Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #16 on: April 26, 2022, 10:24:21 PM » Author: bulb_tester2009
Quote from: joseph_125 on April 12, 2022, 12:49:01 AM Impressive, that's way over 100000 hours. Although I suppose with the 24/7 operation it's less stressful for the lamps. Most fluorescent lamps here were rated at 3-4 hours per start. You can try using incandescent lamps in series to make the lamp last longer
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I've been collecting light bulbs since I was 2 years old and I've been collecting them ever since.
 
One of the few Chinese users here
Note:
Bulb base in China:E12(CES) E14(SES) B22d(BC) E27(ES) E40(GES)

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #17 on: June 06, 2022, 08:11:45 PM » Author: 108CAM
I forgot to mention my US Made Sylvania Lifelines from December 1979. They still work perfectly and have almost no blackening on the ends. They're also right hand etched. I'd also like to mention my Canadian Sylvania F20T12 "Natural Deluxe" or "NDX" which has a pink phosphor.
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Fluro starter pings combined with a 50hz ballast hum and blinking tubes is music to my ears.

Rest in Peace Electronic Lamp Manufacturers of Australia
1925-2002

Bring back the AJF Zodiacs!

Total incidents since joining LG: 18
Lamps accidently broken or smashed: 15
Ballast explosions/burnouts: 3

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #18 on: June 12, 2022, 10:58:13 PM » Author: bulb_tester2009
Quote from: 108CAM on June 06, 2022, 08:11:45 PM I forgot to mention my US Made Sylvania Lifelines from December 1979. They still work perfectly and have almost no blackening on the ends. They're also right hand etched. I'd also like to mention my Canadian Sylvania F20T12 "Natural Deluxe" or "NDX" which has a pink phosphor. The fluorescent tube etched on the right side should be old, because most of the fluorescent tubes are now etched on the left side.
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I've been collecting light bulbs since I was 2 years old and I've been collecting them ever since.
 
One of the few Chinese users here
Note:
Bulb base in China:E12(CES) E14(SES) B22d(BC) E27(ES) E40(GES)

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #19 on: June 12, 2022, 11:00:35 PM » Author: bulb_tester2009
It is worth mentioning that the Chinese F20T10 in my hometown of the 90s is also etched on the right.
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I've been collecting light bulbs since I was 2 years old and I've been collecting them ever since.
 
One of the few Chinese users here
Note:
Bulb base in China:E12(CES) E14(SES) B22d(BC) E27(ES) E40(GES)

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #20 on: June 13, 2022, 07:20:22 PM » Author: 108CAM
I've also noticed that lots of the blue tubes used in bug zappers have lasted a long time as the bug zappers are rarely turned off for obvious reasons
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Fluro starter pings combined with a 50hz ballast hum and blinking tubes is music to my ears.

Rest in Peace Electronic Lamp Manufacturers of Australia
1925-2002

Bring back the AJF Zodiacs!

Total incidents since joining LG: 18
Lamps accidently broken or smashed: 15
Ballast explosions/burnouts: 3

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #22 on: June 15, 2022, 12:34:54 AM » Author: bulb_tester2009
Quote from: 108CAM on June 13, 2022, 07:20:22 PM I've also noticed that lots of the blue tubes used in bug zappers have lasted a long time as the bug zappers are rarely turned off for obvious reasons Personally, I feel that the longer a fluorescent lamp is lit, the longer its actual lifespan will be
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I've been collecting light bulbs since I was 2 years old and I've been collecting them ever since.
 
One of the few Chinese users here
Note:
Bulb base in China:E12(CES) E14(SES) B22d(BC) E27(ES) E40(GES)

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #24 on: June 15, 2022, 01:39:21 AM » Author: bulb_tester2009
I agree with you, it's an experience I've actually used.
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I've been collecting light bulbs since I was 2 years old and I've been collecting them ever since.
 
One of the few Chinese users here
Note:
Bulb base in China:E12(CES) E14(SES) B22d(BC) E27(ES) E40(GES)

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #25 on: June 23, 2022, 07:24:20 PM » Author: 108CAM
I need to mention my Canadian Sylvania F20T12 Warm White tubes again. I recently deciphered the date codes as January 1965 or 1975
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Fluro starter pings combined with a 50hz ballast hum and blinking tubes is music to my ears.

Rest in Peace Electronic Lamp Manufacturers of Australia
1925-2002

Bring back the AJF Zodiacs!

Total incidents since joining LG: 18
Lamps accidently broken or smashed: 15
Ballast explosions/burnouts: 3

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #26 on: June 30, 2022, 04:33:32 AM » Author: ultraviolet
at my work we have a couple fixtures with westinghouse warm white black-enders on rapid-start ballasts that literally nobody remembers the last relamp of. no end blackening or any signs of degradation on them at all. the impressive thing is that one of them is a workbench light that sees relatively frequent starts. they really did build them to last back in that era. aside from that, we also have a number of fixtures in the auto skooter house that appear to not have been relamped since the 1990s or so... at least the tubes (philips unpainted aluminium end ones, with the shield logo) date to that era and their physical condition points to having been installed for that long. we do have a lot of old stock in the light bulb room though so it is possible they were installed more recently. as for my own personal stuff, i have a switch-start bench lamp that has a ge f14t12 in it and that tube has run flawlessly with 0 degradation since i acquired the fixture well over a decade ago. it doesn't see so many hours tbh but i'm always amazed by how much longer tubes run on switch-start and preheat setups last. it's just a lot gentler on the tube than rapid start or (heaven forbid) instant start electronic setups are. that said, we run a lot of f20t12s off standard f32t8 electronic ballasts and they last years and years that way. granted, the tubes don't see a ton of starts, just once each evening when it's time for lights to come on. still, it's very much proven to me that the "this ballast is only for these specific tubes" labeling is hogwash.
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applying obsolete lighting technologies for the enjoyment of the masses; why not use a magnetic ballast for a new installation? and when they tell you you can't run a t12 off that "t8" ballast.... just look back to the old preheat systems where wattage was the only spec listed.

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #28 on: July 24, 2022, 08:46:16 AM » Author: HIDLad001
The Sylvania 40 watt T12 tubes in our laundry room. They were original to our house, which was built in the 90s, and they only failed last year when they started flickering, but we ended up replacing the fixture with an LED one  .
« Last Edit: July 20, 2023, 10:59:07 AM by HIDLad001 »		Logged

Officially returned to Lighting-Gallery!!

	Re: How long has the longest-lived fluorescent tube you have ever seen? « Reply #29 on: September 12, 2022, 09:21:38 PM » Author: BlitzBiker2001
A school we take care of still has some of its original General Electric Watt-Miser F34T12 lamps from 1988 that are seldom used, but they still work. We still have lamps from 1999-2001 in classrooms at a different school that have almost daily use that are still going.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2022, 09:27:34 PM by BlitzBiker2001 »		Logged

Exit signs, emergency lights, fluorescent tubes, NEMA heads.