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 Post subject: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:14 pm 
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Phosco152 wrote:
Argon is added to the neon to reduce the striking voltage. Neon on its own would have a too high strike voltage. The glass of the arc tube however tends to absorb Argon. Neon produces a red discharge, Argon a violet to pale lavender blue discharge, the proportion in a SOX lamp is so low that the red discharge is dominant.

Philips tubes tend to produce a redder discharge than Osram, probably due to having a greater fill of neon.


Interesting.

It seems that my 2 lanterns and the 135w one has reached the ''End Of Gas Life'' as quoted on the Lamptech site.

I've been messing with the 2 ''vivid neon red'' 90w SOX lamps in my GEC Z-9465 as it has a leak transformer in it.

The lamps will not light so I tried the old trick of getting transformers to send out a higher voltage by using the 220v input for a short time. It works and the windings in the transformer should be able to cope with the voltage for a short time. The lamp didn't mind and took 5-6 mins to warm up.

Now the tube has warmed up, I will put the 230v to the 240v input and see if it relights when warm. It doesn't, despite the electrodes being perfectly fine.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:02 pm 
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If you have 135W ignitor gear, try your lamp on that, ignitor gear produces a higher starting voltage than Leak gear.

Same for your 90w lamps, ignitor gear will restrike hot lamps. Often Leak gear won't and you will have to wait for the lamps to cool a bit.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:22 pm 
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I did that first and it does light. The lamp also works on 90w SOX ignitor gear too but is hard on the ignitors as the lamp keeps flickering till it warms up.


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 Post subject: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:35 pm 
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I've noticed something quite odd! There is a Gamma 6 (on Stanton concrete column) that I regularly pass when it is dark, and it always seems to be on pink! I have never seen anything like it around here because if anything dodgy happens with lamps, it tends to be one end pink, and one end orange... Or a black middle to the lamp.

It was always a late switcher, but the two part cell failed last year, meaning that it spent ages dayburning, then I assume the lamp blew as it was unlit for quite a while. It did get the two-part cell sorted, and it switches on OK, it just doesn't seem to warm up to anything more than pink! It's a bit bizarre considering it is a fairly new lamp [I think but am not certain]

I have read that SOX lamps are supposed to burn red when they are near the end of their life, but the lamps around here, like I said, don't seem to burn fully red, and seem to turn orange at least a little bit. Does anyone know what the problem could be?

It is located in a carpark area with an alleyway leading to it, and it looks very odd with the reflection from the water on the pavement. Another interesting point is that the Stanton column isn't set too deep into the ground, and you can see the curve at the bottom of the column above ground level. But of course this isn't anything to do with the lamp.

I'll try to get pictures on Tuesday.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:36 pm 
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Stelmer wrote:
I did that first and it does light. The lamp also works on 90w SOX ignitor gear too but is hard on the ignitors as the lamp keeps flickering till it warms up.

If it is flickering it is at the end of life. The running voltage of all discharge lamps gradually increases as they age. Your lamp is at the point where the running voltage has now exceeded that of the ignitor trip voltage (under normal circumstances the trip voltage is greater than the running voltage which switches the ignitor off). It will soon flicker all the time. The scrap bin (break tube in bucket and then fill with water from a hose at arms length) beckons.  ;)


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 Post subject: Re: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:40 pm 
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Indust wrote:
I've noticed something quite odd! There is a Gamma 6 (on Stanton concrete column) that I regularly pass when it is dark, and it always seems to be on pink! I have never seen anything like it around here because if anything dodgy happens with lamps, it tends to be one end pink, and one end orange... Or a black middle to the lamp.

It was always a late switcher, but the two part cell failed last year, meaning that it spent ages dayburning, then I assume the lamp blew as it was unlit for quite a while. It did get the two-part cell sorted, and it switches on OK, it just doesn't seem to warm up to anything more than pink! It's a bit bizarre considering it is a fairly new lamp [I think but am not certain]

I have read that SOX lamps are supposed to burn red when they are near the end of their life, but the lamps around here, like I said, don't seem to burn fully red, and seem to turn orange at least a little bit. Does anyone know what the problem could be?

It is located in a carpark area with an alleyway leading to it, and it looks very odd with the reflection from the water on the pavement. Another interesting point is that the Stanton column isn't set too deep into the ground, and you can see the curve at the bottom of the column above ground level. But of course this isn't anything to do with the lamp.

I'll try to get pictures on Tuesday.

If the lamp is old there may not be a strong enough neon discharge to produce the required heat to vapourise the sodium. Also if there is a vacuum leak in the outer envelope enough heat will escape with the same effect. I have a lamp like that, never gets yellow, unless I give it a kick start in the oven!  :D


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 Post subject: Re: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:54 pm 
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/\ - Is it a good idea to Microwave this?  :lol:

I have round my way have seen a couple of Gamma 6's burning red although these have been repaired.

Another one was a GR150 in Lockwood, Kirklees serverly burning red as it has been like that for the past 6 months, it has just been replaced by a WTRL MRL6 and I'm not keen on these lanterns as they are way too common in Kirklees also they are post topped :x . It would have been cheaper to keep the GR150 and changed the lamp.

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 Post subject: Re: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 11:11 pm 
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Urbis Saturn Land wrote:
Another one was a GR150 in Lockwood, Kirklees serverly burning red as it has been like that for the past 6 months, it has just been replaced by a WTRL MRL6 and I'm not keen on these lanterns as they are way too common in Kirklees also they are post topped :x . It would have been cheaper to keep the GR150 and changed the lamp.


I'd rather the GR150 was retained, but be thankful that a MRL6 (GEC Z8600) replaced it, compared to the Iridiums or Sapphires we get! Although ours don't get post-topped.

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 Post subject: Re: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:51 am 
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I was mentioning a Z8600 to Des when at the depot, as a few of them are on columns due to be taken down - the response I got was "ugh, horrible things!" :lol:

Thinking about Gamma 6's - up the road from where I used to live was a gamma 6 35w SOX on a patch of green in front of three bungalows (along with another g6 and a SOX Z5670), it always glowed with a "flare effect" whereby the top gowed red and the bottom was yellow.

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 Post subject: Re: SOX lamps
PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:04 am 
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mazeteam wrote:
it always glowed with a "flare effect" whereby the top gowed red and the bottom was yellow.


I suspect that would have been caused by a combination of sodium depletion and sodium migration to the u-bend.


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