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Author Topic: Philips SL*18 and similar  (Read 29190 times)

Offline Zelandeth

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Philips SL*18 and similar
« on: July 25, 2006, 04:55:52 pm »
Looking for an original, black base SL*18.  Any condition, but working definitely preferred.

Also looking for what I believe to be a later addition to the range.  A white based opal diffuser equipped lamp of similar construction - I recall my parents buying one of these in the early 1990s.  This I believe MAY have been a lower wattage than the SL*18, as I'm sure it claimed on the packaging to be equivilant to a 60W lamp, rather than the 100W that the 18 was aiming at.  I remember in the supermarket (Wm Low for those who remember them!), there were SL*18's in the red/yellow packaging on the same shelf as these, which I am SURE had a green colour scheme.

Well...I'm not totally sure...but fairly sure!  I was around 7 or 8 years of age when this was going on.  Yes...I was fascinated by it then too.

Offline Chris W. Millinship

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2006, 04:16:24 pm »
I think the white diffuser one you refer to was known as SL Comfort, and was sold from the later 80s alongside the more common version which was referred to as SL Prismatic. There was also a diffused globe shaped version of the SL range if I remember correctly.

We had one of the original SL Comfort lamps which ran all night every night for something like 10 years before the tube packed in. About half way through its life I prised the glass top off to see what it was like inside, but due to the plastic base having become quite brittle, it had to be secured back on with tape! Unfortunately that one is no longer around, it died many years ago and I didn`t get to save it. :(

Offline Zelandeth

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2006, 05:33:53 pm »
SL Comfort, that's it! 

At least I know what to add to my shopping list now!

Have seen the globe ones too, and the reflector version as on Lamptech.  Those are of slightly less interest to me though - simply because I actively remember the other two from my childhood, and well, I am a terribly centimental person.

Thanks Chris!

Offline Chris W. Millinship

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2006, 03:51:48 pm »
No problems, hope you find one. If you find two..... ;)

Incidentally I found an Ebay seller who has the "impact" brand coloured 15 watt CFLs for quite a low buy-now price, all four colours and BC or ES cap, see this page . They also have some interesting Megaman stuff and one or two others, if it`s of use.


:)

Offline Chris W. Millinship

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2006, 09:26:54 am »
I know this isn`t exactly what you`re looking for, but take a look at this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110025030222

Look familiar? Guilty as charged I think! It is an electronic lamp of course, so doesn`t weight nearly as much as the old iron ballasted Philips lamps, but does look *very* like the SL*Comfort save for the more curvy base portion.

;)

Offline Zelandeth

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2006, 02:59:37 pm »
Grrr....just wrote this whole reply out, then my browser crashed.  D'OH!

That does look familiar...suspiciously familiar in fact!  Aside from the more curvy shape, that is so obviously based on an SL series lamp!  Might have to pick myself up one just for comparison purposes.  Well..comparison once I get hold of an SL anyway.

Thanks for posting that.  Most interesting.

Offline Chris W. Millinship

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2006, 01:37:27 pm »
No problems. I also saw one made by GE that someone posted on the Lighting Gallery site not too long ago, looks very similar too. That one is actually contemporary with the Philips lamp and also uses a magnetic ballast, no idea if they were sold here though.

Incidentally, send me your address, I have something I think you`d like.

cwm at bulbmuseum dot net.

;)

Offline Mónico González

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2006, 08:33:10 pm »
Hi.
Many years ago (1983-84), I bought an "SL replica" from NEC. These lamps were fitted with a prismatic plastic outer envelope instead the true glass of Philips ones, but they were the first daylight CFL's I saw (and I bought) here in Spain. These ones were 15 watt rated.
Of course, such lamps were magnetically ballasted, making use of a genuine glow starter to preheat the electrodes, blinking during the starting in the same way as regular fluorescent tubes does.
Some years after, the same Japanese brand, released a new series of daylight CFL's based on the same operative principles, but slightly more compact than their predecessors, being fitted with an opaline smooth plastic cover.
One of these lamps have been on service until last June at a porch lamp at my countryside home from almost ten years. It was removed from there, not by failure, but to be preserved to my collection as one of the last specimens of bulky magnetic ballasted CFL's, being substituted by a modern chinese 21 watt electronic spiral daylight lamp that cannot be turned on during the night hours in wich I'm listening the AM-medium wave radio band (on a sensitive vacuum tube receiver), because the strong 100 Hz "hum" (double than the 50 Hz AC power frequency) radiated by the built-in lamp's electronic ballast. This is the main drawback of new generation electronic ballasting systems: the intense radiation of RF harmonics generated by the switching process itself. As you knows, all of these lamps make use of a kind of switched power supply, an hybrid between the well known PSU's of most modern appliances, and the HF inverters used on fluorescent lanterns to pulse and raise the low DC voltage from batteries to a level capable of ionize the fluorescent tube connected to it. As most of these circuits generates waveforms very different from senoidal, the fundamental frequency are accompanied by a fair amount of harmonics of it.
Because the small size of electrolytics at the filter stage on DC side of these ballasts, the filter dampening capacity are subsequently low, giving as a result that these DC are insufficiently filtered, having a high degree of 100 Hz ripple (from a full wave rectification). When such a wavering current passing through a switching transistor are "chopped" several tens of thousands times per sec. to be converted on an HF "subproduct" that can be safely feeded into a tiny ferrite-cored choke or transformer, the true thing we are doing is to create an amplitude modulated radiofrequency, as the DC powering current are not completely flattened.
If such a filtering stage is enough to minimize or virtually supress the stroboscopic effect, the whole circuit isn't operating with a pure DC.
In addition, the waveform are quite different from a pure senoidal wave, so, the fundamental are followed by the mentioned harmonics, which most of them (at least the strongest) are in the medium-waves band range (500 to 1600 KHz, depending upon the countries).
Better designed and manufactured lamps are carefully filtered and shielded against RF radiation, but is very difficult to do so completely. Most of times the worst thing are not the direct radiation coming from the lamp itself, but the RF subproducts driven by the power line, then radiated or put into the receivers by it.
The older magnetic compact fluorescent lamps are not completely lacking of this interfering effects, because the mercury arc itself are a moderately efficient source of wideband RF interference, due to a sparkling phenomenon at their electrodes, increased by some resonance effects in wich are involved the ballast coil inductance, but this effect, generally overcome by the small capacitor connected in parallel with the starter, never was so strong as in new electronic CFL's.
Furthermore, the interference from these modern bulbs are affected by the "haircomb filter" effect, because the radiated energy are centered at discrete bands (multiples from the fundamental) giving as a result that the "buzz" or "hum" can be tuned at precisely distanced points in the band while you are turning the tuning know.
When my job will allow me, I will try to post some pictures and text at my website about these superb "Japanese Monsters" from NEC.

Regards.
M. Gonz?lez.

Offline Zelandeth

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Re: Philips SL*18 and similar
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2006, 04:20:07 pm »
Well, many many thanks to Chris M and another website reader!  I now have an original SL*18 and 25 in my collection!

The 25's on its last legs, but still works...and doesn't actually need to work other than for the occasional photoshoot, and can live out a safe easy retirement here!  18 seems to be in good shape though.

Many thanks to both of you who sent me these lamps.