Burn-In Times - ABB DG/S 1.1 Product Manual

®
ABB i-bus EIB / KNX
4.5

Burn-in times

© 2006 ABB STOTZ-KONTAKT GmbH
Functional description
In the case of lamps filled with gas, a burn-in time is recommended. This
burn-in process is only necessary once before the start of the commissioning
process.
Only after this burn-in time do fluorescent lamps have a stable operating
value which ensures the best possible dimming behaviour and an optimum
service life. An optimum pressure level is created in the fluorescent tube.
For installations with dimmable ballasts, many lamp manufacturers give the
recommendation that a burn-in time of 20 – 100 hours must be observed.
The recommended values are 20 hours for T8 lamps and 100 hours for T5
lamps. During the burn-in time, the lamps are only switched on at maximum
capacity. Dimming is not possible.
The information about burn-in times can often not be found in the catalogue
of the lamp manufacturer but in the descriptions of the electronic ballasts.
The reason for this is that the burn-in time is only relevant for dimmable
installations. Stable operating values and reproducible brightness values are
a prerequisite in these installations. Moreover, only poor evaporation of the
solid or fluid additives is possible for dimmed lamps due to the reduced
capacity so that in certain circumstances the maximum light yield is only
achieved at a later date or not at all.
This can lead to the complete replacement of the lamps.
According to statements of lighting planners, if fluorescent lamps
(particularly T5 lamps) are not burned in, they can even be damaged which
causes them to fail earlier.
With the 1-fold DALI-Gateway, it is possible to use a communication object
to activate a burn-in time to set all DALI devices on a gateway to the burn-in
phase. During this time, the lamps can only be switched on with 100 % or
switched off. Dimming is not possible.
In addition to an exchange of the individual fluorescent lamps, they can also
be burned in via an individually addressed activation of the burn-in time,
without influencing the function of other lamps.
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