running 100v compact fluros on 240v

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Hi, Just come back from overseas and brought back a few compact fluros
that are much brighter than the ones in oz. Also they have a dome on
them and look like normal globes which saves you damaging the glass
spiral inside.

Anyway of course they work with a 100v step down xformer but Im
wondering
is there a cheaper smaller and lighter way to do this?

I did notice they sell international travellers mini xformers that dont
have wirewound xformers but rather an scr that chops the 240v sine wave
in half - enabling you to run 100v hairdriers , chargers etc on 240v.


Can I just feed the top half of 240v sine wave to run these 100v
compact fluros? I imagine
they have their own solid state inverter inside them..

Any ideas appreciated.

 

[Kr]

Hi, Just come back from overseas and brought back a few compact fluros
that are much brighter than the ones in oz. Also they have a dome on
them and look like normal globes which saves you damaging the glass
spiral inside.

Anyway of course they work with a 100v step down xformer but Im
wondering
is there a cheaper smaller and lighter way to do this?

Even though it is risky, (AND I HAVE NOT TRIED IT) there is a chance
that they might happily run directly from 240v.All 240v ones that I have tried so far (about 5 different brands
including philips and GE), happily run from 120v US mains, so its
quite feasible that these things (like almost all switchmode power
supplies nowadays) are made for universal world voltages and therefore
would work.

I did notice they sell international travellers mini xformers that dont
have wirewound xformers but rather an scr that chops the 240v sine wave
in half - enabling you to run 100v hairdriers , chargers etc on 240v.

Its worth a try. I dont see how it would damage the CFL, however if
the device put out a high frequency AC (unlikely) - the CFL's internal
mains rectifier diodes would be too slow recovery to work properly
from this.

 

[Terryc]

Hi, Just come back from overseas and brought back a few compact fluros

Try your local VJN dollar franchise. some of them have the 30 Watt
compact fluro. just be away that if you "tap" the globe, they fractured
much easier than the other brands (back to the 20W free hand for green
energy.com)

 

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Interestingly, have discovered an even BRIGHTER solution.
National make a 55w 40cm double tube that fits in a desk lamp. This
thing
must be the brightest fluro lamp I have ever seen! 55watts - must be
equiv of a 100w
incandecent lamp. It has to be seen to be believed. Sure its a lot
longer than a spiral
tube but as far as efficiency, it must be the best to date. I will
look at using them in an off grid situation, just need to find a 240v
inverter, as again its a 100v inverter that drives it.

thanks all

 

[Terryc]

Interestingly, have discovered an even BRIGHTER solution.
National make a 55w 40cm double tube that fits in a desk lamp. This
thing
must be the brightest fluro lamp I have ever seen! 55watts - must be
equiv of a 100w
incandecent lamp. It has to be seen to be believed. Sure its a lot
longer than a spiral
tube but as far as efficiency, it must be the best to date. I will
look at using them in an off grid situation, just need to find a 240v
inverter, as again its a 100v inverter that drives it.

1) if you are happy with them that long, why not use standard fluros?

2) If you are off-grid, have you looked for units/circuits to drive
these directly instead of going through an inverter which makes double
"electronic" handling?

 

[Kr]

Interestingly, have discovered an even BRIGHTER solution.
National make a 55w 40cm double tube that fits in a desk lamp. This
thing
must be the brightest fluro lamp I have ever seen! 55watts - must be
equiv of a 100w
incandecent lamp.

it would be equivalent to a 250w incandecant bulb, and in terms of %
efficiency - it wouldn't be much different to other CFL (though if you
needed one 50w light, it might be a little more efficient than 5x10w
units)


Actually you can also buy 50w CFL's at bunnings in the NELSON brand.

It has to be seen to be believed. Sure its a lot
longer than a spiral
tube but as far as efficiency, it must be the best to date. I will
look at using them in an off grid situation, just need to find a 240v
inverter, as again its a 100v inverter that drives it.

You could just buy the 12v/24v CFL's and connect them to the
appropriate battery, (or use the CFL inverter kit from Oatley
Electronics.)