In another life I had a customer (Ohio University) that included a 70 volt system in their new Science Building (1970?) for florescent lights. As I recall, it eliminated the need for ballasts all together. I have not looked on Google... John Ferrell http://DixieNC.US ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin McCormick" To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 4:59 PM Subject: [OT] 240-volt Power > My parents recently visited some friends who live on an island > in the Caribbean which is near Granada. I'd happily mention the name, > but I don't remember how it is spelled. The island's electricity is > 50 HZ and 240 volts reflecting its British experience, but it got me > to wondering. > > Are fluorescent tubes made for either the 120-volt or 240-volt > markets or is all that taken care of in the ballast? > > Actually my father didn't see much fluorescent lighting where > they were but he did notice that incandescent reading lamps in the > house seemed to die like flies. I would imagine that good 240-volt > bulbs running at the proper voltage probably don't burn out any faster > than 120-volt bulbs. The voltage there does fluctuate quite a bit and > the bulbs may not be the best money can buy. They do not have any > voltage or wattage rating on their base or the glass. > > It seems like my wife and I bought some bargain-basement > 120-volt bulbs for general use and they generally had much shorter > life-spans than do the only slightly-more-expensive bulbs with actual > names on them.:-) > > Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK > OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist