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Re: [RFI] Electronic Fluorescent Ballasts - look for Residential rated

To: <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] Electronic Fluorescent Ballasts - look for Residential rated
From: "Eric - VE3GSI" <ve3gsi@myrehall.ca>
Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2012 11:26:07 -0500
List-post: <rfi@contesting.com">mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
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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