On Wed, 7 Apr 2004, Lasse Karlsson wrote: > Primo: As mentioned earlier, my idea is to exchange the UV tubes > for regular fluorescent tubes, or tubes best suited for photography. > At the back of this unit it reads: "Philips Type HP 3127F. 240w 6 > x TLK 40w/09." The tubes themselves carry the designation "TLK > 40w/09". In a lamp shop they only carry 18w tubes, and the man said > he didn't know about any stronger tubes by this dimension (ca 58 cm, > a bit less than two feet). My understanding, or assumption, is that > the "sockets" onto which the tubes are fitted, simply feeds the > tubes regular voltage, and that putting 18w tubes in their places , > simply will produce 6x18w, in a similar way you can exchange regular > tubes or bulbs. Would the type designation cited above, change > anything? Like this solarium for unknown reasons to me, somehow > require these specified tubes and no others? Or do you think I can > safely exchange these tubes as planned?
Typically you can't use a different wattage bulb than the one that the ballast is designed for. If you open up the light you'll find the ballast (a black metal box about 8cm wide, 6cm high, 20cm long) that has a sticker on top saying what types of bulbs it will work with. If the sockets are the normal ones used for T8 or T12 bulbs and are placed for a standard bulb length then you should easily be able to retrofit another ballast which works with different bulbs. I thought about your project yesterday when I saw such a lamp (with regular flourescent bulbs) being used at a photography shoot at work. alex
