen unit widths (actually
they're designed to match modular ceiling tile sizes, but
it amounts to the same thing).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article
,
Richard Russell writes:
This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

There aren't any standards for T4 tubes, unfortunately.
Most fluorescent tube sizes were developed and standardised
in Europe and the US. T4's came from the far East, and there
are different ones from different manufacturers.

And different ones with the same manufacturer!

Three undercupboard lights, all by the same manufacturer. Two of the tubes
were smashed before I installed the fittings.

I went to the wholesalers and bought three replacement lamps so that
everything matched. One of these replacements did not fit in any of the
fittings and the other two were different colours. All three had the same
manufactures name number and colour stamped on the glass and were in
identical boxes.

Aurora made the tubes in case you wanted to ask:-)

Ask

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:17:15 -0800 (PST), Richard Russell
wrote:

This is more of a rant than a question... Why are there two similar
(but incompatible) lengths of 20W T4 slimline fluorescent tube - the
so-called 'Eterna' variety (as sold by B&Q) which is 578mm between the
ends of the pins, and the 'Standard' variety which is 567mm between
the ends of the pins?

I'm finding it difficult to obtain replacements - at a sensible price
- for the latter size (567mm inclusive) with 3400K colour
temperature. TLC only do 4000K..... grr!

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/
To reply by email change 'news' to my forename.


You've obviously measured yours but catalogue listings are often
completely wrong. Screwfix seem to measure tubes by overall length
including the packaging rather than the tube length, or the length
including pins.

For instance 91349 36W T8 - a "4ft tube" is listed as 1283mm long,
51944 an economy 36W T8 is apparently over 3 inches shorter at 1200mm
long - in most cases the actual tube is circa 1210mm long including
the pins, a gnats under 4ft.




--

In article ,
Mike writes:
You've obviously measured yours but catalogue listings are often
completely wrong. Screwfix seem to measure tubes by overall length
including the packaging rather than the tube length, or the length
including pins.

For instance 91349 36W T8 - a "4ft tube" is listed as 1283mm long,
51944 an economy 36W T8 is apparently over 3 inches shorter at 1200mm
long - in most cases the actual tube is circa 1210mm long including
the pins, a gnats under 4ft.

4', 5', etc are actually how long the original fluorescent
fittings were (for when you installed them in a line). That's
not a very useful measure of the tube length, nor indeed the
fitting length of a new fitting you might buy today. Original
tubes had bayonet lampholder caps with the lampholder on flying
leads, so tube length wasn't critical to hold the tube in.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]