Ballasts began to be produced more than thirty-five years ago. Of course, after all this time, all models have been improved and finalized. But today, not everyone can really appreciate the benefits of electronic ballasts. What it is? Let's consider.
What is electronic ballasts?
Electronic ballasts are electronic ballasts that are installed to illuminate the room. An electronic ballast lamp significantly helps to save electricity. In addition, you also save on the purchase of new lamps. The latter is due to the fact that the term of use of the lamps is much higher than other similar ones.
Electronic ballasts provide high-quality artificial lighting, which favorably affects the performance of a person. Due to the flicker frequency of up to 400 hertz, the eyes do not get tired, so in the future the head does not hurt after work.
Characteristics and types of electronic ballasts
All electronic ballasts are divided into two types:
- Devices that are a single unit.
- Devices consisting of several parts.
In addition, electronic ballasts can be divided into types, according to the type of lamp: apparatus for discharge lamps, halogen light sources, as well as for LEDs.
If we consider the characteristics of the functioning of electronic ballasts, then the devices are divided into electronic and electromagnetic.
In accordance with the European classification, all electronic ballasts according to power loss are divided into classes:
- A1 - adjustable.
- A2 - unregulated.
- A3 - unregulated electronic ballasts (with large losses than class A2).
As a rule, choosing an electronic ballast in a store you need to be guided by the latest varieties.
Possibilities of electronic ballasts in the modern world
Modern electronic ballasts make it possible to start the lamp instantly after its electrodes are warmed up. In addition, during operation, a small voltage supports electronic ballasts. What does it mean? Answer: the amount of energy consumed is much less than during the burning of lamps without this unit.
Electronic ballasts, of course, can be replaced by analogs. But it will already be bulky and noisy chokes, which are practically not used in electrical engineering.
The main features of electronic ballasts are:
- During operation of the lamp, which is connected via the electronic ballast, the flicker effect is reduced to zero.
- There is no such thing as a false start lamp. That is, flashes do not occur before the usual stable ignition when the starter breaks. This means that the filament will last much longer.
- Electronic ballasts help ensure stable lighting.
- Some electronic ballasts are equipped with a power regulator that helps to set the desired brightness in a particular room.
How electronic ballasts work
The electronic ballast consists of the following stages:
- First, the lamp electrodes are heated. Their launch takes less than a second, providing a smooth inclusion of light. This helps extend the life of the lamp itself. In addition, it is worth noting that the LPO EPRA lamp or other similar lamps with these devices can be started at very low temperatures, which does not adversely affect their operation.
- Ignition is the second stage of electronic ballasts. During its operation, a high voltage pulse is generated, which contributes to the filling of the flask with gas.
- Combustion is the last stage in which a stable, low voltage is required to operate the lamp itself.
Electronic ballast circuit
In most cases, the electronic ballast is a push-pull voltage converter. It can be both half-bridge and bridge. The latter option is very rare.
At the very beginning, the voltage begins to be rectified by the diode bridge. After that, it is gradually smoothed by a capacitor to a stable voltage of 310 volts.
Thanks to the half-bridge inverter, the voltage becomes high-frequency.
The electronic ballast circuit involves the use of a toroidal transformer with three windings. The most important of them supplies an alternating resonant voltage to the lamp, and the other two are auxiliary. They out-of-phase open transistor switches.
Thus, before ignition occurs, the maximum current glows two filaments of the lamp. A large voltage on the capacitor ignites the lamp, which continues to glow, without changing the frequency from the moment it is started. Typically, the start time is no more than 1 second.
Using electronic ballasts with LED modules
As we have said, some lighting fixtures can be used with electronic ballasts. What is it, we also made out. Now let's look at the advantages of using electronic ballasts together with LED modules.
The main advantage in this situation is that you can avoid strong power surges and protect the device from electromagnetic interference. That is, electronic ballasts protect this light source from negative external factors. In addition, in this situation, electronic ballasts can save electricity up to 30%, which is also an important factor when deciding to use electronic ballasts. The energy savings here are also explained by the lack of the need for constant replacement of starters. And they break much faster and more often than electronic ballasts.
Reviews about electronic ballasts and their manufacturers
Judging by many of the respondents' opinions, everyone voted for electronic ballasts. The most popular manufacturers of lighting equipment that supply to various countries of the world, including Russia, are the following:
- Helvar (Finland) began producing products in 1921. And almost immediately established itself as one of the most reliable in the manufacture of radio equipment. Helvar mastered the technology of manufacturing electronic ballasts only after a few decades and continues to produce them at the moment.
- Tridonic (Austria) - one of the leading manufacturers of electronic ballasts. Tridonic began to produce its products, which today are among the highest quality, back in the late 70s of the last century.
- Osram is a giant in the production of lighting sources and all kinds of its components (this includes electronic ballasts).
Of course, these manufacturers support by no means the low cost of electronic ballasts. Their price ranges from 1800 to 4500 rubles (when devices from other manufacturers can be purchased for only 500-1500 rubles). But their products live up to all expectations. This is due to high quality products.
Choosing the right electronic ballast
Before you buy one or another model of electronic ballasts (what it is, we already found out), you need to decide on the manufacturer. As mentioned above, the most reliable manufacturers are considered Osram, Tridonic and Helvar. But even if you dwell on one of these manufacturers, there is a possibility that an improperly selected device can become a source of damage to your lighting device. Therefore, in order to prevent this from happening, we will figure out what to look for when buying electronic ballasts.
So, choosing electronic ballasts, pay attention to the following parameters:
- The type of lamps that you will use (each type has its own electronic ballast type).
- Lamp power.
- Climatic conditions that can be found in the documentation for electronic ballasts.