# Ballast advice - Philips 60V lamp



## dvdh (Jul 3, 2013)

I’m an apprentice, and am trying to build a specialised fluorescent light. Unfortunately my training on fluorescents has been fairly ‘light’, and my teachers struggled to answer the questions below. So I’m hoping I’ll find help here!

The light (info here) is a special Philips medical lamp for skin conditions. Yes, I know UV has risks, but it will be used with the supervision of a doctor, for the treatment of a family member. It is a miniature T12 and takes 60V, and the lamp I want to make will need four of them. If I can connect them in series, that adds up to 240V, which is the supply voltage here in Australia.

The units have a G23 base, which apparently have the starter included – circuit diagram here.

So all I need to add is a ballast. But I’m confused as to what to use. The Philips brochure states that “since they use the same lamp caps as general lighting lamps, they also use the same universal ballasts”, which sounds great, if only I knew what that meant!

I’d like to have all four running in series off one ballast, but nothing I’ve read suggests that you can have that many fluorescent lamps off one.

The ballast that Philips recommends is their HF Matchbox Red 209 (info here), though it only powers one lamp, so I'd need to buy four. Also, it’s not available in Australia so I’d need to import it from the US or Europe, and I’d like to buy locally - if I knew what to buy. 

So my questions are:

1) could I use a single ballast to put four of these 60V lamps onto a single 240V supply, and if so, how do I go about choosing one?

2) if I need to use the Philips Matchbox unit, why doesn't the product specifications mention that it's for a 60V lamp? I'd have thought that both a ballast and lamp would need to have the same voltage rating.

Thanks in advance for any & all advice! 

David :thumbsup:


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I believe the ballast for the cfl will take care of the situation. I think you need a 120V input ballast that will handle that bulb. Someone correct me if I am wrong. I am confused by the 60v rating also. Never noticed it.

I am sure there is a 240v ballast version for that bulb also


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I would check with a local electrical supply company for the ballast or call Phillips. It has not been easy to find a 220V or 240V ballast . Many of the 120V units are multi voltage types.




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## Electric_Light (Apr 6, 2010)

http://www.rockaroundtheblock.com.a...ost-hozelock-cyprio-uvc-units-sold-by-us.html

that thing.


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