Very interesting. I had no idea that these existed. During WWII I (age 6-7) lived with my grandparents and they had fluorescent lights in the kitchen that flickered badly. The ferro resonant ballast mostly fixed that. Later we got electronic ballasts all with no or little flicker. Now we have LED lights, some of which flicker.
I love this vintage, early fluorescent stuff. I don't have any RF fixtures, but I do have a couple of old T12 based fixtures from the 50s. I grew up with fluorescent, and I still have some of the fixtures from my childhood, so it has a bit of nostalgia for me. The rectified fluorescent you featured look amazingly cool. Thanks for posting this!
I've actually been looking for one of those rf fittings, funny enough. I'm a fluorescent light collector, also to add the two lamp rf fixtures these days are even harder to find than the single lamp variant from what I have noticed. As for the hostility from the other collector, that's fucked up. But yeah, you and nicksfans are the only two collectors I know of that have these fixtures, and both of you seem wonderful. Closest thing I have to those fittings are the fluorescent lighting manuals that Charles amick wrote, both of which do have the electrical schematic for both rf lamp fittings. Also thank you for showing us the inside as well, from one collector to another. I love this kind of stuff! You also got me excited seeing the black ender there, I didn't even know those were made. But of course seeing it be westinghouse I anticipate it, what's more those electrodes look very well built. I love seeing quality made lamps
truly unusual ! I remember seeing a florescent fixture as a teen back in the 70's that was an older style by that time. instead of the two prongs on both ends of the tube, it had a single connector at each end that were round, and reminded me of the end of a bullet. I think they were spring loaded, if I remember correctly... I had never seen one like that b4. and this is even more unusual & interesting. Thanks man! 👍gave you a like and sub 😀
The single contact ended fluorescent lamp you described is widely known as a slimline fluorescent, introduced in 1946 by Westinghouse, the very first ones were indeed slimmer - F42T6, F64T6, F72T8 & F96T8, as opposed to the then most widely used lamps, the F40T12 48 inch, and F100T17 60 inch - introduced in 1940 as highest output fluorescent lamp at the time mostly used in manufacturing facilities and often considered an early prototype of the High Output, Very High Output & Powergroove lamps later introduced by GE in the mid 1950s. Soon after westinghouse introduced the slimline lamps, T12 single pin lamps became available but the name stuck. Today slimline lamps are available in T6, (F42T6, F64T6) T8, (F72T8, F96T8) and T12 in 24, 36, 42, 48, 60. 64, 72, 84 and 96 inches, with the F96T12 by far the most common, along with the F72T12, with the 48 inch and smaller being very uncommon. Slimline lamps are also referred to as instant start lamps, they require a significantly higher voltage to start than other lamps of a given length & diameter, therefore special ballasts are required. Because the lamps start don't use cathode heating like a bi-pin lamp, slimlines are slightly more energy efficient although lamp life is somewhat reduced for a given number of hours/start, so they were almost always used in commercial settings where the lamps are expected to operate continuously for several hours or days between starts.
Never got a chance to see your other videos pre-takedown… your arc lighting and low pressure mercury videos are awesome and I’d love to see the rest of your collection. Seems like you’ve got a lot of super rare and amazing stuff!
I can't believe a collector would treat another collector with such hostility. Surely this guy understands that if you didn't save stuff it would end up being destroyed, you'd think he would realise you're both working to a common goal, no? Disgusting behaviour, I can only assume his petty spitefulness must be a result of some form of jealousy, I hope karma catches up with him!
The tubes act just like a standard full wave mercury rectifier in high power tube circuits. The filament or cathode end is grounded and the two electrodes go to the split phases of a center tap transformer to keep one electrode on at a time. The plate is there to stop an arc from jumping the two electrodes when one is off and causing a short.
I think I may have 2 of these hanging in my garage. One in the loft no longer works, one in the main garage I don't think I've ever tested. Definitely the same reflector style and definitely old!
That’s really great to see you back! I used to enjoy your videos before that drama went down. I on the other hand am guilty of collecting fluorescent stuff haha. Regarding those sockets and how the tubes are held onto the fixture in general, I think really really British fluorescent stuff used their standard bayonet sockets on each end of the lamp, which was quite strange and somewhat reminiscent of the RF stuff at least regarding once again how they were connected and supported. Either way I really loved your presentation on this stuff, to me early fluorescent stuff is right up my alley so it’s really cool to hear about that stuff!
Take super extra care when handling that broken lamp. Being manufactured in the early '40s it absolutely contains manganese doped zinc beryllium silicate phosphor before the phase-out in '49, which happened, incidentally, as a direct result of the identification and discovery of berylliosis of the lungs in workers making exactly this kind of lamp....quite possibly at the exact same factory where these very lamps were made. Be and its compounds, to those who are genetically susceptible, can be supremely toxic, with permissible air concentration levels at the mere nanogram per m^3 level. Hazardous air concentration limits which are only rivaled by things like radium, plutonium, and VX agent. I would actually love to get a spectrum of the light coming off of one of them. I have never seen the spectrum for an original Be phosphor based lamp and it would be a great addition to the halophosphate and tri-phosphate spectra on the wiki page, which I took many years ago.
Very nice fixture! However, I would be very careful in operating the light. Those 2 caps will have pcb's inside, and due to age, they will fail! I used to have several 4' preheat fixtures with the high power factor ballasts, but the caps in them went bad. Do miss the blinkfest.......
Could be a hazardous material dumpster intended for special handling disposal. Or, the company just has a policy against it so that employees don't throw away useful items with the specific intent of collecting it later.
0:15 *WHAT?!?* Is this true, or some kind of in-group joke thing? If it's true, people are such lunatics. Why would your employer even care if they were in the dumpster??
@@nathanwyson3232generally, no, so long as you are not trespassing to access the dumpster. At least in my locality, removing something from a construction waste dumpster accessible from the sidewalk (e.g. parked in the street) would be perfectly fine.
@@Mirroxaphene i thinks its just plain greed! the want the weight for the metal all to themselves... and get their shorts in a knot if someone takes any of it from them.
Brilliant, obscure fluorescent tech from uncle Sam!
Thank you for sharing all this lighting marvels. Please keep up the good work.
Cheers from 🇵🇹 🇪🇺
Very interesting. I had no idea that these existed. During WWII I (age 6-7) lived with my grandparents and they had fluorescent lights in the kitchen that flickered badly. The ferro resonant ballast mostly fixed that. Later we got electronic ballasts all with no or little flicker. Now we have LED lights, some of which flicker.
Thank you so much for showing us. Very interesting.
I love this vintage, early fluorescent stuff. I don't have any RF fixtures, but I do have a couple of old T12 based fixtures from the 50s. I grew up with fluorescent, and I still have some of the fixtures from my childhood, so it has a bit of nostalgia for me. The rectified fluorescent you featured look amazingly cool. Thanks for posting this!
I've actually been looking for one of those rf fittings, funny enough. I'm a fluorescent light collector, also to add the two lamp rf fixtures these days are even harder to find than the single lamp variant from what I have noticed. As for the hostility from the other collector, that's fucked up. But yeah, you and nicksfans are the only two collectors I know of that have these fixtures, and both of you seem wonderful. Closest thing I have to those fittings are the fluorescent lighting manuals that Charles amick wrote, both of which do have the electrical schematic for both rf lamp fittings. Also thank you for showing us the inside as well, from one collector to another. I love this kind of stuff! You also got me excited seeing the black ender there, I didn't even know those were made. But of course seeing it be westinghouse I anticipate it, what's more those electrodes look very well built. I love seeing quality made lamps
truly unusual ! I remember seeing a florescent fixture as a teen back in the 70's that was an older style by that time. instead of the two prongs on both ends of the tube, it had a single connector at each end that were round, and reminded me of the end of a bullet. I think they were spring loaded, if I remember correctly... I had never seen one like that b4. and this is even more unusual & interesting. Thanks man! 👍gave you a like and sub 😀
The single contact ended fluorescent lamp you described is widely known as a slimline fluorescent, introduced in 1946 by Westinghouse, the very first ones were indeed slimmer - F42T6, F64T6, F72T8 & F96T8, as opposed to the then most widely used lamps, the F40T12 48 inch, and F100T17 60 inch - introduced in 1940 as highest output fluorescent lamp at the time mostly used in manufacturing facilities and often considered an early prototype of the High Output, Very High Output & Powergroove lamps later introduced by GE in the mid 1950s. Soon after westinghouse introduced the slimline lamps, T12 single pin lamps became available but the name stuck. Today slimline lamps are available in T6, (F42T6, F64T6) T8, (F72T8, F96T8) and T12 in 24, 36, 42, 48, 60. 64, 72, 84 and 96 inches, with the F96T12 by far the most common, along with the F72T12, with the 48 inch and smaller being very uncommon. Slimline lamps are also referred to as instant start lamps, they require a significantly higher voltage to start than other lamps of a given length & diameter, therefore special ballasts are required. Because the lamps start don't use cathode heating like a bi-pin lamp, slimlines are slightly more energy efficient although lamp life is somewhat reduced for a given number of hours/start, so they were almost always used in commercial settings where the lamps are expected to operate continuously for several hours or days between starts.
@@Sparky-ww5re thanks😀
Never got a chance to see your other videos pre-takedown… your arc lighting and low pressure mercury videos are awesome and I’d love to see the rest of your collection. Seems like you’ve got a lot of super rare and amazing stuff!
I can't believe a collector would treat another collector with such hostility. Surely this guy understands that if you didn't save stuff it would end up being destroyed, you'd think he would realise you're both working to a common goal, no? Disgusting behaviour, I can only assume his petty spitefulness must be a result of some form of jealousy, I hope karma catches up with him!
Glad you’re back!
Wow I had no idea those existed
The tubes act just like a standard full wave mercury rectifier in high power tube circuits. The filament or cathode end is grounded and the two electrodes go to the split phases of a center tap transformer to keep one electrode on at a time. The plate is there to stop an arc from jumping the two electrodes when one is off and causing a short.
So glad You’re back !
Thank You so much for posting,
Keep the videos coming!
I have the same one it worked the bulbs finally went out it’s like a 1938
@@adamsaintgermain4149 do you have any pictures? Where did it come from?
As always, an interesting and informative video. I'm so please that you're uploading again.
I think I may have 2 of these hanging in my garage. One in the loft no longer works, one in the main garage I don't think I've ever tested. Definitely the same reflector style and definitely old!
Always a good day when you post a video!
Great video, thanks.
That’s really great to see you back! I used to enjoy your videos before that drama went down. I on the other hand am guilty of collecting fluorescent stuff haha. Regarding those sockets and how the tubes are held onto the fixture in general, I think really really British fluorescent stuff used their standard bayonet sockets on each end of the lamp, which was quite strange and somewhat reminiscent of the RF stuff at least regarding once again how they were connected and supported. Either way I really loved your presentation on this stuff, to me early fluorescent stuff is right up my alley so it’s really cool to hear about that stuff!
oh wow! i wondered what happened! glad to have you back man!
It nice have u back on You tube again. I beleve in Karma it will bite back
Take super extra care when handling that broken lamp. Being manufactured in the early '40s it absolutely contains manganese doped zinc beryllium silicate phosphor before the phase-out in '49, which happened, incidentally, as a direct result of the identification and discovery of berylliosis of the lungs in workers making exactly this kind of lamp....quite possibly at the exact same factory where these very lamps were made. Be and its compounds, to those who are genetically susceptible, can be supremely toxic, with permissible air concentration levels at the mere nanogram per m^3 level. Hazardous air concentration limits which are only rivaled by things like radium, plutonium, and VX agent. I would actually love to get a spectrum of the light coming off of one of them. I have never seen the spectrum for an original Be phosphor based lamp and it would be a great addition to the halophosphate and tri-phosphate spectra on the wiki page, which I took many years ago.
I truly miss your streetlighting videos!!!
Very nice fixture! However, I would be very careful in operating the light. Those 2 caps will have pcb's inside, and due to age, they will fail! I used to have several 4' preheat fixtures with the high power factor ballasts, but the caps in them went bad. Do miss the blinkfest.......
I had no idea the world of old light collecting was so cutthroat.
Does this thing look like the cyan colored fluorescent lights in movies when on?
Don't these have a beryllium based phosphor?
@@douro20 I’m thinking yes.
What's wrong with taking good stuff out of the work place dumpster?
IKR! they are just throwing it away, anyway. I love to dumpster dive for electronics, for repair or parts.
Could be a hazardous material dumpster intended for special handling disposal. Or, the company just has a policy against it so that employees don't throw away useful items with the specific intent of collecting it later.
No It has to be accounted for, as it sold as scrap metal.
I see an awful lot of fluorescent fixtures for a guy who doesn't collect fluorescent lamps >:)
𝓝𝓸!
0:15 *WHAT?!?* Is this true, or some kind of in-group joke thing? If it's true, people are such lunatics. Why would your employer even care if they were in the dumpster??
@@Muonium1 majority of the electrical contractors are crazy about people taking their scrap material. It’s a liability thing.
@@Mirroxaphene i mean is it illegal to get something from the dumpster? (Sorry im not from the US so I don't know any laws about it over there)
@@nathanwyson3232generally, no, so long as you are not trespassing to access the dumpster. At least in my locality, removing something from a construction waste dumpster accessible from the sidewalk (e.g. parked in the street) would be perfectly fine.
@@Mirroxaphene i thinks its just plain greed! the want the weight for the metal all to themselves... and get their shorts in a knot if someone takes any of it from them.