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Re: 25mm Glass

Posted By: Tom U.
Date: Wednesday, 2 April 2008, at 4:37 p.m.

In Response To: Re: 25mm Glass (Don Miner)


Well, you're right Don, it's a trade-off you need to decide. I'm just not sure of the cons of using colored glass in this case. What would they be to you?

If you look at the spectral distribution of a standard green tube pumped with neon, the spike is around 640 nanometers. If you look at an orange, colored glass tube w/ phosphor, you see the spike at around 610 nanometers. They're really different colors. (Clear glass with neon is about 645.)

If you look at the lumen output of each, the green pumped neon is about 175 lumens in 15mm glass and the orange coated is about 300 lumens in the same.

You're right, most phosphor coated tubes will lose 20% of lumen output after 1.5 years and it levels out for a while after that (some more, some less). That seems like an acceptable level to me.

While the green pumped neon won't lose as high a percentage in lumen output over time, the color will shift more toward the color of the neon gas as the same phosphor breakdown happens.

My opinion is that the mercury shouldn't darken the orange tube significantly for quite some time if the tube is processed well.

I guess here, ultimately the customer should choose. But, I think it's cases like this where neon can, and should, stand apart from other lighting mediums. Particularly in cases like this - "a lighting fixture...in a modernized dorm building."

cheers,

Tom U.

> Not trying to pick nits, Tom but from my 47
> years experience, I'd have to say that it
> would be a trade-off. You can get color
> dregradation with a mercury tube as well.
> The neon gas will have a tendency to make
> the green a bit more red over several years.
> The mercury will tend to darken the orange
> glass over the equal time span. Just my 2
> pennies worth, Don


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