@@izzystuart7798 get a little F4T5 and take it down the pub for a pint! Lol should work with any cfl as the principle is the same - almost fully vacuumised tube with a highly rarefied gas ‘fill’.
@@leejenwin1937 That would be cool to see it fill up with a pint! I have a 16w 2d bulb that died to try it with, one of the electrodes caused the plastic casing to melt! Do you think it was just a bad bulb or a problem with the ballast? Its seams to be working fine with a new bulb. Thanks!
@@fried-chicken420 "Alright chants and Lady's of course, today we are somewhere special. I am today in finnland to see how many Amps it will take to melt a hydraulic press."
You never realize how much you missed this man until he returned and all the good times in 2015 come rushing back in, thank you photon for making a much needed come back to youtube. :)
This was actually one of the better episodes - because you turned it into a small school-like experiment with proper explanation, instead of the usual "connect it to the variac and turn it up until fun stuff happens." This was very different and refreshingly interesting.
For a man who spent a lot of time on youtube saying, "I popped it!", it's honestly amazing to see the collection of EVERYTHING and how well it's all kept. Fascinating, really.
I kept thinking at least put on some gloves. I was working with a guy that had one blow up in his hand, the phosphorus gets in the cuts and it hurt like hell. He is a mad scientist, so we should never be too surprised by the crazy stuff he does.
As a maintenance electrician who’s changed hundreds of tubes over the last 40 years : 1) That was one of your best most interesting videos you’ve ever done my Photonic mate ! 2) Can you remember the fantastic quality of the old Thorn fluorescent fittings from 30+ years ago ?
Me: looking up power grove tubes and brushing up on my fluorescence physics until 2 am. My wife: "Why do you always stay up so late on your phone? Are you messaging other women?"
Despite you saying this was a boring video, I actually found this to be one of the most interesting videos yet! Perfect mix of information and blowing shit up.
btw most of the gas we can see in the 8ft tube was not inside the tube before - there should only be around 0.3% gas in there (8ft*0.3% = 0.3 inches = 0.76cm) the rest is from dissolved air in the water which got pulled out of the water by boiling it in the vacuum.
Also it's gravity. The weight of the water column lowers the pressure inside the tube, causing the gas trapped in the tube to expand. With 8ft = 2.4m of water column, that's about 2.4kPa less than ambient pressure.
@Les Hemmings @kpanic23 you're right. still this effect could be avoided by doing a horizontal run, while the effect Rob mentions, stays true or might even be exaggeratet due to greater surface area. but that might be wrong or really, really tiny of a difference.
As exciting as it was to watch things go bang in 2013, It's genuinely just as interesting to see the practical experiments and explanations in your new videos. Had no idea how straight forward the starter on a tube was. Welcome back Photonicinduction
Photon, with all due respect, everything you refer to as the "boring bits" of your videos is really good and teaches me things. It's also pretty chill and relaxing!
20 years a spark, and a vague understanding of how the tubes worked. But you've made it click, and actually given me the understanding of how the ballast, starter and tube work. Thanks again.
Andy may dislike LEDs, but I'm quietly glad that the only time I need to touch fluoro battens these days is when I'm ripping them off ceilings and throwing them in the garbage. :)
It has to be said. One can endlessly read /study theory of any given subject. But there also needs to be a practical demonstration - a picture is a thousand words.. to make the information understandable.
for anyone like myself wondering about that dented tube: "The indented glass tube decreases the distance mercury ions diffuse to the wall, thereby increasing the ambipolar ion loss rate, which in turn increases electron temperatures. This leads to reduced electron density, and hence increased lamp efficacy."
I always thought what was going on with the Power power through fluorescence to increase light output and efficiency was just more surface area and more phosphor getting in contact with UV emissions. And along with that the more Meandering path effectively creates a longer tube in a way and also just allows more area and effectively Justin more efficient lamp by creating a pseudo longer fluorescent I know it's kind of simplified and may not be exactly right but that's what I thought even since I first saw the power group for the first time what seems like eons ago. I remember often times seeing power grew fluorescence in the canopy type over hanging roofs jutting out over the storefronts outdoors here in the United States that's for the most part where I saw them. Also any clue what that have coded tube would have been used for I'm guessing it was for demonstration purposes but no clue if anyone could fill me in be great! Someone actually gave me a couple old fluorescent starters since they knew I was into electrical Antiquities and stuff. like that just to have a couple samples of some old ones. Some of them even had a screw base on them can't remember which size probably intermediate screw base but could be some other size not sure. Also had a couple that were bayonet Bass as well as some that were just a pair of pins that would plug into some socket that was unknown to me! Pretty sure it was not the same size across as the small fluorescent tubes look more like something that would be a plug in an old that would have the old insulating disc and just depends and the wire solder into it. Sometimes use for speakers or other purposes inside old radios and TVs not surprising if what they called the radio bases on some fluorescent tubes were based on this or perhaps even essentially the same sort of connector but just used in fluorescent fixtures possibly or it could be in name only. Also one on things this day I'm trying to figure out at the old church the. downstairs there was this 4-pin plug that was a tube socket type male plug.. black apparently metal housing around the plug I think that all four wires were connected it was the old cloth covered or something somewhere possibly silk covered very similar to what would be in an old radio that almost jute colored wire that sort of thing. I suspect it might have had something to do with an over audio system but not sure what was above there but it was in the hallway hanging down about a foot or less. Couple times I was good and tempted to lift that acoustical tile ceiling tile there at least see where the wire was going although it may have only had two wires connected but I think it was all four pins in gears it almost look about what would be on some rectifier tubes it's possible it was a different 4-pin connector note it was not those little small ones like used to be on car radios and other equipment typically wisdom plastic or or Bakelite plug. And I do not believe this was telephone although it had been suggested possibly obsolete telephone system. Other odd stuff there too as well. In the sanctuary about toward middle of the edge of the stage along with a few other Mike Jacks and some other unknown connectors. The thing that sticks out the most and is most out of place. 8 Pin octal socket mounted on Single Gang brass wall plate Marion horizontally in the floor above the carpet just like everything else. Also in the basement in the vicinity actually in-room opposite that hallway word at 1 odd 4 wire plug was is the audio system in that area had the old Jack's if you want to call them that. That were the I guess you probably hermaphroditic audio connectors that were just a single skin doctor in Shield and had the screw thread ring on either end of the mic cables. The idea of that system being either end the cable could be a male or female. Interesting enough they had used so no more modern ones that were just a plastic molded versions of these and oftentimes they were cables in use some actually installed literally in the walls going between the choir loft and the audio system in the basement. But instead of having that connector for a mic they had an adapter screwed on for 1/4 inch extension. And talk about ground Loops yep cheater adapters with the ground chopped off everywhere. Yeah but sometimes anytime would check if there's home in the system chances are someone I forgot to plug in with those two to three adapters with the ground cut off to be used as a ground lift. Yeah I know the lot full safety never look the ground but it was old school and probably have been that way since day one! Even with my audio equipment at home I attempt to keep everything at the same ground potential. Bedroom there is one extension cord that is used for everything that needs to be on Common Ground in that area. Since things get plugged in that get connected to other equipment on the same ground specific reason for this. All on the same wall and not much load but just keeping audio and computer equipment ground common to everything to avoid problems that that could lead to equipment damage and just driving me nuts AKA excessive 60 HZ line hum! There's enough of it as it is still need to get a couple ground Loop isolators. Also the place is old enough that when we had the new construction and they had pulled out the old carpet and everything. There was evidence of the old audio system two wire twisted pair cloth covered running from the front to the back down the center Ohio either side tucked in where the carpet was attached at the edges. We suspect old speaker lines but we're not sure. Cannot remember about what the wire gauge was either. I suspect that they originally had wall box speakers maybe four of them total perhaps. I think some people call those wall baffle speakers but anyone know the proper term for those those sloped front speaker boxes like you used to see in the old schools search Republic address system sometimes called wedge speakers or otherwise still trying to figure out what to actually call them for a proper name. Also when there was some updates done after the construction I actually did salvage some of the old speakers they had old ceiling baffle speakers in some areas. They were PA system speakers but the cool thing is there was a separate woofer and tweeter in the same speaker baffle they were installed in the ceilings originally there was like three levels of it of the grill it looked like a flattened Pagoda white but Square and getting smaller as it went downward the Tweeter was in the next to the top baffle. I have used these speakers in the past in my workshop and my parents old place made a little box to go on the ceiling work great for the application plus they were actually the proper impedance! I actually just disconnected the Lauren Transformers since it was originally used 90 or whatever volt line public address speaker outputs. I've noticed a lot of these speakers are actually 8 ohms as it is. And eventually did put in a proper crossover in those speakers as well originally it was just a capacitor sounded a lot better. Eventually I actually just enclosed the back of those boxes I made for the speakers and put terminals on the Box made a nice set of speakers for an auxiliary pair. Actually put door handles on them and made a back piece as a stand and cable wrap when not in use also had the option of quarter quarter inch plug in addition to the speaker terminals so could be used portable speakers if desired still around somewhere not sure where. Along with extension cords converted to quarter inch speaker a pair of them. I do remember that the wall plate I had for the speakers in one area of the place was actually labeled left and right I think Hi-Fi speakers I believe if I remember correctly it was salvaged from an old Ford Econoline van! More friends pimped one out just as kind of the second vehicle for pulling things and getting things place to place kind of like an El Cheapo panel van just to get things from here to there when needed when pickup truck wasn't practical
I've said it so many times at work, the girls there will say "where's my ammer?" if something needs a tap. None of them have ever seen one of these videos.
@@nathanschmitz4106 In series with the rest of the lights, instead of the flasher lamp. Put them across the mains and the starter vanishes with a big pop. Along with the dog, but the dog came back 10 minutes later, I never found any of the starter aside from the base.
Only use 1 starter and splice it into the extension cord. Makes everything on that cord flicker, instead of using a blinker bulb which is a very different effect. Done it several times without issue.
I gotta say it’s seriously like stepping back in time watching these videos, it’s so great to have you back on here. Definitely were a big inspiration for younger me to start messing with electronics in the first place
“Hopefully they will be more interesting than this one” this was absolutely fascinating! They way you explained it was top draw to. Maybe I also appreciate the noise a fluorescent lamp comes on the pinning the humming from the ballast great fun! Thanks Photon.
Dan Flavin was a minimalist artist who made money selling sculptures made out of lights, then he made money selling lights to museums to replace burned out lights in his sculptures no one else had, ha
Am I the only person who wants to know the "why" or "how" behind nearly everything he says? Endless Google searching, commense! (starting with Power Groove and why they're rare now)
Imagine being the first scientist to see that beautiful glow around a charged electrode in gas and thinking "I've discovered something really fundamental here". Great vid as always Photon.
It was Heinrich Geissler. It led to the Crooks tube, which led to the discovery of electrons, the discovery of X-rays, and the electron tube/valve which was the basis of all electronics until the transistor was discovered.
Not only is it boiling, the dissolved air is also coming out of solution, for double the foam. Delicious phosphor and black water shake, with just a hint of mercury for seasoning. Anyone care for a pint?
I can't do the maths anymore, but even after the water settled in that 8' tube, the gas is probably still pulling a 90% vacuum... I mean, it's pulling nearly 2m of head!
He thinks that that is dull and boring! He must be joking, it is fantastic, entertaining, and I learn something new every time he does a video. Keep it up sunshine, you;re doing great :-))
@@mrkeeny I know man, its brilliant though. I have a drawer full of old flyback transformers. If I came across or had access to those tubes. I would hold onto them also!
I love his calm voice, but imagine you wake up with duct tape around your mouth and off to the side you hear calmly, "today I'll be using the variac..."
@Charlie Bucket the ogs say it was the first 3 episodes, but that's what got me into star wars in the first place, I thought the newer films were good, can't understand why people give them so much shit, star wars is star wars imo
Andy, shirts getting tighter due to being well fed is always solved by a bigger shirt. I thought a I knew a thing or two about fluorescent tubes, until the "how much vacuum" experiment. Top stuff.
In the last video someone commented saying he never moves his neck, I can tell that comment bugged him lol.. he responded to it and wasn't even sure what the person was talking about at first.. Its rather funny he started talking about that in the end, because I know exactly the comment that triggered that.
@@helpabrothawithasubisaiah5316 i know how he feels, wearing tight shirts or pants are a pain, "like being in a cardboard box" is a good way to put it lol
Love it. Used to work for furniture factories in town. They had large induction ovens for curing furniture glue and just had tube clips on the top of the ovens with a fluorescent lamps clipped in, no wiring. Because of the induced emf the lamps glowed whilst the oven was on. You could see at a glance which oven had finished its cycle by looking for the tube that was off. Also used to stand next to large transformers with fluorescent lamps and get the same effect. Made great non contact testers when you had a bank of incoming supply transformers.
We used to live under the power lines over Tottenham Marshes. and you could get a glow from a fluorescent tube and running a wire which wasn't connected to anything. Your films are great, keep it coming👍👍
I rode under a fairly large pylon on my mountain bike with wet legs and boots from crossing a stream, my gloves were also wet and a very large voltage was induced thru the bike frame and my metal handlebar end caps and I got a tremendous buzz up my arms and they were tingling for a good few hours !!! Happy daze 😃
RE: experiment showing gas left in the tubes Remember that the water has gas dissolved in it. You can see the water degassing as it's being pulled up the tube. Also, the pressure in that top bit of the 8 foot tube must be very low since the whole column of water is pulling down. So the vaccum is probably BETTER than what you're seeing. I wasn't expecting this.
@@Falcrist Well no because once it reaches regular pressure again it will start to condense, unless it passed its critical point. As for the gases, yes true but again what can , will dissolve into the water after stabilization of the water. However, its been a while so I might be wrong about the physics. Maybe given more time to stabilize, it would be more accurate.
@@unknowninvictus2520 It doesn't go back to regular pressure. It's at low pressure because of the 8 foot column of water pulling down on it. Also even at normal pressure and temperature the gasses don't immediately dissolve back into the water. That process takes time. Also also, if there is boiling taking place, the temperature at the top will be quite low, further reducing the speed at which those gasses would re-dissolve.
@@unknowninvictus2520 If you want to be much more accurate, I would recommend doing this with the top of the tube right at the surface of the water. Then give it an hour for everything to settle.
I’ve seen so many famous you tubers comment about photons return I’ve been watching his channel since I was 15 right when he started. I’ve never seen such a crowd of people of such stature be so happy of someone’s returns. Rightfully so. Andy is an internet treasure.
fluorescent tube and led have both pros and cons. what it is crazy to me is all that electronics and circuits that every led lamp must have: every led must have ti so it is probably cheap and made of shit. I know that led need that to rectify the ac and ecc but why the electronics had to be hard wired with the led? would make more sense to have in 2 separate unit: the electronics unit and le light unit so you can buy and replace what you what when you need and it can also minimize waste. why replace both when you could replace one or the other? like in fluorescent tube you have the tube, the balast and the starter (in the old one).
Andy is absolutely right though. The main problem with LEDs is reliability. I've spent a large proportion of my working life replacing damn LEDs. (LEDS, one word. Not L.E.D.s, three words. I replaced my first LED back in 1969 and we always called them LEDs not poofy L.E.D.s) I'm not changing my terminology because they are now efficient and PC. I have LED lamps throughout my house but I also have a drawer full of spares. I certainly don't believe that BS about thousands of hours operation. Thanks for the viddy Andy.
@@olsmokeyFor Edison base bulbs, try Phillips, and EcoSmart brands. Surprisingly, Cree has not been great for the higher cost. Been experimenting with 4-ft LED tubes, but enough years to claim a winner yet.
@@olsmokey There's actually a reason LEDs fail, it's all to do with planned obsolescence, LEDs can theoretically last forever, they're super efficient, don't produce much heat and are generally cheap to produce, knowing this, imagine how hard it'd be if you started a company producing LEDs, make a few billion devices, then what? Nobody ever needs an LED again, they'll never come back as a customer, it's a one stop shop. In short, LEDs are fantastic, but they aren't economically viable to run a business on.
@@Killerjerick THAT. Is the whole point of the led misery. Designed to fail. Overdriven and undercooled = specific calculated lifespan of about 25month. So it barely endures two years of warranty. Its much like a racecar. Every meter it can drive after it went (as a winner) over the finishline was unnessecary weight/reliability somewhere on the car. The perfect car wins and falls to pieces. The perfect planned obsolescence product finishes with a 24 month 1 day lifespan and fails. Led floodlights could last 20 years. But A: the driver doesn't (for obsolecsence reasons) and B: the chips are overdriven !!AF!!. Bad cooling by design and no cooling at all in retrofit lightfixtures (as they were designed for incandecant bulbs) don't really help on that. So either design + build your own led fixtures or stand with discharge lamps as long as possible. T5 are quite efficient and run for over 10 years on electronic ballast.
Cheap Chinese tubes. My first set of 4' LED tubes were off of Amazon, a voltage regulator burned out on the driver circuitry after maybe two or three years, because the tubes heat sink wasn't even touching the board. I later replaced these with Lowe's Utilitech, and they've been running for up to 10 years now, because the tubes don't have a driver circuit in them. They're designed to be used with electronic florescent ballasts
Loved this video, I remember watching this one a couple years ago, and still remember most of it. Really interesting how much vacuumed a tube is really under.
Used to use fluoro starters when I was little in series with Christmas Tree lights to make them flash. Much better than normal flashing sets as the flash was much more erratic. Wire a relay over the first set and use it to drive another set when the first was off and the erratic switching really was an awesome effect :)
Great video, I do everything in my power to not have LED lamps in my workshop and home. in my old work shop I went out of my way to find one of the last a boxes of F96 T12 VHO 215 W lamps for my workshop. There is no LED that will match the light emitted from these laps VHO fluorescent lamps . I also have an old 250 watt mercury vapour lamp lighting up my yard for years now. I will never replace it. I have saved many old light fixtures and ballasts from the scrap yard over the years and have always found metal arm lamps fascinating. Great video again, best part was watching that POS LED lamp getting fried - made my day. Greetings from Ontario Canada.
I wish I had 1/10th of the electronics collection you do! A lot of the things you have stockpiled are a bit before my time but I hope to have similar things one day.
I remember seeing the half tube back in 1974 when I did an electrical course at the College for Distributive Trades in Leicester Square (now a radio station LBC or Capital I can't remember which), paid a visit to Thorn House in Shaftesbury Avenue to do my lighting project and saw just about every tube they made, always remember that half tube, fascinated me at the time and still does. Thanks for sharing, brought back some happy memories.
Brilliant demonstrations! Favourite phrase in this one... " Well, lets force it to work" love this channel. Science and a sense of humour make for great content.
I've recently upgraded my garage lightning and specifically opted to use old dual 6 ft fluorescent fixtures with exposed tubes instead of LED lamps. Not only now I have control over quality and color of light, but with phase shifted tubes in each fixture I don't have issues with flicker and as an added bonus I've ended up with a power factor close to unity. Plus I love the simple looks of those 30 years old fixtures that would be otherwise scrapped!
A very interesting and educative video. :) Thanks. I've known for a long time fluorescent tubes have a better quality of light than many cheap LED lamps.
The amount of hard vacuum in those fluorescent tubes is astonishing, and the water test was brilliant!
It was cool wasn't it! I wonder if it would work with a little CFL.
@@izzystuart7798 get a little F4T5 and take it down the pub for a pint! Lol should work with any cfl as the principle is the same - almost fully vacuumised tube with a highly rarefied gas ‘fill’.
The column of water weight makes the little bit of gas left seem larger than it really is.
@@leejenwin1937 That would be cool to see it fill up with a pint! I have a 16w 2d bulb that died to try it with, one of the electrodes caused the plastic casing to melt! Do you think it was just a bad bulb or a problem with the ballast? Its seams to be working fine with a new bulb. Thanks!
Yeah, I figure they flood it with Argon or the gas of choice and then just pump it down and seal it and the remnant gas does the job.
I am so glad that you are still using the old intro. Never change it! :D
Nostalgia 💯
Press a stack of lit fluorescent tubes, also running leds and incandescent ones :)
So glad you guys watch Photon
If Hydraulic press channel and photonicinduction did a colab 😉😉🤣🤣🤣
@@fried-chicken420 "Alright chants and Lady's of course, today we are somewhere special. I am today in finnland to see how many Amps it will take to melt a hydraulic press."
You never realize how much you missed this man until he returned and all the good times in 2015 come rushing back in, thank you photon for making a much needed come back to youtube. :)
Seconded
Definitely.
Feels good man!
What do you mean you never realise? Everyone else did 😋
yes missed him as well
"Don't need too much", proceeds to turn the water black.
HAHAHA
I found the “boring bit” the more interesting bit. I like learning.
Yeah hes like "now you all know this." And I'm thinking nah I dont lmao I never even knew glass was inside those plastic starters
For sure
Me 2
The Photonicinduction auto click instinct is returning
No kidding, 3 minutes old now.
@@ulor5939 we all on about the same thing
How can one go wrong here? :)
Nature is healing
The Photonicinduction auto Jedi click instinct is Strooong in this one....
"Hopefully a little bit more interresting than that".
This was very interesting to watch :)! Keep it up!
Robin officially watches photonicinduction. 👍 awesome. Har været fan siden fyrværkerihygge #1.
This was actually one of the better episodes - because you turned it into a small school-like experiment with proper explanation, instead of the usual "connect it to the variac and turn it up until fun stuff happens."
This was very different and refreshingly interesting.
For a man who spent a lot of time on youtube saying, "I popped it!", it's honestly amazing to see the collection of EVERYTHING and how well it's all kept. Fascinating, really.
The smell of burnt carpet has returned to the loft
*And he could using a beer for fire extinguisher*
🤣🤣👍
Exactly my thought when I saw the LEDs laying on the carpet.
The intro, the crazy upstairs lab. I was waiting for him to build through the ceiling and hook up a toroidal device on the roof 🥴
You need burnt carpet to get rid of the Ozone smell. You need Ozone to get rid of the burnt carpet smell.
If you had been my science teacher, I'd likely be a scientist today.
When you were nipping the metal end cap at 11:34 , I got some serious Big Clive vibes!
I was expecting an implosion :)
I kept thinking at least put on some gloves.
I was working with a guy that had one blow up in his hand, the phosphorus gets in the cuts and it hurt like hell.
He is a mad scientist, so we should never be too surprised by the crazy stuff he does.
[smashes a tube with a hammer] "Oh dear! I popped it."
Your delivery remains top-notch. Love this channel
Photon can't be bothered with shopping lists, he just buys the whole shelf.
I've never seen the inside of a starter before, that's neat
Starters are my favorite part of Fluorescent lighting. Especially the Neon Philips ones. Love the red glow shortly before startup
If this bloke wasn't torturing light bulbs, he'd be interrogating James Bond in the next film. ⚡⚡⚡
This content is so fascinating regardless of one's level of understanding. Such cool little devices. Plus, breaking stuff is fun too
Same here. I would love to understand just a 10% of his experiments.
Make it pop
It has something interesting for everyone :)
So we don't have the mess and poisonous debree
i was just about to say, I know next to nothing about electricity or light bulbs but this has been one of my favorite channels on youtube for years.
I'm more impressed there was enough water in that wee basin to fill up the 8ft tube.
Exactly! I was waiting for that 8 foot tube to suck it all up.
I'm just going to assume he added water as it was filling LOL.
@@thescreamingfish Then I wonder how he'd empty the tube without making a mess or breaking the tube and then making a mess.
As a maintenance electrician who’s changed hundreds of tubes over the last 40 years :
1) That was one of your best most interesting videos you’ve ever done my Photonic mate !
2) Can you remember the fantastic quality of the old Thorn fluorescent fittings from 30+ years ago ?
I have some old 80w BC complete fittings, original control gear and tube still work from 45 years back
Me: looking up power grove tubes and brushing up on my fluorescence physics until 2 am.
My wife: "Why do you always stay up so late on your phone? Are you messaging other women?"
Despite you saying this was a boring video, I actually found this to be one of the most interesting videos yet! Perfect mix of information and blowing shit up.
Yeah this was one of my favourite!
btw most of the gas we can see in the 8ft tube was not inside the tube before - there should only be around 0.3% gas in there (8ft*0.3% = 0.3 inches = 0.76cm) the rest is from dissolved air in the water which got pulled out of the water by boiling it in the vacuum.
... and the vacuum pulled by the weight of the water. (The barometer effect)
that's what i was wondering! thanks for doing the maths
Also it's gravity. The weight of the water column lowers the pressure inside the tube, causing the gas trapped in the tube to expand. With 8ft = 2.4m of water column, that's about 2.4kPa less than ambient pressure.
I
@Les Hemmings @kpanic23 you're right. still this effect could be avoided by doing a horizontal run, while the effect Rob mentions, stays true or might even be exaggeratet due to greater surface area. but that might be wrong or really, really tiny of a difference.
As exciting as it was to watch things go bang in 2013, It's genuinely just as interesting to see the practical experiments and explanations in your new videos. Had no idea how straight forward the starter on a tube was. Welcome back Photonicinduction
Yes these guys are new age Nikolas for sure! This channel is the best on the toobs and beyond!
Photon, with all due respect, everything you refer to as the "boring bits" of your videos is really good and teaches me things. It's also pretty chill and relaxing!
Every time one of those dinky LEDs blows, an electronic engineer weeps and a Corp. CEO grins.
Not to mention the array of arsnic and other lovely things in the led manufacturing process
Still they are a modern miracle, and have given safe clean light to the impoverished of the world for pennies.
20 years a spark, and a vague understanding of how the tubes worked. But you've made it click, and actually given me the understanding of how the ballast, starter and tube work. Thanks again.
God bless the tradesmen. I only wish I could work with more guys who actually get it.
Andy may dislike LEDs, but I'm quietly glad that the only time I need to touch fluoro battens these days is when I'm ripping them off ceilings and throwing them in the garbage. :)
It has to be said.
One can endlessly read /study theory of any given subject.
But there also needs to be a practical demonstration - a picture is a thousand words..
to make the information understandable.
20:14 "LEDs, that's a swear word! " You got me! :D
for anyone like myself wondering about that dented tube: "The indented glass tube decreases the distance mercury ions diffuse to the wall, thereby increasing the ambipolar ion loss rate, which in turn increases electron temperatures. This leads to reduced electron density, and hence increased lamp efficacy."
I always thought what was going on with the Power power through fluorescence to increase light output and efficiency was just more surface area and more phosphor getting in contact with UV emissions.
And along with that the more Meandering path effectively creates a longer tube in a way and also just allows more area and effectively Justin more efficient lamp by creating a pseudo longer fluorescent I know it's kind of simplified and may not be exactly right but that's what I thought even since I first saw the power group for the first time what seems like eons ago.
I remember often times seeing power grew fluorescence in the canopy type over hanging roofs jutting out over the storefronts outdoors here in the United States that's for the most part where I saw them.
Also any clue what that have coded tube would have been used for I'm guessing it was for demonstration purposes but no clue if anyone could fill me in be great!
Someone actually gave me a couple old fluorescent starters since they knew I was into electrical Antiquities and stuff.
like that just to have a couple samples of some old ones.
Some of them even had a screw base on them can't remember which size probably intermediate screw base but could be some other size not sure.
Also had a couple that were bayonet Bass as well as some that were just a pair of pins that would plug into some socket that was unknown to me!
Pretty sure it was not the same size across as the small fluorescent tubes look more like something that would be a plug in an old that would have the old insulating disc and just depends and the wire solder into it.
Sometimes use for speakers or other purposes inside old radios and TVs not surprising if what they called the radio bases on some fluorescent tubes were based on this or perhaps even essentially the same sort of connector but just used in fluorescent fixtures possibly or it could be in name only.
Also one on things this day I'm trying to figure out at the old church the.
downstairs there was this 4-pin plug that was a tube socket type male plug..
black apparently metal housing around the plug I think that all four wires were connected it was the old cloth covered or something somewhere possibly silk covered very similar to what would be in an old radio that almost jute colored wire that sort of thing.
I suspect it might have had something to do with an over audio system but not sure what was above there but it was in the hallway hanging down about a foot or less.
Couple times I was good and tempted to lift that acoustical tile ceiling tile there at least see where the wire was going although it may have only had two wires connected but I think it was all four pins in gears it almost look about what would be on some rectifier tubes it's possible it was a different 4-pin connector note it was not those little small ones like used to be on car radios and other equipment typically wisdom plastic or or Bakelite plug.
And I do not believe this was telephone although it had been suggested possibly obsolete telephone system.
Other odd stuff there too as well.
In the sanctuary about toward middle of the edge of the stage along with a few other Mike Jacks and some other unknown connectors.
The thing that sticks out the most and is most out of place.
8 Pin octal socket mounted on Single Gang brass wall plate Marion horizontally in the floor above the carpet just like everything else.
Also in the basement in the vicinity actually in-room opposite that hallway word at 1 odd 4 wire plug was is the audio system in that area had the old Jack's if you want to call them that.
That were the I guess you probably hermaphroditic audio connectors that were just a single skin doctor in Shield and had the screw thread ring on either end of the mic cables.
The idea of that system being either end the cable could be a male or female.
Interesting enough they had used so no more modern ones that were just a plastic molded versions of these and oftentimes they were cables in use some actually installed literally in the walls going between the choir loft and the audio system in the basement.
But instead of having that connector for a mic they had an adapter screwed on for 1/4 inch extension.
And talk about ground Loops yep cheater adapters with the ground chopped off everywhere.
Yeah but sometimes anytime would check if there's home in the system chances are someone I forgot to plug in with those two to three adapters with the ground cut off to be used as a ground lift.
Yeah I know the lot full safety never look the ground but it was old school and probably have been that way since day one!
Even with my audio equipment at home I attempt to keep everything at the same ground potential.
Bedroom there is one extension cord that is used for everything that needs to be on Common Ground in that area.
Since things get plugged in that get connected to other equipment on the same ground specific reason for this.
All on the same wall and not much load but just keeping audio and computer equipment ground common to everything to avoid problems that that could lead to equipment damage and just driving me nuts AKA excessive 60 HZ line hum!
There's enough of it as it is still need to get a couple ground Loop isolators.
Also the place is old enough that when we had the new construction and they had pulled out the old carpet and everything.
There was evidence of the old audio system two wire twisted pair cloth covered running from the front to the back down the center Ohio either side tucked in where the carpet was attached at the edges.
We suspect old speaker lines but we're not sure.
Cannot remember about what the wire gauge was either.
I suspect that they originally had wall box speakers maybe four of them total perhaps.
I think some people call those wall baffle speakers but anyone know the proper term for those those sloped front speaker boxes like you used to see in the old schools search Republic address system sometimes called wedge speakers or otherwise still trying to figure out what to actually call them for a proper name.
Also when there was some updates done after the construction I actually did salvage some of the old speakers they had old ceiling baffle speakers in some areas.
They were PA system speakers but the cool thing is there was a separate woofer and tweeter in the same speaker baffle they were installed in the ceilings originally there was like three levels of it of the grill it looked like a flattened Pagoda white but Square and getting smaller as it went downward the Tweeter was in the next to the top baffle.
I have used these speakers in the past in my workshop and my parents old place made a little box to go on the ceiling work great for the application plus they were actually the proper impedance!
I actually just disconnected the Lauren Transformers since it was originally used 90 or whatever volt line public address speaker outputs.
I've noticed a lot of these speakers are actually 8 ohms as it is.
And eventually did put in a proper crossover in those speakers as well originally it was just a capacitor sounded a lot better.
Eventually I actually just enclosed the back of those boxes I made for the speakers and put terminals on the Box made a nice set of speakers for an auxiliary pair.
Actually put door handles on them and made a back piece as a stand and cable wrap when not in use also had the option of quarter quarter inch plug in addition to the speaker terminals so could be used portable speakers if desired still around somewhere not sure where.
Along with extension cords converted to quarter inch speaker a pair of them.
I do remember that the wall plate I had for the speakers in one area of the place was actually labeled left and right I think Hi-Fi speakers I believe if I remember correctly it was salvaged from an old Ford Econoline van!
More friends pimped one out just as kind of the second vehicle for pulling things and getting things place to place kind of like an El Cheapo panel van just to get things from here to there when needed when pickup truck wasn't practical
I was wondering about that. Thanks for saving me a googling.
@@gtbkts np, had to watch the video again to see what on earth I was talking about, lol. Oddly I thought my comment was at least 5 years old, not 1
How I've missed the "I popped it". Everytime I more or less accidentaly destroy something I hear Andy in my mind.
I've said it so many times at work, the girls there will say "where's my ammer?" if something needs a tap.
None of them have ever seen one of these videos.
I say it out loud XD
I wire those FS-II starters into Christmas lights, it makes them flicker and it's a great Halloween haunted-house effect
Cool, thanks for the tip!
, until all of the starters are in the closed state! 😂
@@nathanschmitz4106 In series with the rest of the lights, instead of the flasher lamp. Put them across the mains and the starter vanishes with a big pop. Along with the dog, but the dog came back 10 minutes later, I never found any of the starter aside from the base.
@@SeanBZA it's amazing sometimes how you can make things vanish by performing tricks like that isn't it !
Only use 1 starter and splice it into the extension cord. Makes everything on that cord flicker, instead of using a blinker bulb which is a very different effect. Done it several times without issue.
I gotta say it’s seriously like stepping back in time watching these videos, it’s so great to have you back on here. Definitely were a big inspiration for younger me to start messing with electronics in the first place
“Hopefully they will be more interesting than this one” this was absolutely fascinating! They way you explained it was top draw to. Maybe I also appreciate the noise a fluorescent lamp comes on the pinning the humming from the ballast great fun! Thanks Photon.
Completely agree with this one, it was very good explained and very entertaining. Thank you
Yes as a child would Weald them like a sword
PhotonInduction LED edition:
PI: *exceeds recommended voltage by 2 volts*
LED: *Dies*
I POPPED IT!
Yeah, I agree - he should have known better... But what you can expect from someone trying to wind up a watch with a hammer, eh?
Dan Flavin was a minimalist artist who made money selling sculptures made out of lights, then he made money selling lights to museums to replace burned out lights in his sculptures no one else had, ha
Smart man.
Am I the only person who wants to know the "why" or "how" behind nearly everything he says? Endless Google searching, commense! (starting with Power Groove and why they're rare now)
This dude is one of the only people on the internet who could make a video about fluorescent tubes entertaining as fuck.
Imagine being the first scientist to see that beautiful glow around a charged electrode in gas and thinking "I've discovered something really fundamental here". Great vid as always Photon.
It was Heinrich Geissler. It led to the Crooks tube, which led to the discovery of electrons, the discovery of X-rays, and the electron tube/valve which was the basis of all electronics until the transistor was discovered.
@@jaecenwhite2590 It must have looked like literal magic to non-scientists at the time!
I love how the water is boiling as it's pulled up the tube.
Not only is it boiling, the dissolved air is also coming out of solution, for double the foam. Delicious phosphor and black water shake, with just a hint of mercury for seasoning. Anyone care for a pint?
probably one the best videos i've seen explaining how magnetic ballasts work
I really like this longer format. Relaxing and educational.
I can't do the maths anymore, but even after the water settled in that 8' tube, the gas is probably still pulling a 90% vacuum... I mean, it's pulling nearly 2m of head!
Vacuum level is 10 meters water.
more than 2m of head, 2m is 78 inches or so 8 feet is 96 inches
“Im going to open this very carefully”
**proceeds to rip apart with tin snips**
🤣
Actually watched it now. It answers so many questions i’ve had over the years. Amazing commitment to a subject. Love this
Awesome stuff Andy, loved the fluorescent tube water test! and as much as I like LEDs, I did enjoy watching you crank them up!
He thinks that that is dull and boring! He must be joking, it is fantastic, entertaining, and I learn something new every time he does a video. Keep it up sunshine, you;re doing great :-))
Honestly just the demo of how they work was well worth watching the video.
@@mrrandomperson3106 I agree, though I knew how they worked, he had some special things there.
Tube collection alone is incredible
@@mrkeeny I know man, its brilliant though. I have a drawer full of old flyback transformers. If I came across or had access to those tubes. I would hold onto them also!
agree, what a collection. I never seen one of those tiny tubes before that is so dang cool
One of your best videos yet! I loved seeing your fluorescent tube collection!
Fluorescent tube lights are so cool. As a kid these were everywhere at my former school, and its pretty cool to see how they work.
I love his calm voice, but imagine you wake up with duct tape around your mouth and off to the side you hear calmly, "today I'll be using the variac..."
It would be both oddly soothing and incredibly terrifying simultaneously. Such is Photonic! ☮️
Who doesn't love a good electro stimulation climax.
@@cup_and_cone .... erm..... too much info LOL.
Photonic is the serial killer of electronic devices. "Oh dear..."
XD
Finally someone who isn't anti-florescent.
I love florescent lamps too!
I just hate the crappy color quality most have.
FLM: florescent lights matter...
Yes ir
But many fluorescent lives have been taken in making this video.
I absolutely love your new videos, Photon! They're both entertaining and extremely interesting!
Top educational content as ever. Love how you deal with electronics you don't like, Andy!
I never really understood how tubelights actually worked, until now.
I had no clue the starter was actually a bulb on its own. Super interesting.
General grevious shows off his lightsaber collection
I concur...with both of you.
@Charlie Bucket which younger generation are we talking about here, episodes I II III or the newer ones
@Charlie Bucket the ogs say it was the first 3 episodes, but that's what got me into star wars in the first place, I thought the newer films were good, can't understand why people give them so much shit, star wars is star wars imo
People: Fluorescent tubes? Aren’t we past those?
Fan base: Are you kidding us?? This is Photonicinduction’s channel! Now stand back and hold his beer!
*cider
Thank you! I was very surprised how much of a vacuum they actually have!
I appreciate how much care and effort you put into the setup, recording, and editing of all the new videos.
Also, that half coated tube is amazing!
Andy, shirts getting tighter due to being well fed is always solved by a bigger shirt. I thought a I knew a thing or two about fluorescent tubes, until the "how much vacuum" experiment. Top stuff.
In the last video someone commented saying he never moves his neck, I can tell that comment bugged him lol.. he responded to it and wasn't even sure what the person was talking about at first..
Its rather funny he started talking about that in the end, because I know exactly the comment that triggered that.
@@helpabrothawithasubisaiah5316 i know how he feels, wearing tight shirts or pants are a pain, "like being in a cardboard box" is a good way to put it lol
Incredible content, I was glued to the screen watching the experiments you had for us! Learned a lot, thank you!!!
Love it. Used to work for furniture factories in town. They had large induction ovens for curing furniture glue and just had tube clips on the top of the ovens with a fluorescent lamps clipped in, no wiring. Because of the induced emf the lamps glowed whilst the oven was on. You could see at a glance which oven had finished its cycle by looking for the tube that was off. Also used to stand next to large transformers with fluorescent lamps and get the same effect. Made great non contact testers when you had a bank of incoming supply transformers.
We used to live under the power lines over Tottenham Marshes. and you could get a glow from a fluorescent tube and running a wire which wasn't connected to anything.
Your films are great, keep it coming👍👍
Farmers have been known to steal power by running a wire parallel to the main power lines to induce a voltage, similarly not connected to anything.
How is that stealing?
@@Friend_of_the_One-Eyed_Ladies some of them got caught, its tricky
is rf that you have entering your land yours if you focus it and use it?
I rode under a fairly large pylon on my mountain bike with wet legs and boots from crossing a stream, my gloves were also wet and a very large voltage was induced thru the bike frame and my metal handlebar end caps and I got a tremendous buzz up my arms and they were tingling for a good few hours !!! Happy daze 😃
@@johnwalker194 cool! I would not have thought the E field would be so strong that far from the wires.
This dude is genuinely like a character out of gta.
Which one he remind you of?
Genuinely one of your best videos to date. The water thing genuinely surprised me. Never seen it or thought to look it up.
This one reminded me a little of Mr. Wizard in the best way possible. That 8 foot tube was awesome!
" HE POPPED IT"
You've just made my day a hole lot better. Thanks mate👍.
RE: experiment showing gas left in the tubes
Remember that the water has gas dissolved in it. You can see the water degassing as it's being pulled up the tube. Also, the pressure in that top bit of the 8 foot tube must be very low since the whole column of water is pulling down.
So the vaccum is probably BETTER than what you're seeing. I wasn't expecting this.
I thought that, however the water isn't degassing, the pressure is so low its actually boiling at room temperature.
@@Hadouken434 If it's boiling, it's *_definitely_* degassing.
Either way, the gas at the top of the tube probably wasn't in there at the start.
@@Falcrist Well no because once it reaches regular pressure again it will start to condense, unless it passed its critical point. As for the gases, yes true but again what can , will dissolve into the water after stabilization of the water. However, its been a while so I might be wrong about the physics.
Maybe given more time to stabilize, it would be more accurate.
@@unknowninvictus2520 It doesn't go back to regular pressure. It's at low pressure because of the 8 foot column of water pulling down on it.
Also even at normal pressure and temperature the gasses don't immediately dissolve back into the water. That process takes time.
Also also, if there is boiling taking place, the temperature at the top will be quite low, further reducing the speed at which those gasses would re-dissolve.
@@unknowninvictus2520 If you want to be much more accurate, I would recommend doing this with the top of the tube right at the surface of the water. Then give it an hour for everything to settle.
I’ve seen so many famous you tubers comment about photons return I’ve been watching his channel since I was 15 right when he started. I’ve never seen such a crowd of people of such stature be so happy of someone’s returns. Rightfully so. Andy is an internet treasure.
I was amazed at the vacuum in those older tubes. Great video.
I liked before watching, not just to be first but I knew it’ll be good..
According to Andy, The worst curse word on this channel is LED😂
fluorescent tube and led have both pros and cons. what it is crazy to me is all that electronics and circuits that every led lamp must have: every led must have ti so it is probably cheap and made of shit. I know that led need that to rectify the ac and ecc but why the electronics had to be hard wired with the led? would make more sense to have in 2 separate unit: the electronics unit and le light unit so you can buy and replace what you what when you need and it can also minimize waste. why replace both when you could replace one or the other? like in fluorescent tube you have the tube, the balast and the starter (in the old one).
Andy is absolutely right though. The main problem with LEDs is reliability. I've spent a large proportion of my working life replacing damn LEDs. (LEDS, one word. Not L.E.D.s, three words. I replaced my first LED back in 1969 and we always called them LEDs not poofy L.E.D.s) I'm not changing my terminology because they are now efficient and PC. I have LED lamps throughout my house but I also have a drawer full of spares. I certainly don't believe that BS about thousands of hours operation.
Thanks for the viddy Andy.
@@olsmokeyFor Edison base bulbs, try Phillips, and EcoSmart brands. Surprisingly, Cree has not been great for the higher cost. Been experimenting with 4-ft LED tubes, but enough years to claim a winner yet.
@@olsmokey There's actually a reason LEDs fail, it's all to do with planned obsolescence, LEDs can theoretically last forever, they're super efficient, don't produce much heat and are generally cheap to produce, knowing this, imagine how hard it'd be if you started a company producing LEDs, make a few billion devices, then what? Nobody ever needs an LED again, they'll never come back as a customer, it's a one stop shop. In short, LEDs are fantastic, but they aren't economically viable to run a business on.
@@Killerjerick THAT. Is the whole point of the led misery.
Designed to fail. Overdriven and undercooled = specific calculated lifespan of about 25month. So it barely endures two years of warranty.
Its much like a racecar. Every meter it can drive after it went (as a winner) over the finishline was unnessecary weight/reliability somewhere on the car.
The perfect car wins and falls to pieces. The perfect planned obsolescence product finishes with a 24 month 1 day lifespan and fails.
Led floodlights could last 20 years. But A: the driver doesn't (for obsolecsence reasons) and B: the chips are overdriven !!AF!!.
Bad cooling by design and no cooling at all in retrofit lightfixtures (as they were designed for incandecant bulbs) don't really help on that.
So either design + build your own led fixtures or stand with discharge lamps as long as possible. T5 are quite efficient and run for over 10 years on electronic ballast.
Thank You for making this video !!! I always wondered how starters work !!!
Best real world demonstration and tutorial of Fluorescent lamps on the net Thanks
I think the biggest problem with leds is the lack of consistent quality in manufacturing
Cheap Chinese tubes. My first set of 4' LED tubes were off of Amazon, a voltage regulator burned out on the driver circuitry after maybe two or three years, because the tubes heat sink wasn't even touching the board. I later replaced these with Lowe's Utilitech, and they've been running for up to 10 years now, because the tubes don't have a driver circuit in them. They're designed to be used with electronic florescent ballasts
Waiting for Prudence The Safety Goat to start bleating about "THE MERCURY!"
This guy's no elec-chicken, that's for sure!
More mercury in your typical fish dinner than in these tubes, and you eat that mercury a lot more than you eat glass.
It's F'n Science!! Beware... So many Ways to Get Burned!! 😈🌐❌💯🙈💥🚨💀👹
A tiny taste can only make you stronger. I'm sure I've more in my fillings which a medical practitioner put in my mouth than in those tubes
@@mucmcmuco2566 I miss my old mercury fillings. I had 1 in a tooth, I had 7 of the new nontoxic fillings failed yet that sucker was fine.
Loved this video, I remember watching this one a couple years ago, and still remember most of it. Really interesting how much vacuumed a tube is really under.
Used to use fluoro starters when I was little in series with Christmas Tree lights to make them flash. Much better than normal flashing sets as the flash was much more erratic. Wire a relay over the first set and use it to drive another set when the first was off and the erratic switching really was an awesome effect :)
Just a side note, the "phospor" coating almost never actually contains any phosphorus. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphor#Standard_phosphor_types
I thought it was just phosphorescent, not phosphorus
Of course the phosphor coating doesn't contain phosphorus.
For the same reason neither a Catacomb nor a Caterpillar contain any cats.
Feel bad for kids who will never know the satisfying ooooomph that these tubes make when you smash them into a dumpster
Great video, I do everything in my power to not have LED lamps in my workshop and home. in my old work shop I went out of my way to find one of the last a boxes of F96 T12 VHO 215 W lamps for my workshop. There is no LED that will match the light emitted from these laps VHO fluorescent lamps . I also have an old 250 watt mercury vapour lamp lighting up my yard for years now. I will never replace it. I have saved many old light fixtures and ballasts from the scrap yard over the years and have always found metal arm lamps fascinating. Great video again, best part was watching that POS LED lamp getting fried - made my day. Greetings from Ontario Canada.
I wish I had 1/10th of the electronics collection you do! A lot of the things you have stockpiled are a bit before my time but I hope to have similar things one day.
When the world needed him the most...
I still can't believe you're back, thanks so much and welcome!
Honestly the best explanation of fluorescent tubes I've ever seen.
I remember seeing the half tube back in 1974 when I did an electrical course at the College for Distributive Trades in Leicester Square (now a radio station LBC or Capital I can't remember which), paid a visit to Thorn House in Shaftesbury Avenue to do my lighting project and saw just about every tube they made, always remember that half tube, fascinated me at the time and still does. Thanks for sharing, brought back some happy memories.
I love when photonicinduction says "I've popped it"
I love how he puts just burning electronics on a regular carpet.
Brings back my child hood experiments. Lol
Most conventional carpets are fire retardant.
@@benzlover55 fire -retardant- gifted. or fire nuero divergent.
jk
@@_BangDroid_ lol yes.👍
I guess it beats repairing motorbikes/engines in the kitchen because there's too much cerape in the shed.....
Thank you for showing me how a starter works! i had no idea what was going on inside.
This was very informative! Learned a lot, thanks!!
I enjoy the weird looks I get from the girlfriend, when I dance to the intro
th-cam.com/video/q7aUibRkOFY/w-d-xo.html
There you go matey
Brilliant demonstrations! Favourite phrase in this one... " Well, lets force it to work" love this channel. Science and a sense of humour make for great content.
Water test was brilliant, a perfect demonstration.
Awesome video. That water test was really cool. If we had demonstrations like that in school, science class would have been a lot more fun.
"I think we ought to... force it to work!" Quote of the day!
...and 5000V of course. Yep, OF COURSE! :D :D
They don't call it electromotive force for nothing.
5 seconds in, and LIKED!
Don't even care. Bring more awesome content.
I enjoyed seeing the water climb up the tube. Thanks you for your experiments.
Wow, I havnt seen your videos in my feed in a while... Great to see you’re still at it!
I've recently upgraded my garage lightning and specifically opted to use old dual 6 ft fluorescent fixtures with exposed tubes instead of LED lamps. Not only now I have control over quality and color of light, but with phase shifted tubes in each fixture I don't have issues with flicker and as an added bonus I've ended up with a power factor close to unity. Plus I love the simple looks of those 30 years old fixtures that would be otherwise scrapped!
Have you got hooked up in Parralel?
yay MR SMASHY is back. ive waited years for this :-)
I missed content like this more than I’d have imagined. 🤌👌
A very interesting and educative video. :) Thanks. I've known for a long time fluorescent tubes have a better quality of light than many cheap LED lamps.