Fluorescent bulbs and line voltage

The Kapenta Kid

New Member
Are fluorescent bulbs independent of the line voltage provided the appropriate ballast.controller is used? i.e. if you have 110V AC and a 110V ballast does it matter whether you use a bulb bought in the US ore one from abroad where the line voltage is 240AC. Vice versa a 240V controller on a 240V line would run a bulb bought in US as well as one in Europe.
I assume this is the case since the controller in each case transforms the line voltage to what a fluorescent tube runs on. You just have to match your controller to your line voltage.
Naturally incandescent bulbs don't work that way, they have the operating voltage printed on them and a 240 volt line would blow a 110v bulb while a 110v line would just make a 240v bulb glow.
 

Trogdor

New Member
Correct me if I'm wrong (which i probably am) but if you use a 230v ballast on a 120v bulb then you will be overdriving your bulb and the life of the bulb will drop. If you try the 120v on a 230v bulb then it probably won't get enough voltage for it to fire properly and won't start up. I did a quick search on google but didn't find much info.
 

The Kapenta Kid

New Member
My thought was that all fluorescent discharge tubes must operate under the same voltage conditions. It is the job of the ballast/controller to convert the incoming line power to those conditions. If you have a 110V line and a 110V ballast, or a 240V line and a 240V ballast, both ballasts will output the required voltage to start and run a fluorescent tube. The incoming line voltage shouldn't matter provided it is run through the appropriate ballast, hence there should be no difference in the tubes.
 

Trogdor

New Member
I will admit defeat. I'm not that knowledgeable with fluorescent bulbs in different countries but if the ballasts output the same voltage and current then I don't see why you couldn't run them on the same bulbs...anyway I've derailed this thread far enough, hopefully someone with the right answer can finish it. sorry
 

Trogdor

New Member
yeah i wasn't trying to make it a competition...just stating that i reached my limit on my knowledge. hopefully jesse or someone that knows the answer will post
 

The Kapenta Kid

New Member
Fluorescent bulbs are not line-voltage dependent. Only the ballast is.
I found the answer the practical way by having a 240V ballast on a 240V line drive a T5 bulb bought in the US. It works perfectly.
 
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