PCB light box - hf ballast / tube wattage

[Alt Beer]

When buying an HF ballast and fluorescent tube does the ballast wattage have to match the tube wattage?

Is it allowable to use an hf ballast of higher wattage that that of the tube e.g. hf ballast 40W tube 12W ?

Can you parallel tubes to an hf ballast intended for a single tube so long as ballast wattage is sufficient ?

I am building a uv-a light box for sensitised PCB exposure and am not sure how many tubes to use.
I am thinking get a higher wattage than needed hf ballast and say two 8 or 12W tubes so if there is insufficient light I could get
one or two more tubes and parallel them.


Thanks

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 7/31/2012 4:18 AM, Alt Beer wrote:

When buying an HF ballast and fluorescent tube does the ballast
wattage have to match the tube wattage?

Is it allowable to use an hf ballast of higher wattage that that of
the tube e.g. hf ballast 40W tube 12W ?

Can you parallel tubes to an hf ballast intended for a single tube so
long as ballast wattage is sufficient ?

I am building a uv-a light box for sensitised PCB exposure and am not
sure how many tubes to use.
I am thinking get a higher wattage than needed hf ballast and say two
8 or 12W tubes so if there is insufficient light I could get one or
two more tubes and parallel them.


Thanks
The material you are using on the board should specify the light

intensity, spectrum, and exposure time needed.

Tom

 

[John Larkin]

On Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:18:09 +0100, "Alt Beer" <example@example.com>
wrote:

When buying an HF ballast and fluorescent tube does the ballast wattage have to match the tube wattage?

Is it allowable to use an hf ballast of higher wattage that that of the tube e.g. hf ballast 40W tube 12W ?

Can you parallel tubes to an hf ballast intended for a single tube so long as ballast wattage is sufficient ?

I am building a uv-a light box for sensitised PCB exposure and am not sure how many tubes to use.
I am thinking get a higher wattage than needed hf ballast and say two 8 or 12W tubes so if there is insufficient light I could get
one or two more tubes and parallel them.


Thanks

Light boxes with fluorescent tubes cast fuzzy and non-uniform shadows.
It's better to approximate a point source some distance away. The sun
does that. I've used a warehouse-type mercury vapor lamp, like a
street light, 250 watts I recall, overhead about 4 feet away. Great
resolution. Sun lamps work well, too.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc
www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom timing and laser controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer
Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:53:55 -0700, John Larkin
<jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:

On Tue, 31 Jul 2012 09:18:09 +0100, "Alt Beer" <example@example.com
wrote:

When buying an HF ballast and fluorescent tube does the ballast wattage have to match the tube wattage?

Is it allowable to use an hf ballast of higher wattage that that of the tube e.g. hf ballast 40W tube 12W ?

Can you parallel tubes to an hf ballast intended for a single tube so long as ballast wattage is sufficient ?

I am building a uv-a light box for sensitised PCB exposure and am not sure how many tubes to use.
I am thinking get a higher wattage than needed hf ballast and say two 8 or 12W tubes so if there is insufficient light I could get
one or two more tubes and parallel them.


Thanks

Light boxes with fluorescent tubes cast fuzzy and non-uniform shadows.
It's better to approximate a point source some distance away. The sun
does that. I've used a warehouse-type mercury vapor lamp, like a
street light, 250 watts I recall, overhead about 4 feet away. Great
resolution. Sun lamps work well, too.

I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[Fred Abse]

On Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:53:55 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

Light boxes with fluorescent tubes cast fuzzy and non-uniform shadows.
It's better to approximate a point source some distance away. The sun does
that. I've used a warehouse-type mercury vapor lamp, like a street light,
250 watts I recall, overhead about 4 feet away. Great resolution. Sun
lamps work well, too.

Lithographic "plate makers" do that. A vacuum frame atop a 4 foot high
box, with an ordinary mercury vapor lamp at the bottom.

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
(Richard Feynman)

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 8/1/2012 1:28 PM, Fred Abse wrote:

On Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:53:55 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

Light boxes with fluorescent tubes cast fuzzy and non-uniform shadows.
It's better to approximate a point source some distance away. The sun does
that. I've used a warehouse-type mercury vapor lamp, like a street light,
250 watts I recall, overhead about 4 feet away. Great resolution. Sun
lamps work well, too.
Lithographic "plate makers" do that. A vacuum frame atop a 4 foot high
box, with an ordinary mercury vapor lamp at the bottom.

Back when I worked for a company that made microwave oscillators on

contract for the military (circa 1970) the shop had a large vacuum plate
and an actual carbon arc for exposure.

 

[Tom Biasi]

On 8/2/2012 8:26 AM, fungus wrote:

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:28:27 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
Sun lamps work well, too.
I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

What do you do when it's cloudy?

Where Jim lives the skys are not cloudy all day.

 

[fungus]

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:28:27 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:

Sun lamps work well, too.

I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

What do you do when it's cloudy?

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Tom Biasi wrote:

On 8/2/2012 8:26 AM, fungus wrote:
On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:28:27 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
Sun lamps work well, too.
I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

What do you do when it's cloudy?

Where Jim lives the skys are not cloudy all day.

And the Buffalo fear to roam...lest they end up on his grill...

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:27:08 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Tom Biasi wrote:

On 8/2/2012 8:26 AM, fungus wrote:
On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:28:27 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
Sun lamps work well, too.
I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

What do you do when it's cloudy?

Where Jim lives the skys are not cloudy all day.


And the Buffalo fear to roam...lest they end up on his grill...

I had buffalo at the Pilot's Club in Denver some years back... it's
too-oo-oo lean, and sort of bland.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:42:42 -0700, Jim Thompson
<To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:27:08 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


Tom Biasi wrote:

On 8/2/2012 8:26 AM, fungus wrote:
On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:28:27 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
Sun lamps work well, too.
I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

What do you do when it's cloudy?

Where Jim lives the skys are not cloudy all day.


And the Buffalo fear to roam...lest they end up on his grill...

I had buffalo at the Pilot's Club in Denver some years back... it's
too-oo-oo lean, and sort of bland.

My wife gets bison burgers once in a while. They are lean but I wouldn't call
them exactly bland. Ted's (Ted Turner's restaurant) down the street from work
has them, too. A lot of vendors want to take us there but I always have the
beef burgers. Buffalo is over-hyped.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:27:08 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


Tom Biasi wrote:

On 8/2/2012 8:26 AM, fungus wrote:
On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 4:28:27 PM UTC+2, Jim Thompson wrote:
Sun lamps work well, too.
I have a hard rubber block with clamps and glass plate... put board in
there and take it outside

What do you do when it's cloudy?

Where Jim lives the skys are not cloudy all day.


And the Buffalo fear to roam...lest they end up on his grill...

I had buffalo at the Pilot's Club in Denver some years back... it's
too-oo-oo lean, and sort of bland.

You could feed it a couple liberals to fatten it up, and add all the
spices you want. ;-)