"NEW" Even-Glo Lightpanel®
Lamp type: EEFL (External Electrode Fluorescent Lamps)
The are two main factors limiting the life of "standard" fluorescent lamps and cold-cathode fluorescent lamps.
The first is electrode (cathode) failure. The emission coating on the electrodes at
each end of a linear fluorescent lamp deplete over time, which is a major cause of lamp failure and a barrier to a
longer lamp life.
The second main limiting factor to the life of "normal" fluorescent lamps and cold-cathode fluorescent
lamps is that of leakage around the electrode wires that travel through the glass wall at the ends of the lamp.
Fluorescent lamps are filled with noble gas, typically argon; sometimes krypton, or a mixture of both. When the
seal around the electrode wire leaks, the gas mixture inside the lamps is contaminated and the lamp fails.
Inductively coupled electrodeless fluorescent lamps, such as the EEFLs we are discussing, may last as many as
100,000 hours, but typically have average lives in the 60,000 - 80,000 hour range. These new lamp types use
high-frequency energy to activate the gaseous plasma inside the lamp, causing the phosphor coating on the
lamp's interior surface to brightly glow.
External electrode fluorescent lamps, as their name suggests, have no electrodes inside the lamps; with no
electrodes inside the lamps, there is no need for electrode wires to pierce the glass at the ends of the lamps.
Essentially, the EEFL is simply a sealed glass tube, filled with argon, with a phosphor coating inside. There can
be no leakage and contamination of gas and there can be no cathode failure...the two leading causes of failure
in fluorescent tubes. |
