A papcr contributed to the Symposium on

"Electronics," M. E. Fogle in charge.

THE STARTING OF FLUORESCENT LAMPS~

By JOHN A. LINDER:~

ABSTRACT

Similar characteristics of fluorescent lamps and sterilamps are dis-

cussed. Conversion of electric energy into ultraviolet and luminous
radiations is considered. Data are given showing how starting voltage
is lowered when a parallel conductor is brought toward a lamp. The
detrimental effect of high air humidity is thoroughly explored to show
how breakdown voltage increases with relative humidity.

INTRODUCTION

The forty-watt fluorescent lamp in use today is a tubular lamp 48 in.

(122 cm.) long and 1.5 in. (38 mm.) in diameter. It operates at 108
volts and 0.42 amp. to deliver 2,100 lumens. This lamp has much in com-
mon with the 30 in. (76 cm.) sterilamp, which is made in a tube of
0.5 in. (13 mm.) diameter and which operates at 425 volts and 0.043 amp.
In both lamps an alternating current discharge produces radiation of
2,537A. In the case of the fluorescent lamp, this 2,537A radiation, on
striking the fluorescent powder with which the inside of the bulb is
coated, is converted into visible light. However, in the sterilamp a
special ultraviolet transmitting glass is used and the 2,537A radiation
passes through the bulb to be used in killing bacteria.

ENERGY TRANSFER

In both lamps, there is an electrode at each end. The alternating

current, suitably ballasted, flows first in one direction and then reverses
in the following half cycle. For one-half cycle an electrode is the cathode
and the opposite electrode is the anode; in the following half cycle,
cathode and anode arc reversed. In both lamps the task of the cathode
is to emit electrons. The frec electrons in the space between the elec-
trodes are accelerated by the electric force applied. These electrons
collide with atoms of gas or mercury. W h e n these collisions are with a
monatomic gas, the electrons may rebound without loss of energy.
t Manuscript received January 12, 1945.
$ Lamp Division, Westinghouse Elec. & Mfg. Co., Bloomfield, N. J.
379

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 380 jo~ A. LZNDER

Eventually, through this acceleration, electrons will speed t~p and ac-
quire an energy somewhat greater than 4.86 electron volts. When such
an electron strikes a mercury atom in an inelastic collision, it will dis-
place an electron in the mercury atom and raise it to an energy level
higher by 4.86 electron volts. In such a case, the colliding electron will
travel on with diminished energy. After a very short period of time, the
displaced electron in the mercury atom will return to its original energy
level and give up the 4.86 electron volts of energy it has acquired. How-
ever, the energy is given off in a photon. An electron volt is equivalent
to 1.6 x 10-22 ergs; so, the energy acquired by the displaced electron is
4.86 x 1.6 x 10-12 ergs. The energy of the photon is hf where h = 6.54
x 10-27 ergs per second and f is the frequency of vibration of the photon ;
thus, we secure f for a photon of energy equal to 4.86 electron volts.
From this frequency and the speed of light, it is found that the photon
has a wave length of 2,537A.
From this, three important parts of the discharge between the elec-
trodes may be seen First, there is a high voltage at the cathode. This
may be considered to represent an expenditure of energy used to drive
electrons from the cathode and is known as the cathode drop. Second,
there is a dark space just beyond the cathode in which the energy level
of the electrons is low. In this space very few electrons have acquired
the energy necessary to excite the gas atoms and consequently very little
light output is obtained. Third, there is the positive column in which
the voltage gradient is uniform and the electron energy is sufficient to
excite the mercury atoms. It is from this that the radiated energy is
secured. In all of these details, the 40-watt Mazda fluorescent lamp and
the thirty-inch sterilamp are alike.
Quantitatively, though they differ. In the sterilamp, a cold cathode is
used. Normally its cathode drop is around 80 volts. In the 40-watt
Mazda fluorescent lamp, a hot cathode is used. This has a cathode drop
of approximately 18 volts. The wattage lost at the cathode is of no
value in producing light in one case or ultraviolet light in the other.
Obviously, in comparing these two types of cathodes, unless the per-
centage of the wattage lost at the cathode in the two cases is equal, one
or the other would be more advantageous. It is also obvious with such
a combination that hot cathodes may be more eff• with high-current
lamps, while cold-cathode lamps may present opportunities with lamps
which operate at a low ,current. One other, difference of the two types
of cathodes should probably be mentioned here. Cathodes of the two
types which are being used at the present time have one important dif-
ference. The cold cathodes will stand a great number of starts without
materially affecting the life of the lamp. This is not true in the case of
the hot cathodes where increasing the number of times a lamp is started
throughout its life will materially affect the life of a lamp. It should
also be mentioned that experimental cathodes furnish great promise of
minimizing this difference. As far as the positive column is concerned,
and that is that part of the whole electric system from which the desired
output is obtained, it is not conscious of the type of cathode from which
electrons are obtained.

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 THE STARTING OF FLUORESCENT LAMPS 381

STARTING CHARACTERISTICS

So far, we have spoken only of the lamp itself. This is only part of
the electric system used in producing the required output. In both lamps
a transformer is required to provide the voltage needed to start the
lamp. This brings a third combination into the picture.
In a 40-watt Mazda fluorescent lamg, where 350 volts are required
to start the lamp at air temperatures of 60 ~ to 80 ~ F (16 ~ to 27 ~ C)
and a relative air humidity of less than 60~o, this voltage may be very
materially reduced by heating the cathode. This effect is indicated in
Fig. 1, which shows the starting voltage required by the existing 40-
watt Mazda fluorescent lamps when increasing heating currents are

400.

500

~J
<
V-

>.
200

IO0

9i~o ,2oo .5oo 400 . S00 6O0

CATHODE HEATING CURRENT IN AI,4PE~E5

FxG. I. 40-watt T12 fluorescent lamp. Breakdown voltage vs. cathode heat-
ing current.

FIG. 2. Glow switch operation.

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 382 john A. LINDER

passed through the cathode before the starting effort is made. This
whole conception is the basis of glow-switch starting.
Perhaps at this point it might be well to recall the operation of a glow
switch. A simple circuit is shown in Fig. 2. A transformer, providing
an open-circuit voltage which is insufficient to start a 40-watt Mazda
fluorescent lamp when its cathode is cold, is connected to one end of
each of the two cathodes. The other end of each of these two cathodes is
connected through the glow switch. When the line switch is closed,
the open-circuit voltage of the transformer is applied through the cath-
odes to the glow switch. This causes the switch to glow and the wattage
consumed in the switch is sufficient to heat the bimetal electrode, thereby
causing it to close. When the glow switch contacts close, the cathodes
are heated by essentially the short-circuit current of the transformer.
After a short period of time, while the cathodes have been heating, the
contacts of the glow switch open. Because of the lowered starting volt-
age required 'by the heated cathodes and the inductive kick caused by
the opening of the switch contacts, the lamp is started.
We have three types of lamps. First, one with a cathode that starts
cold and operates cold. This is typified by the s'terilamp. Second, a
lamp operated with a glow switch such that it starts hot and operates
hot. The ordinary 40-watt lamp illustrates this type. The transformer
in this circuit provides an open-circuit voltage of 200 and the power
loss in the ballast is 8.5 watts. Third, there is the type which starts with
a cathode which becomes hot in operation. The ballast for a 40-watt
lamp of this type has a loss of 14.5 watts and an open circuit voltage
of 450 volts.
Thus, all three of these combinations have advantages and disadvan-
tages. In the first type, long life may be secured witl/ a great many
starts. Instant starting is also provided. Its chief difficulty is with the
length of the tubes required and the hazard of the comparatively high
voltage. The second type, which is the type in general use at the present
time, is the most efficient. However, this method has several disadvan-
tages: lamps take an appreciable time to start and there are two parts
to fail; both the switch and the lamp wear out. In the third type, bal-
last loss is high but instant starting is provided.
Many optimum characteristics of such lamps have been pretty well
established. Among these are the operating temperature, with the con-
sequent mercury pressure, and the most desirable gas and pressure.
There are, however, two details on which there seem to be opportunities
for improvement in efficiency. First, there is the fluorescent coating.
Improvements in its initial efficiency, as well as the maintenance of this
efficiency throughout life, could furnish a better lamp. Second, a reduc-
tion in ballast loss offers opportunity for improvement. It is our pur-
pose to discuss here lamp-starting voltage, an important factor influenc-
ing the wattage loss in the ballast.

E F F E C T OF A P A R A L L E L CONDUCTOR ON STARTING VOLTAGE

In the first place, if unreasonable distortions of the current wave

shape are to be avoided, the line voltage should be held to a minimum
of around 175% of the lamp voltage. On the other hand, the trans-

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 T H E STARTING OF FLUORESCENT LAMPS 383

former open-circuit voltages must be high enough to start a lamp under

the most adverse conditions. In practice, it is the latter consideration
that limits the transformer design.
A 40-watt lamp in a circuit in which the secondary of the transformer
is not grounded at 75 ~ F (24 ~ C) with the relative air humidity less
than 60% and with no near conductors, requires about 480 volts to
start it. If a conductor the same length of the lamp is placed parallel
to it and readings of the starting voltage are made as this conductor
is brought closer to the bulb, a change will be found in this starting
voltage.
Distance of con-
ductor from
lamp oe 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 0.5 in.
Starting voltage 480 477 474 466 458 447 428 410 390

In an operating 40-watt lamp, only a small portion of the cathode

is raised to a temperature high enough to give appreciable thermal
emission? Furthermore, the lamp current is considerably higher than
can be accounted for by thermal emission from the cathode. However,
a positive ion space charge builds up ,near the cathode. This space
charge creates an electric field which greatly increases electron emission.
As a conductor is brought closer to the lamp, the electric field near the
cathodes is increased, while that through the center of the bulb is de-
creased. It is probable that this distortion of the field in the lamp, which
increases the field near the cathodes, helps lamp starting in a manner
somewhat similar to that in which the positive ion space charge in-
creases electron emission.
If one side of the secondary of the transformer is grounded, the elec-
tric field becomes distorted. It is low at the grounded end and high at
the other. If a high field at the cathode helps starting, it would be
expected that grounding would help lamp starting. Tests confirm this.
The lamp which required 480 volts to start with an ungrounded second-
ary, requires 400 volts when the secondary is grounded. When both
the secondary and a conductor 0.75 in. (19 mm.) from the lamp are
grounded, the breakdown voltage of the average 40-watt Mazda
fluorescent lamp is reduced to 350 volts. This represents the condition
most frequently found in operating 40-watt lamps with a grounded
metallic reflector replacing the conductor used in our tests. Conse-
quently, except where it is specifically stated that some other condi{ions
apply, all subsequent breakdown voltage figures were secured using
this combination of grounded secondary and a grounded conductor
0.75 in. (19 mm.) from the bulb.
Two factors having a materially detrimental influence on lamp start-
ing are low air temperature and high humidity. With the conditions of
temperature and humidity normally experienced by 40-watt Mazda
fluorescent Iamps, the effect of humidity on lamp starting is the greater.
Curve A in Fig. 3 shows the effect of changing relative humidity on
the voltage required to start a typical 40-watt lamp. Curve A joins
a "Electrical Discharges in Gases," K. T. Compton and Irving Langmuir, Rev. Modern
Phys. 2, (April, 1930).

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 384 JOH~ A. LINDER

curve A at 73% relative humidity. This curve represents the voltage

at which a very low current discharge begins to excite the gas and pro-
duce a small light output. At 50% relative humidity this discharge
appears at 287 volts. As the voltage is increased, there is some increase
in the light output but until the voltage of curve A is reached, in this
case 350 volts, the cathodes are operating cold. At 350 volts a rapid
change takes place. The current increases to 0.41 amp., the cathode
begins to operate as a hot cathode and the lamp voltage drops to nearly
the stable lamp-operating voltage of 108. On the other hand, at a
relative humidity of 80%, as the voltage is slowly raised, the sequence
of events is somewhat different. No light from a discharge can be seen
until 450 volts is reached. At this voltage the lamp breaks down and
almost instantly begins to operate in its normal manner.
700

600
/
/
id
cI

g~
5oo
/
Z 400
3:
o
(13 A~
3c t t
,<
ttJ /
300
CO
A - HIGH CUP.RENT PISCHARGE C A T H O D E S - HOT"
A e - LOW ,, - " - SOLD

200 ]
40 50 O0 70 80 90 100
RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN .O/o
FxG. 3. Breakdown voltage vs. relative humidity.

A relationship of voltage and current in a low-pressure gaseous-dis-

charge device is given by Druyvesteyn and Penning. 2 We have modified
their data in Fig. 4 to show more nearly the relationship existing in a
40-watt lamp. The solid line A shows the type of curve that exists at
50% relative humidity and the broken curve B the relationship at 80%
relative humidity. On curve A, as the voltage is raised the current in-
creases slowly. Then at V~, a great increase in the current is experienced,
a discharge in the lamp becomes visible and a glow is seen on the cath-
odes. At this point, represented by C, no further increase in current
9 " T h e Mechanism of Electric Discharges in Gases at Low Pressure," M. J. Druyvesteyn
and F. M. Penning. Rev. Modern Phys. 12, 87-174 (April, 1940).

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 T H E STARTING OF FLUORESCENT L A M P S 385

can take place without an increase in the voltage supplied. Under these
conditions, the current flowing through the lamp is of the order of a
milliampere. As this voltage is increased, a gradual increase in the cur-
rent takes place. At VD the current has reached a value sufficiently
high (about 25 milliamp.) to heat the cathodes, causing them to change
over to a hot cathode with its correspondingly lower cathode drop.
Finally, properly ballasted by the circuit, the lamp settles down to nor-
mal operation, indicated by E (Fig. 4). However, at 8 0 ~ relative hu-
midity a.very much higher voltage must be reached before the rapid
increase m current at Vo is experienced. Since Vo is so much higher
than VD, when Vo is reached the current will rapidly increase until E,
the normally operating conditon of the lamp, is reached.

500 -

400 < 5 ~

'A' Ii
300

200-

tO0
:SOLID LINF '~ AT 50[% RELATIVE HUHIDITy
. _ ~ " "B" " 8a'/=
o
.OOl .0! . I
1 [
I 10 100
1i

1000
LAM P CORRENY IN MILLIAMPERES
FIa. 4. Lamp voItage vs. lamp current.

The true breakdown voltage is Vo or V~. However, at low humidities

where VF is less than VD, a voltage higher than the real breakdown
voltage must be reached in order that the lamp current be increased to
normal operation. On the other hand, at high humidities, where Vc. is
greater than V D , the breakdown voltage Vs is sufficient to bring the
lamp current to normal operation. In other words, the lamp-starting
voltage, in contrast with the breakdown voltage, is VD at low humidities
and VG at high humidities. From this it would seem that, while the
cathode design is important in determining the lamp-starting voltage at
low relative humidity, it should not have nmch effect at high humidities.
Furthermore, since under the most adverse conditions of humidity, VG

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 386 JOHN A. LINDER

determines the voltage required to start a lamp, our problem reduces

itself to the question of decreasing Vo.
Several tests were run on 40-watt, 48-in. (122 cm.) "T 12" lamps to
e~plore these ideas. Starting-voltage measurements were made on
unseasoned 40-watt lamps at relative humidities (RH) ranging from
40~b to 98%. These same lamps were then seasoned for 48 hours and
the test repeated. The lamp-starting voltage in the two cases is:
50% RH 90% RH
VF VD Vo
Unseasoned . . . . . . . 245 350 700
Seasoned . . . . . . . . . 245 275 700

Two devices are known which eliminate the greater voltage required
for starting lamps at higher humidities. Both have disadvantages. The
first is a conductive coating such as a carbon strip along the outside of
the bulb wall from one end of the lamp to the other. Such a coating
produces a lamp which needs no increase in the voltage required for
starting between 40% and 98% relative humidity. This device has two
serious disadvantages. Breaks in the continuity of the conductive strip
will increase the voltage required for starting above that necessary for
no strip at all. For example, a lamp which requires 480 volts for start-
ing (using an ungrounded line and no conductive strip) will start at
340 volts with a conductive strip extending along the length of the bulb
and up to 1 in. (2.5 era.) from each base. Scratches across the strip
interrupting its continuity can raise the voltage required for starting
to 600 volts. Furthermore, there is a hazard from shock brought about
through the conductivity of this strip.
A second means to the same end is the use of a water-repellent coat-
ing which maintains a high resistance with changing humidity. Such
a lamp, too, needs no greater starting voltage at high than at low
humidity. However, the coating process is comparatively expensive. In
addition, dust and vapor condensations on the surface of the bulb tend
to nullify the effectiveness of such a coating.
Here are two devices producing much the same results. One has a
very high resistance and the other a very low resistance. This com-
parison suggests testing the resistance of the glass of the bulb as the
humidity is changed. This was done on a number of lamps on which
curves of lamp-starting voltage as a function of relative humidity had
been secured. It was found that, generally, this resistance was in excess
of 100,000 megohms under 50% relative humidity; 10,000 megohms
between 60% and 70% relative humidity and at just under 100%
relative humidity, ran between 50 and 300 megohms. Furthermore, in
many cases lamps which had a comparatively low resistance just under
100% relative humidity, had a lower breakdown voltage at that point
than at some lower humidity. In such lamps, a curve showing break-
clown voltage in terms of relative humidity had a maximum voltage at
some point less than 100% relative humidity. When a curve of break-
down voltage against resistance is plotted for these lamps, it is seen
that the breakdown voltage reaches a maximum between 80 and 140

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 T H E STARTING OF FLUORESCENT LAMPS 387

megohms. There is a suggestion from these data that breakdown volt-

age is a function of resistance and that a peak breakdown voltage is
reached at some critical resistance. Such a conception would fit with
the data we had on very conductive strips on the bulb, as well as with
that on the high-resistance, water-repellent coatings.
In connection with this, data were secured on breakdown voltage and
resistance at different relative humidity on some lamps as they were
received from the factory. These tests were repeated on the same
lamps after the bulbs had been cleaned for fifteen minutes in dilute
hydrofluoric acid.

Before C l e a n i n g
Relative humidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60% 70% 80% 90% 95% 98%
Breakdown voltage . . . . . 365
. . . . . . . 375 420 560 620 635
Resistance (1,000 megohms) .... 100 3.5 0.9 0.34 0.24 0.2
After Cleaning
Relative humidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60% 70% 80% 90% 95% 98%
Breakdown voltage . . . . . . . . .... 370 370 370 370 390 415
Resistance (1,000 megohms) .... 100 100 44 10 5.5 3.9

These data show a good agreement in breakdown voltage at resist-

ances higher than 9,000 megohms. At lower resistances, that is, as
100% humidity is approached, this is not the case. There is some
evidence that the resistance of the bulb is not uniform along its length.
It may be that such a lack of uniformity causes the creation of patches
of charge on the bulb wail?
So we have an increased breakdown voltage at high humidity. We
also have lower resistance of the glass bulb at higher humidity. The
breakdown voltage is not entirely a function of resistance. Yet there
seems to be a relationship between the two. There appear to be two
factors in the picture. The first, which tends to increase the breakdown
voltage, seems to have little effect at low humidity (high bulb resist-
ance). As the relative humidity increases, the average resistance de-
creases and breakdown voltage increases until at some point a maximum
is reached. This relationship may be associated with an increasing
effect from these patches of charge.
However, as the increase in humidity brings about a further decrease
in resistance, the chance of creating patches of charge decreases and a
second factor becomes more influential. This factor seems somewhat
similar to that produced by the conductor which, as it was brought
nearer the bulb wall, reduced the breakdown voltage. At high resist-
ances, this effect is negligible but, as the relative h'umidity is increased
and the resistance of the bulb wall is decreased, a reduction in the break-
down voltage is obtained until with negligible resistance the maximum
effect is felt. In this case, we have a situation comparable to the con-
ductive strip spoken of earlier. Perhaps a simpler comparison is that
s,,Conditions Favoring the Start of an Arc Discharge Between Cold Activated Electrodes
at 50 Cycles ver .~ecnnd." F. M. Pirani. Proc. Phys. Soc. ,55, 24 (1943).

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 388 JOEN A. L:ND~R

these patches a ~ like a floating grid in a thyratron. This would ex-

plain not only our low breakdown voltage at very high and very low
resistarlce, as well as the higher breakdown voltage at intermediary
points, but also our inability to associate a definite breakdown voltage
with a given resistance.

R e s u m e n del artfculo: "El E n c e n d i m i e n t o de L~mparas Fluorescentes."

H a y tres tipos de l/tmparas que producen luz por la excitaci&n
electr6nica de vapor de mercurio, la 1/mapara bactericida que funciona en
frio, la l~mpara fluorescente con interruptor autom~tico que se enciende
y funciona en ealiente, y la hlmpara que comienza con el c~todo frio
pero se calienta en marcha. E1 segundo tipo tiene mayor eficiencia, pero
tarda en encenderse, no dura tanto si se enciende muchas veees, y el
interruptor puede fallar. Ya se conocen la mejor temperatura, gas, y
presi6n de gas, pero se podrla mejorar la capa fluorescente v disminuir
las p6rdidas en la resistencia en serie. Estas p6rdidas dependen del
voltaje a que se eneiende la liLmpara, lo que por Io tanto se estudi6
detenidamente.
Se ha descubierto que tal l~mpara se enciende m{ts f~icilmente si hay
un conductor paralelo a la I/tmpara. Si hacen falta 480 v. sin el con-
duetor, bastan 390 si est{t a 1.25 cm. de la litmpara. Se puede disminuir
el voltaje de 480 a 400 empalmando un borne del transformador a
tierra. Cuanto m~is se ealienta el e/ttodo mas f~cilmente se enciende
(Fig. 1). Elevada humedad atmosf6rica dificulta el encendimiento
(Fig. 3), pero se puede evitar este efecto por una eapa que resiste la
humedad o por una tira conductriz que va de un extremo de la l~mpara
al otro.

Discussion of this paper will be found in Volume 88.

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