Excessive??? Compact fluorescents failing.

[Leyland30]

This lamp type does not like high switching cycles. Increasing the timer period on the pirs might reduce lamp failure rates.

 

[GBDamo]

This lamp type does not like high switching cycles. Increasing the timer period on the pirs might reduce lamp failure rates.

After talking with Tridonic and Phillips the upshot is they don’t have a problem.

The ballast and lamp are well matched.

PIRs are not cycling too quickly.

The observed failure rate fits within the curve for the Philips master lamp.

The lamp is rated for 16,000 hours but 20% of lamps will go in half that.

Need to do some fairly complex maths when I can be arsed but my gut tells me it’s there or there abouts.

In the process of writing a report that says the above in many more and more fancier words with some graphs and pictures.

Got to justify the charge ;-)

 

[Dillb]

Sounds like the switching could be burning the cathodes out, look at fitting PIRs that dim the lights to a low level rather than switching them off completly.

 

[GBDamo]

Sounds like the switching could be burning the cathodes out, look at fitting PIRs that dim the lights to a low level rather than switching them off completly.

Thought of it but the ballasts are non dimable.

The cost of replacing ballasts, then PIRs is not far off new LED panels.

 

[w0z]

Thought of it but the ballasts are non dimable.

The cost of replacing ballasts, then PIRs is not far off new LED panels.

The leds are going to be a difficult sell on energy saving grounds alone, because the tl5cs are fairly efficient at 3300 lumens/40W but that said none of them apart from the new ones will be producing anything like that. Leds would however maintain their output for longer and be instant on compared to the relatively slow warm-up times of the cfls.

 

[gnuuser]

The leds are going to be a difficult sell on energy saving grounds alone, because the tl5cs are fairly efficient at 3300 lumens/40W but that said none of them apart from the new ones will be producing anything like that. Leds would however maintain their output for longer and be instant on compared to the relatively slow warm-up times of the cfls.

correct and most cfl are not designed to work below a certain ambient temperature.

ha ha! had one customer put cfl lamps in his outside lights and called me when the weather got cold thinking something was wrong with the electric (he didn't read the label on the lamp)
anyhow replaced them with led lamps and alls good.