Quality starter switch - which ones?

[eastender3]

I've been using my local elec shop to get my starter switch, which packs up every few weeks. How long do they normally last and which brands are reliable.

I know phillips good e.g. S10 , but my local stockist don't sell them, have to order on-line.

 

[riveralt]

I've been using my local elec shop to get my starter switch, which packs up every few weeks. How long do they normally last and which brands are reliable.
I know phillips good e.g. S10 , but my local stockist don't sell them, have to order on-line.

I have seen your other post on this subject.
Given the problems you are having it would probably be more cost effective if you simply replaced the old unit with a new one rather than going to the expense of 'feeding' it starters every month or so.
You may just have been unlucky to hit a bad patch of starters but more likely there is a problem with the lighting unit itself that is causing the starter to burn and die.

 

[eastender3]

Thanks for the reply, riveralt.

You could be right, I'll try one more time with GE starter, hope that's better make than last crap make, and if it packs up again soon, then I had enough, I'll replace the whole damn unit with energy saving bulb, in the kitchin!

 

[Taylortwocities]

If its a fluoreascent then it is already "energy saving".

If you are going to change the whole fitting, go for an HF fitting. These do not have clacky old starters and light up almose instantly.

 

[TicklyT]

Are you aware that a fluorescent lamp is already an 'energy saving' lamp?
Many 'energy saving bulbs' are just a fluorescent tube tightly coiled up and crammed into a space about the size of an ordinary 'light bulb' at some cost to it's efficiency.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Too late, me first - again!!

 

[eastender3]

cheers fellas,

Any rough idea as to how much it would cost fit a HF fitting, would it fit neatly to existing 5ft single flosc tube work.

Thanks.

 

[333rocky333]

BG EFS 600 electronic starter
Also buy a 58watt colour 835 triphosphor tube the pair should be good for two years then.

Where in london are you, Edmunson stock philips starters

 

[ericmark]

My first thoughts are if the tube is on it's way out then it will tend to shorten the life of the starter.

As already said using a HF fitting will reduce the power used for light given in most cases.

I once did some experiments with 110v florescent fittings after I found using 25 x 60W fittings on a 16A supply caused an overload causing the 16A MCB to trip.

Being 110v there was an auto transformer which allowed a 110v or 127v tapping and clearly at 60W one would expect from 110v supply a load of just over 0.5A however when I measured on the 110v tapping it was 0.8A moving to the 127v tapping dropped it to 0.6A. I also tried without capacitor out of interest and it jumped to 1.2A. I changed all to 127v tapping however last few in run failed to start so last 5 were returned to 110v tapping and whole run of 25 lamps was under 16A.

From these experiments it became obvious that a slight over voltage made them use far more power and a slight under voltage caused them not to start. What we find today is most fittings are rated at 220v so no problem it starting but they do use more than rated power. If the voltage is matched to supply then there is very little saving using a HF fitting but in reality it is rarely matched so HF fitting save money. Also because of the way they work it removes the strobe effect and tubes last longer with slightly higher light output.

There are also different tubes using different coatings including in some cases a built in reflector hence huge difference in price. So by selecting an expensive tube and using HF one can nearly double the light output for same wattage used.

However with HF one needs to change the tube as soon as there are any signs of it reaching end of life or it can take out the ballast as the tube goes. So in industry it is common to have a fixed time between tube changes and every couple of years all tubes are changed regardless if they have failed or not. This reduces the number of HF ballasts that need changing.

The price of HF ballasts have now fallen so now no real reason for not using them. But you will not find them in the likes of Home Base or B&Q you will need to go to proper electrical outlet.