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Re: Voltarc HiMa Electrode
Posted By: SVP Neon Equipment In Response To: Re: Voltarc HiMa Electrode (Sean S)
Date: Tuesday, 3 February 2009, at 3:45 p.m.
First, let me make this perfectly clear: My reply to Sean is in no way a personal attack on him, nor the company he works for. I am merely presenting my observations, prior information, personal experience and opinion related to the topic and the resulting replies and comments that have been made.
> Sorry to keep ya waiting Mark. I just got
> back into town.Whenever I am out of town I take my laptop with me so I can stay in touch with what is going on in the industry. Even mediocre hotels now have wireless internet access, and I know you have posted to message forums while you have been out of town in the past. Perhaps you were just waiting for someone else to chime in first. Just an observation.
> The HiMa was designed for 600mA applications
> and 8 feet of glass to be left on 24 / 7.Standard fluorescent lamp ballasts don't even put out 600 mA. None of the HiMa replacement lamps I have ever made operated on anything close to 600 mA that I am aware of, FedLite or otherwise. Based on the conversations I have had in the past with the engineers who designed the FedLite ballasts, I believe the operating current was closer to 100 to 200 mA and *possibly* 300 mA depending on the particular ballast someone is referring to. Forget about what Federal may have *claimed* the current was. IMO the HiMa electrode would not survive for very long at 600 mA.
Further, if you have ever made any lamps for the JC Penney letters you know that: 1) They may be either 20mm or 25mm (I think there were even some 18mm thrown in there) and, 2) Many, if not most of the lamps were far less than 8 ft. and never operated 24/7. As sign identification the letters are typically on a timer; off during daylight hours, on at night. So if the electrode manufacturer made the recommendation that the HiMa electrodes, which were promoted as a hot cathode electrode not suited for repeated on/off cycles, should be used for (in this instance) the JC Penney campaign, it would seem it was a bad recommendation. I'm not saying that was the case - just speculation.
> The FedLite ballast was a one lamp ballast.
I believe there was more than one ballast including a two lamp ballast at one point.
> Typically when the tubes
> were replaced with "off the shelf"
> electrodes the ballast was also changed.Who was privy to this information that the ballast should be changed along with the lamp if standard-type electrodes were used? Did the manufacturer of the HiMa electrodes ever issue an industry wide bulletin? The electrode manufacturer, being as informed about the industry as they hold themselves out to be, had to know that there are shops scattered all over who have, or still do make replacement lamps for the JC Penney letters. Were they notified? Or did they have to learn this on their own? Based on what John said above and what I know myself I would surmise the latter.
> If the ballast wasnt changed then it would be
> like putting a 60mA trode on a 200mA
> ballast. It will work, but for how long??Assuming that the ballast is putting out the 600 mA you suggested above I would be inclined to agree. But I don't think 600 mA is the case.
> The reasoning for the discontinuing of the
> electrode is more than I feel like typing.I agree. I could probably write a couple of pages about it myself based on my experiences and the all-inclusive major PITA it was just to make replacement lamps. However, I will say this: Companies who develop and use an exclusive product where one is not needed, just to guarantee that the end customer will have to come back to them for replacement parts at exorbitant prices, usually end up shooting themselves in the foot in the long run. Such is the case with FedLite and the HiMa electrodes IMO.
> The hot fill was not designed to be a
> replacement for the HiMa.I never said it was. What I said was, "So what I gather then is the HiMA electrodes do not function like the HotFil electrodes." But they were supposed to.
Moreover on this subject, you are telling a different story than what myself and others have been told by other EGL representatives and former employees. I'm not sure why that is, but IMO this kind of inconsistent information puts you and EGL in a bad light (no pun intended).
Mark
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