Steve,
Several months ago I needed to buy a bunch of fixtures for my shop. The
short story is I ended up buying new off the shelf 'domestic' fixtures as
they were cheaper then buying the dang ballast need for some used shop
fixtures I had offered to me.
Though I never followed through with the ballast purchase, I did find that
the Phillips Advance ballast with the suffix of ES (I think) and with the
voltage of 120 input were the only ones for domestic use I could find that
were suppose to be RFI clean. The internal diagram I was provided with
showed some RFI filtering. As someone on this reflector has pointed out the
120-277 input voltage tends to be commercial only with no filters
incorporated in the design.
Unfortunately, I had a hard drive crash in the middle of this project and
the document was lost. So again, the above is from memory.
Good luck.
Eric - VE3GSI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve"
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2012 10:20 PM
Subject: Re: [RFI] Electronic Fluorescent Ballasts - look for Residential
rated
Thanks for the advice Tom.
The local Lowe's sells Philips ADVANCE ballasts. The model ICN-2P60-SC is
for a pair of T12 lamps, 6ft or 8ft.
The installation instructions in the box have a brief paragraph on the
last page regarding EMI/EFI. The last two sentences in particular caught
my eye: "Most ballasts meet the lass stringent Non-Consumer requirements
for commercial applications. Ballasts meeting the more stringent Consumer
requirements for residential applications are noted as such on the ballast
label."
There is no indication on the ballast label that it is consumer rated.
Indeed, the Philips Technical Datasheet indicates the ADVANCE line of
ballasts is "Non-Consumer (Class A) rated for EMI/RFI."
Going to call local electrical houses tomorrow, see what they have to
offer.
Do you know who might manufacture a consumer rated ballast? How much
quieter is RF-wise the consumer rated ballast as compared to the
non-consumer rated device?
Steve K8JQ
On 12/25/2012 7:21 PM, Tom McDermott wrote:
Hi Steve,
FCC Part 18 covers EMI from lighting. It has two EMI categories
(analogous
to Part 15): Residential and Industrial/Commerical. You can find
electronic
ballasts (used with T8 fluorescent tubes) that are rated for residential
use - although not always at the big box stores. The magnetic ballasts
are
used with T12 fluorescent tubes. It is well worth the trouble RFI-wise to
search for residential classified ballasts if you are using electronic
ballasts.
-- Tom, N5EG
Hi all,
I have a 2-tube 96 inch fluorescent lamp over my electronics workbench.
The ballast needs replacing. The old ballast is inductive and I am not
aware of any RFI issues caused by it.
The big-box stores only carry the electronic ballasts. Wonder if the
electronic ballast will cause me problems?
Is there anywhere one can still buy the inductive ballast?
Thanks.
Steve, K8JQ
Charleston, WV
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