🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4995@ae.sei.cmu.edu> rsd@sei.cmu.edu (Richard S D'Ippolito) writes:
+In article <22334@gryphon.COM> richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton) writes:
+
+=There are two kinds of ballasts: magnetic and elecronic. The
+=former is by far the most common type, and is little more than
+=a transformer. It is cheap to puchase. It has the drawbacks
+=of being noisy (this is the source of the humm, or buzzing
+=so often ascociated with fluorescent lights) and not
+=terribly energt [sic]  efficient. A fixture with two 40 watt bulbs
+=may actually draw 250 watts.
+
+Twentyfive years ago, when I did lighting design, the typical transformer
+ballasts for two 40W tubes consumed less than 20W, making the total fixture
+demand less than 100W.  I know this because I also had to calculate the
+air-conditioning load.
+

 One point that seems missing, 25 years ago the lighting industry was not
totally saturated with YUPPIE-MBA assholes! This has had a severe impact
on the QUALITY of the Ballast transformers being produced.

 The older units that I have should last well into the next century..built
like the proverbial brick privy!  The newer transformers are made of thin,
cheap steel and are just painted.  The newer units run very hot  and  I've
noticed  they  rust within a few months in humid climates.  The older ones
use thicker metal (hence they run cooler!) that is galvanized (hence  they
don't rust!) and then painted.

 Inside is another  horror-story;  the  older  ballasts  had  true-lamnate
windings  not so with the MBA-specials!  The modern (read: cheap!) ballast
is just set of windings  (some  don't  even  use  copper  wire!  they  use
ALUMINUM on the really cheap Korean ones!) around a minimal core, some use
a shell-core made of more cheap sheet steel.  The case is  usually  filled
with some polyu-foam, but I have seen some that are filled  with  ordinary
black  tar!  Yeech!  No  wonder  these things hum so bad!  My 20+ year old
transformers are audible, but just barely.  Mostly you hear the  tubes  at
60Hz.

 In conclusion, the next time you curse cheaply made electrics of this ilk
remember that the guys to blame are the so-called "Value Engineers"..most
of whom DO NOT have an EE, and have next to no knowledge about anything
except accounting. These are the bastards that insist on such garbage being
sold in the marketplace. It is unfortunate that the management of most
companies cannot distinguish between 'value' and 'cost'...they just keep
letting the MBA-dickheads screw things up.


ps- If you were asked  by  someone  where  YOU  work  to  substitute  inferior
materials or workmanship in the job you do...would you comply?

-- 
-Avatar-> (aka: Erik K. Sorgatz) KB6LUY           +-------------------------+
Citicorp(+)TTI                          *----------> panic trap; type = N+1 *
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (213) 450-9111, ext. 2973 +-------------------------+
Santa Monica, CA  90405 {csun,philabs,randvax,trwrb}!ttidca!ttidcb!sorgatz **