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Broken Light This is the effect I was looking for but it isn't quite as good a picture as it appears, as I had to snap it from a video of it trying to start. The fluorescent tube here is in two parts inside my vacuum chamber. It is trying to start on a normal 40w choke ballast and glow starter. It was very close to running but the conditions are not good enough. Wrong gasses, poisoned electrode emissive coating and other possible current paths for a start. You can see all the plasma leakage paths including from the pin base on the left. Keywords: Miscellaneous

Broken Light


This is the effect I was looking for but it isn't quite as good a picture as it appears, as I had to snap it from a video of it trying to start. The fluorescent tube here is in two parts inside my vacuum chamber. It is trying to start on a normal 40w choke ballast and glow starter. It was very close to running but the conditions are not good enough. Wrong gasses, poisoned electrode emissive coating and other possible current paths for a start. You can see all the plasma leakage paths including from the pin base on the left.

WC-C360S64-EL-91-1_0~0.jpg 2020-06-19_Sylvania_MS400_BD_Only.jpg flour1.jpg SU-ULX150-D-68.jpg GE-LU400-BU-83.jpg
Lamp/Fixture Information
Model Reference:Now mercury free fluorescent
File information
Filename:flour1.jpg
Album name:Tuopeek / Misc
Keywords:Miscellaneous
Filesize:139 KiB
Date added:25 Apr 2026
Dimensions:1246 x 779 pixels
Displayed:25 times
URL:https://trad-lighting.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=1227
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Comment 1 to 4 of 4
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Ria   [Sat 25 Apr 2026 at 18:17]
Oh dear, that looks a bit sorry for itself Sad Fluorescent Lamp
Drew   [Sat 25 Apr 2026 at 23:36]
Very cool! Interesting to see the plasma taking two paths, one through the tube and one bypassing it, I would assume it would just choose one path or another. Maybe it's the camera but the phosphor looks surprisingly normal colored, maybe looking a little mercury starved (I wonder why lol Laughing /s), but decently white.
Max   [Sun 26 Apr 2026 at 05:12]
Very neat experiment! I'm also surprised to see how well the phosphor is excited. By the way, aren't you concerned about the introduction of mercury in your setup via those broken fluorescent tube pieces?
Tuopeek   [Sun 26 Apr 2026 at 19:50]
Thanks all, this was an unusual capture as it blinked a lot and didn’t stabilise. Sometimes one half would look correct with the discharge partly around the other tube, or both electrodes would just be glowing. The bright output may relate to the instantaneous energy from the inductor emf.

Max, I wasn’t worried about mercury as this broken tube had been in my glass bin for over a year. I sometimes collect the fluorescent powder for other experiments. The mercury dose in fluorescent lamps is so low it rare to spot a tiny bead in the lamp. Should I be worried Wonder It was conducted in the garage .

Comment 1 to 4 of 4
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