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Philips Black light
This is a Philips black-light that runs on 125w mercury gear. Notice the addition of a short filament from the frame to the top electrode in this lamp.  I think the only purpose for this is as a safety fuse in case the outer woods glass envelope breaks.  These would most likely be used in doors where people could be close and become exposed to the UV-C if the outer envelope was broken.  i can't date this lamps as the label has rubbed off.
Keywords: Lamps

Philips Black light

This is a Philips black-light that runs on 125w mercury gear. Notice the addition of a short filament from the frame to the top electrode in this lamp. I think the only purpose for this is as a safety fuse in case the outer woods glass envelope breaks. These would most likely be used in doors where people could be close and become exposed to the UV-C if the outer envelope was broken. i can't date this lamps as the label has rubbed off.

Philips_C150021ED37_-_USA_1993.jpg 250BL.jpg PH_BL125.jpg bkl1.jpg 20251109_145247.jpg
Lamp/Fixture Information
Manufacturer:Philips
Lamp
Lamp Type:mercury vapour
Electrical
Wattage:125
File information
Filename:PH_BL125.jpg
Album name:Tuopeek / Mercury Vapour
Keywords:Lamps
Filesize:383 KiB
Date added:10 Nov 2025
Dimensions:1949 x 2500 pixels
Displayed:17 times
DateTime Original:2025:11:10 21:00:50
Exposure Time:1/60 sec
FNumber:f/4
File Source:Digital Still Camera
Flash:No Flash
Focal length:27 mm
ISO:12800
Model:NIKON D3400
Software:Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
White Balance:0
URL:https://trad-lighting.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=1047
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Comment 1 to 5 of 5
Page: 1

Ria   [Mon 10 Nov 2025 at 21:04]
Interesting, I've never come across one with that little filament, must keep my eyes open wider. Shame about the lack of etch, sadly it happens all too often with older lamps Sad bulb icon Blacklight Mercury Vapour
Max   [Wed 12 Nov 2025 at 07:48]
Philips made a few oddball blacklight mercury lamps back in the days, like this tubular HPW-T 80W, which was for some special lab applications only (it has a phosphor coating too and never made it into regular production).
Tuopeek   [Wed 12 Nov 2025 at 18:25]
That’s a fascinating UV lamp Max! Saying it also has a fluorescent coating makes me think its an off-cut from the Black light fluorescent tube variant where the low-pressure discharge in predominantly short-wave UV and the coating convert it to longer wave UV. I believe this isn’t required in high pressure lamps as the discharge contains more long wave radiation anyway. I’d be interested to know if this improves the UV emission for this lamp.
Max   [Thu 13 Nov 2025 at 10:15]
High-pressure mercury arcs do emit some UV-C light, not as much relatively to their input power as low-pressure mercury discharges, but it's there and it's not negligible. Philips did sell a phosphor-coated HPW lamp featuring a higher UVA output, so there certainly is a use for that shortwave radiation. The HPW-T 80W shown above is very peculiar indeed, especially given its evacuated outer jacket which enables an operation over a wide input power range topping at 80 W (judging by the burner size and electrical characteristics). Decreasing the input power shifts the peak spectral emission of the mercury arc towards shorter wavelengths, and reduces the sleeve's temperature too. So, there must be some power settings where a significant part of the lamp's UV output comes from the phosphor. Some more detailed analyses are certainly needed to better understand how this lamp works exactly. This is for sure a very interesting engineering piece in my collection.
Tuopeek   [Thu 13 Nov 2025 at 16:11]
Tremendous, to have such an unusual lamp in your collection.

Comment 1 to 5 of 5
Page: 1