🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <C1FvCx.6y8@max.physics.sunysb.edu> ,
danube@max.physics.sunysb.edu writes:
>   Hello again.  More problems with my current research.  I need a UV
>source.  I have a used Mercury lamp, said 250W before I took the envelope
>off.  Inside is a quartz tube with two electrodes sticking into each
>end and Hg blobs on the sides of the tube.  There is no filament between
>the electrodes in the ends as in the ususal flourescent bulbs.
>   On one end, the two electrodes are connected to the AC via a 15K (?)
>resistor, i.e. hooked up like a little glow lamp with a current limiting
>resistor.  The other end is simply connected to the AC, through what
>was a filament of some sort before I evaporated it.  See the diagram
>below.
>    My question is, how is this lamp supposed to work and how can I
>get it going without blowing fuses? 
(nice ascii diagram deleted)
Just went through this little excercise last week - yes, you do indeed
need a ballast : in uncivilised (110volt) countries, this consists of an
autotransformer+choke combination, and is found in "security light"
fittings (weighs a heap) costs about $25 for the whole kit&kaboodle.
Be very very careful of that quartz tube - it is under pressure and
blows up with a helluva bang if abused. Never touch it with fingers.
The third electrode produces an initiator arc. In 230v countries, a
simple choke is sufficient. Without ballast, fuse blowing is inevitable.
Now if some cunning person could invent an electronic Hg vap ballast
cheers,
Mike.