Hi all, Sorry for the OT post, I've googled this to death without finding an answer and was hoping someone here might know.
I recently purchased an old, second-hand UV exposure box to try making PCBs at home. One of the tubes has started to fail and in replacing them I have noticed something odd: the box takes two 12" 8W T5 tubes, but has only a single 13W switch-start ballast. I assumed that a previous owner uprated the tubes without changing the ballast, but in looking for a replacement I have become stuck. I can find plenty of general information on how fluorescent tubes work, but no specific advice on ballast selection. Also, the way my box is wired (two tubes in series) appears not to be common. Here is what I've found so far: 1. ballast choice is not just about wattage, tube diameter and length seem also to be factors. I don't know why. 2. two tubes can be wired in series here in the UK because of the higher mains voltage, but the suggestion is that a special ballast might be needed. Again, no explanation why. Can anyone give me some definitive answers? Can I just use a single 16W ballast? Can I use a T8 ballast instead of a T5? Thanks, Chris -- Chris Smith <[email protected]> _______________________________________________ geda-user mailing list [email protected] http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
