Magnetic Ballast for Fluorecent Lamp

Hi,

Does any one have circuit diagram for Magnetic Ballast for Fluorecent Lamp and its explanation ...its very urgent

Thanks in advance.....

It can be only an inductor. It is needed to limit the current since flourescent lamp work as negative resistance device.

So as more current flows through them (more gas ionized), the electrical resistance of the fluorescent lamp drops, allowing even more current to flow. Connected directly to a constant-voltage mains power line, a fluorescent lamp would rapidly self-destruct due to the uncontrolled current flow. To prevent this, fluorescent lamps must use an auxiliary device, commonly called a ballast, to regulate the current flow through the tube.

For circuit examples check this site.

Thanks ..but I am looking for circuits with AC and magnetic ballast which uses a starter ......I am not too good at circuit design ..please do help

Goto:
http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/FluorescentInverter/FluorescentInverter.html
and see section on 240Vac fluoro-light ..

Regards,
IanP

smith_suez said:

Thanks ..but I am looking for circuits with AC and magnetic ballast which uses a starter ......I am not too good at circuit design ..please do help

Click to expand...

If you are not very skilled in electronics then it's best if you use the schematic that IanP has provided. Go to your nearest hardware shop and buy magnetic ballast-that is a large and quite heavy inductor and connect it in series with the lamp as shown in IanP's schematic. Starter as the name states has the job of starting the ionization of the gas in the lamp. To achieve that, it has to provide a couple of kV of voltage which it produces from AC line.
Once the gas is ionized and the plasma effect is in action the starter is no longer needed since the negative resistance effect commes to play.

So:
1. buy magentic ballast od aproprite power look like this
2. buy some starters
3. connect by IanP's schematic

Electronic ballasts in my last post do the same job as magnetic, but are not as heavy by far as inductors.[/url]