Does anyone know who is making these light bulbs?

Following are a few sources:

(appears to be a manufacturer) (retailer) (application notes) (PC supplier)

Thanks. These apparently are all long, small tubes. CCFL's are very popular as laptop backlights but I have been looking all day for 110VAC screw-base CCFL's to no avail. They sound very useful for lights controlled by motion detectors and places where waiting for a CFL to come to full brightness might be a safety issues, like staircases. We're due for another big rate increase in the DC area and I'd like to find CFL's that work in the places that have previously given me problems.

-- Bobby G.

READ the application notes above.

You won't find any 120VAC screw type CCFL. They need a step-up transformer as they operate at 180-800VAC or higher. Since this is most often a 2-3V source, the switching is done at 100KHz or higher. A

120:1200 VAC transformer with current limiting circuitry would be too expensive. Beware some pwr supplies operate at 5,000VAC--so 300V or 600V insulation is a no-no. I'd buy the wiring harness/set.

See

pwr supply transformers and "%20Cold%20Cathode%20Fluorescent%20Lamps%20,%20CCFLfor bulbs.

You might try:

What's wrong with LED's? They are intrinically safe.

A little further on they say "are also an effective and efficient replacement for lighting that is turned on and off frequently with little extended use (e.g. a half-bath or closet)."

That *sounds* like a screw-base standard lightbulb format, but they spell some words with a British flavour so they may be talking about 240VAC mains.

Dude, it's screw-in bulbs or screw it altogether! (-: I was attracted by the claim:

"Advantages are that it is (1) instant-on, like an incandescent, (2) compatible with timers, photocells, and dimmers, and (3) has an amazingly long life of approximately 50,000 hours."

That would be a great bulb for the stairways and the bathroom. CFL's don't last long when operated 40 times a day.

Thanks for the cites. I don't think I'm uninterested if it's not "plug compatible" as the mainframers used to say. I was reading up on "choppers" when I came across the description of the CCFL's as replacement for regular CFL's and hoped someone out there was actually using one or knew where to buy one.

Nothing. As far as I know. I wonder how they'll live with X-10? My experience with early CFL's that required filters, $10 a bulb, modulectomies AND that failed quite early inclines me NOT to be on the leading edge of the LED lighting wave. (-: I did buy some great LED flashlights and emergency lights recently because they are so miserly with battery power and lose no energy to voltage conversion, but they still seem a little too weird, lightwise. Maybe in time.

-- Bobby G.

Price-sensitive folks may be interested in the cost per lumen (and non-troglodytes the maximum available output).

A passel of LED lamps equivalent to a single 60-watt, 850-lumen incandescent lamp costs about $200.

... Marc Marc_F_Hult

Obviously written by someone that does not use a LCD monitor very much. I have yet to see a CCFL that comes to full brightness instantly.

Dallas Semiconductor has an app note on CCFLs that has an actual brightness vs time chart. At room temperature a CCFL takes over 3 minutes to reach 100% brightness. They take 20 seconds to reach 80%. If the temperature is freezing 3 minutes only gets you to 60% brightness. This is a technology that is not suited to general lighting at this time.

Don't believe everything you read (Wikipedia or elsewhere). Notice that the section you quoted has no attribution. Later in the Wikipedia article there is a statement that:

"CFLs don't work right for television and theater stage lighting. The dimmers don't dim CFLs properly, The CFLs won't light or burn out quickly, and the lens systems in spotlights won't focus a CFL to a smooth pool of light."

I don't know about CFLs but fluorescent lights are used frequently in television. Dimming is not a concern since dimmed incandescents play havoc with skin tones so most TV studio lighting runs at 100%. Fluorescents are used frequently in "talking head" studio television due to their soft extended source qualities and low heat output.

For the record, I merely quoted Wikipedia, your source for somewhat "plastic" facts!

I agree. That particular paragraph is quite poorly written in a number of dimensions.

The one defense I can think of is my impression that fluorescents were a relative newcomer to studios as color cameras became more adept at dealing with the somewhat different light quality. The last time I did any TV work (1984 - the year, not the movie!) the color cameras were still liable to cast a very greenish pallor over the subjects under fluorescent lights. I know by the early 90's color camera sensors were much improved. In fact my Nikon 950 Coolpix has the best white balance I have ever seen in an electronic camera, including many of their subsequent and substantially more expensive models.

-- Bobby G.

Cold cathode general lighting CFLs are made by TCP and others. See:

the full catalog and look at the cold cathode section. It's an old technology. So-called "neon" lamps are cold cathode lamps, for example.

They have some advantages vs. the usual or "hot cathode" lamps; but I haven't checked out the compatibility claim. It doesn't make sense because an electronic ballast is required for cold cathode lamps and that's not a resistance load which is what the usual electronic timers, photocells and dimmers expect.

TKM

old

Thanks for the update. Another Wikipedia cite in question. I did not know that neon tubes were cold cathode devices. In their defense, they do say "newest form of CFL" and not that it's a new form of lighting all together, which I believe was mentioned elsewhere.

I looked around some more and I didn't see any 110VAC screw-based household type CCFL's around so I'm going to have to conclude that the Wikipedia article was not accurate in its claim that this technology was available for household lighting, at least not as a unit by unit replacement for tungsten screw-based bulbs. But the investigation wasn't a total loss.

Has some fascinating stuff about neon. I'm really impressed by the simplicity and depth of Wiki even if they flub it every now and then on the details. I suppose it's my job now to join the discussion and ask "where can I buy CCFL lightbulbs for my desk lamp?" Ding! (that little light bulb over my head just clicked on! - is that idea light CFL or tunsten, I wonder?)

I think I know the answer to the CCFL as household lighting question, finally, because I remember now one day I had to help a friend find a bulb for an incredibly small table lamp that I believe was a CCFL. He's had it for a long, long time - long before I recall CFL's being popular and I believe the bulb was made by Osram - but I recall the tubes being very thin and the light operating almost instaneously.

In looking for that lamp again and Googling

reveals 24K hits so Wikipedia is vindicated! Now I can go into my booster mode. Almost every term in the neon article that was unfamiliar to me had a link to an explanation. I grew up with the paper-based World Book encyclopedia but I would have much preferred Wikipedia. I also got the answer to a question that always bothered me?

Where does neon come from? Where are the neon mines? (-: It turns out we're all standing in it.

You won't?

Here are three five watters:

And here are four eight watters: And here are six 2-3 watters And here are six four watters I make that to be at least 25 different "120VAC screw type CCFL" (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) from a single retailer.

From

" Cold Cathode Features: o Available in regular a frame a-lamp shape, globes, torpedos. o Only manufactured in 2 , 3, 5, and 8 watt bulbs. o Replaces 20 to 60 watt incandescent bulbs. o Multiple colors, color temperatures, and designs. o Life span of 25,000 hours or more. o Dimmable o Huge energy savings. o Comes with a 2 year manufacturer warranty. "

... Marc Marc_F_Hult

You won't?

Here are three five watters:

And here are four eight watters: And here are six 2-3 watters And here are six four watters I make that to be at least 19 different "120VAC screw type CCFL" (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) from a single retailer.

From

" Cold Cathode Features: o Available in regular a frame a-lamp shape, globes, torpedos. o Only manufactured in 2 , 3, 5, and 8 watt bulbs. o Replaces 20 to 60 watt incandescent bulbs. o Multiple colors, color temperatures, and designs. o Life span of 25,000 hours or more. o Dimmable o Huge energy savings. o Comes with a 2 year manufacturer warranty. "

... Marc Marc_F_Hult