LIGHT SOURCES

6-27
T
12 IN.
-BASE CONTACTS
- TUBE BASE
(SOCKET NOT
SHOWN)
at present are the 180-watt,
10,000-lumen lamp and the 145-watt, 6,000-
lumen lamp. These are applied principally to street and highway light-
ing and can be used on either series or multiple circuits.
25
The 10,000-lumen lamp shown in Fig. 6-20 consists of a tubular inner
bulb about 12 inches long and about 3 inches in diameter placed within a
double-walled vacuum flask to maintain the proper temperature. The
inner bulb contains a small quantity
of sodium, and some neon gas to
facilitate starting. Coiled filaments
at either end serve as cathodes with
one side of each filament connected
to molybdenum anodes. Four base
contacts are required. This lamp
has an average life of 3,000
hours
under normal street or highway light-
ing service. It has a starting volt-
age of 50, a normal operating voltage
of 30,
and a current rating of 6.6 am-
peres.
On closing the lamp circuit to begin
the starting operation a time-delay
relay allows the cathodes to heat.
Then the circuit is broken and the
induced voltage of the transformer
starts a discharge of a characteristic
red color through the neon. As the
temperature rises the sodium evapo-
rates and gradually the sodium vapor
discharge comes up to its full bright-
ness and normal yellow color. This
warm-up requires about 30 minutes.
The auxiliary equipment for street
FIG
-
6
"
20
-
10,000-lumen, sodium-vapor
series operation of the 10,000-lumen
amp '
sodium lamp consists of a time-delay switch arrangement for preheating
the cathodes and a radio interference suppressor. For operation on
multiple circuits a reactive ballast must also be provided since the multiple
circuit does not regulate the current.
A sodium lamp for laboratory work is also available. The total input
is 60 watts and the lamp itself consumes 28 watts. The high-resistance
ballast used with this lamp results in some sacrifice in efficiency but en-
sures the stability of operation necessary for laboratory measurements.
Miscellaneous Electric Discharge Lamps
Glow lamps. These lamps, which may have a rating as low as 0.3 lu-
men per watt, are impractical sources for general illumination, but they
are often used as signal, pilot, or night lights. The typical lamps shown in
DOUBLE-WALLED
t~
EVACUATED
FLASK
CATHODE
"(FILAMENT)