I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.

Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

--
Chris Green

In article ,
writes:
I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.

No, they begun to become old fashioned in 1980.

Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

T12 and high frequency control gear come from two different generations.
Are you sure?

You can swap in T8's where you have series ballasts:
4' 40W T12 - 36W T8
5' 65W T12 - 58W T8
5' 80W T12 - no T8 replacement, but that would be a very old fitting,
and probably bayonet cap tubes.

T5's need different fittings and control gear.

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

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
writes:
I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.

No, they begun to become old fashioned in 1980.

OK! :-)


Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

T12 and high frequency control gear come from two different generations.
Are you sure?

Coo, you're right, the tubes in my HF fittings *are* T8 tubes


You can swap in T8's where you have series ballasts:
4' 40W T12 - 36W T8
5' 65W T12 - 58W T8
5' 80W T12 - no T8 replacement, but that would be a very old fitting,
and probably bayonet cap tubes.

OK, thank you.

--
Chris Green

In article ,
* * * * writes:

I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. *It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.
Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? *All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

Almost all old T12 fittings will happily take T8 tubes. But you said
its tubes you've got, or do you have both tubes and fittings?


NT

On 04/03/2011 17:53, wrote:

Coo, you're right, the tubes in my HF fittings *are* T8 tubes

Be aware that some early HF ballasts (certainly the Philips ones up to
around the late 80s) require special tubes. The correct tubes are
krypton-free triphosphor and are marked with a lower power rating - e.g.
50W for a 5 ft. tube. The tube marking will be something like
TLD50HF/xx, where xx is the colour temperature code. I don't know
whether these tubes are still available.

Later HF ballasts are 'krypton optimised' and use normal tubes, running
at less than the marked wattage.

--
Andy

Andy Wade wrote:
On 04/03/2011 17:53, wrote:

Coo, you're right, the tubes in my HF fittings *are* T8 tubes

Be aware that some early HF ballasts (certainly the Philips ones up to
around the late 80s) require special tubes. The correct tubes are
krypton-free triphosphor and are marked with a lower power rating - e.g.
50W for a 5 ft. tube. The tube marking will be something like
TLD50HF/xx, where xx is the colour temperature code. I don't know
whether these tubes are still available.

Later HF ballasts are 'krypton optimised' and use normal tubes, running
at less than the marked wattage.

Mine have Osram 58 watt tubes in them, they're the ones originally
supplied with the fittings.

--
Chris Green

Tabby wrote:
In article ,
Â* Â* Â* Â* writes:

I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. Â*It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.
Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? Â*All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

Almost all old T12 fittings will happily take T8 tubes. But you said
its tubes you've got, or do you have both tubes and fittings?

Existing lighting fittings in my two garage/workshops. Having looked
it turns out that most of them are already T8, there's only a couple
of T12s. I'll just try swapping tubes to make sure the ones with T12s
work with T8s and then I can get T8 replacements as necessary.

.... BTW whoever came up with the wonderful concept of measuring
fluorescent tube diameters in eights of an inch? :-)

--
Chris Green

On Mar 6, 11:17*am, wrote:
Tabby wrote:
In article ,
* * * * writes:

I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. *It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.
Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? *All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

Almost all old T12 fittings will happily take T8 tubes. But you said
its *tubes you've got, or do you have both tubes and fittings?

Existing lighting fittings in my two garage/workshops. *Having looked
it turns out that most of them are already T8, there's only a couple
of T12s. *I'll just try swapping tubes to make sure the ones with T12s
work with T8s and then I can get T8 replacements as necessary.

... BTW whoever came up with the wonderful concept of measuring
fluorescent tube diameters in eights of an inch? *:-)

If the T12ed fittings are the same length as the T8s, there wont be
any problem using T8s in them.


NT

In article ,
writes:
Tabby wrote:
In article ,
Â* Â* Â* Â* writes:

I have a lot of 4ft and 5ft T12 fluorescent tubes around the garage
and in my study. Â*It seems these are beginning to become 'old
fashioned'.
Should I stock up now or can the newer/better T8 (or even smaller)
tubes be used in the same fittings? Â*All the fittings have electronic
starters already and a couple are high frequency ones.

Almost all old T12 fittings will happily take T8 tubes. But you said
its tubes you've got, or do you have both tubes and fittings?

Existing lighting fittings in my two garage/workshops. Having looked
it turns out that most of them are already T8, there's only a couple
of T12s. I'll just try swapping tubes to make sure the ones with T12s
work with T8s and then I can get T8 replacements as necessary.

... BTW whoever came up with the wonderful concept of measuring
fluorescent tube diameters in eights of an inch? :-)

It is common in the lighting industry to measure in 1/8ths inch.
e.g. MR16, PAR38, etc.

In continental Europe, sometimes the number is in mm instead,
but it can be inconsistent which is used, and even we now use
R63, R80.

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