Starting performance of high-frequency electronic ballasts for 4-foot fluorescent lamps

With the rapidly increasing number of electronic ballast manufacturers and ballast products entering the market recently, the compatibility of fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts has become one of the major concerns among specifiers and users. In 1993, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) published ANSI C82.11-1993, which describes recommendations for high-frequency operation of fluorescent lamp ballasts. To address compatibility issues for lamp starting, ANSI C82.11 limits the average value of the RMS glow current to a maximum of 25 milliamps and lamp preheat time to a minimum of 500 milliseconds. The ANSI definitions of glow current and preheat time are made on an ideal lamp starting curve. In reality, some electronic ballasts produce lamp starting curves very different from ANSI definitions, creating difficulties in practical measurements of glow current and preheat time. This research work tested lamp starting characteristics of 17 different electronic ballasts on 2-F40T12 lamps. The results showed that the starting performance of electronic ballasts varied: some met ANSI requirements, but some did not. The results also showed that using electrode voltage can better define preheat time and glow current which can better characterize the starting performance of electronic ballasts, and ensure reliable testing procedures.