Hello! Nowadays, energy-saving lamps have become increasingly popular among simple lamps incandescent All this, of course, is caused primarily by economic reasons.

Nobody wants to pay extra money for electricity. And an energy-saving lamp allows you to get a much higher luminous flux for the same unit consumed electrical energy, like an incandescent lamp, but with less power consumption.

An energy-saving lamp consists of two main parts: a gas-discharge bulb and a ballast.
The gas discharge flask is made in various shapes (U-shaped, spiral). The inside of the flask is coated with a phosphor; two spirals are soldered into the ends of the flask.
The ballast is made of semiconductor elements and is pulse converter AC voltage 220 volts AC voltage about 400 volts.

The diagram of an energy-saving lamp is shown in the figure below.

Operating principle of an energy-saving lamp

As mentioned above, an energy-saving economy lamp has a bulb with spirals soldered at both ends. They are coated with a special oxide layer. This layer is needed to create thermoelectrode emission.

When supply voltage is applied to the coils, they begin to heat up due to the current flowing through them. When the coils are heated to a certain temperature, they begin to emit electrons. This process is called thermoelectrode emission. The bulb of an economy lamp is filled with mercury vapor. Electrons colliding with mercury atoms result in the formation of invisible ultraviolet radiation. When the phosphor is exposed to ultraviolet radiation, it causes a bright glow in the already visible spectrum for the human eye, and we see the bright glow of the bulb of an energy-saving lamp.

As mentioned above, alternating voltage is used to power the lamp. Why not permanent? This is done in order to increase the life of the lamp. When the lamp is powered with constant voltage, the following occurs. In the flask, electrons will move from one spiral to another, since one electrode will be the cathode and the other the anode. The anode will be constantly bombarded by a flow of electrons and will become very hot. In this case, the oxide layer deposited on the spiral will inevitably be destroyed.

The oxide layer on the spiral significantly reduces the resistance of the electrode, and if it is destroyed, its resistance will be several times greater. This in turn will lead to a decrease in the number of electrons emitted and a decrease luminous flux lamps. This will also lead to failure of the electronic ballast.

Therefore, the use of alternating voltage significantly increases the service life of the lamp electrodes.
When the electrodes are destroyed, the energy-saving lamp begins to start up with the electrodes flickering, the luminous flux increases and after a while it burns out. This is the final result of any energy-saving lamp.

Repair of energy saving lamp

Repair of an energy-saving lamp is carried out if there are spare parts or burnt-out donors, from which we can extract serviceable elements.

All you need to do is carefully read this material and apply the information received in practice. You can also use the insides of an energy-saving lamp in some other homemade products.

Malfunctions of energy-saving lamps are divided into two categories:
1. Electronic ballast burns out
2. The filament filaments burn out (most often one)

Before starting repairs, you need to find out the cause of the lamp malfunction. To do this, we need to disassemble the housing of the economy light bulb. The photo below shows the places where you need to pry with a screwdriver.

The lamp will then look like this.

Disconnect the four wires on the board coming from the bulb, as shown in the photo.

Cut off the two power wires that go to the lamp base.

Using digital pliers, we will ring the spirals of the bulb of an energy-saving lamp.

If at least one filament coil burns out, the flask can be discarded. There's nothing you can do about it anymore. The lamp starting circuit must be working properly.

If the spirals on the flask are intact, then put the flask to the side while waiting for the donor lamp with a faulty flask.

Inspect the electrical circuit carefully, pay attention to the condition of the elements. Are there any burnt or scorched parts? Often the output transistor of the converter, diode bridge, and electrolytic capacitor fail. Purchase new parts from a radio parts store to replace the burnt ones. If the markings are not visible, disassemble the work lamp if present and write down their markings.

The main reasons for the rapid failure of energy-saving lamps

First of all, this is primarily poor-quality assembly of the lamp, the use of low-quality radio components by the lamp manufacturer, as well as the absence of some parts on printed circuit board.

The second factor is systematic overheating of the lamp components as a result of poor cooling.

Lifespan of an energy-saving lamp

The service life depends on the quality of the lamp and the frequency of switching on and off. Some manufacturers claim a service life of up to 7000 hours. In practice this time is much lower. Mostly, lamps of average quality burn out within six months.

How to increase the service life of an energy-saving lamp

To increase the service life of an energy-saving lamp, it is proposed to make some modifications to the lamp. It consists of installing an NTC thermistor bulb in series with the filament coil and making ventilation holes in the plastic housing of the lamp base.

The thermistor provides limitation starting current lamp and avoids filament burnout.

Holes in the base improve temperature regime work electronic circuit due to incoming air.

Upgrading an energy-saving lamp

To open the lamp, unsolder the wire on the base, as shown in the photo below

Bend the edge of the base where the wire is pressed

Divide the lamp body into two parts. Inside there will be an electronic ballast board.

We will need an NTC thermistor with a resistance of 20 to 40 Ohms.

This is the resistance of the cold thermistor. When heated, its resistance decreases greatly and it does not affect the operation of the lamp.

The thermistor is connected to the filament break.

It gets hot during operation, so do not install it near ballast.

Before assembling the case, make ventilation holes in it in a circle.

They will improve the operating temperature of the ballast elements and the lamp bulb. But you should not use this lamp in places of high humidity. That's all for me. Good luck with your renovation!

Due to the annual rise in price of electricity, we have to develop and Energy Saving Technologies, without forgetting that household sector is also a good direction to introduce successful business. This is the first thing I thought about when they passed a bill banning the use of ordinary lamps for lighting by organizations, or as they are called incandescent lamps, proposing energy-saving ones as an alternative. Let's now try to figure out whether they can really save energy. I can immediately say that there are savings already in the service life.

A regular incandescent lamp can last you about 1,000 hours, and an energy-saving (average-cost) lamp can last 6,000 hours, although many manufacturers say they can last up to 10,000 hours.

Now we multiply the power of the light bulb by the cost of energy and the operating time, resulting in a threefold saving of the family budget. But to purchase such an energy-saving “miracle” you will need to spend a lot of money, because they are much more expensive than ordinary ones.

During the ban on ordinary light bulbs in England, they apparently based on how much the average citizen of the country received, and on family budget The English family was not greatly affected by this bill.

The income of a Russian is very different from the income of a European. Now I won’t tell organizations whether they can do this or not, because I don’t know. But since the average energy-saving lamp costs 300 - 600 rubles, and at times the light bulbs tend to burn out and can be broken by accident, I decided to abandon such energy progress.

But then my wife intervened, and on February 23, along with the main gift, she gave me this “fun.” Children were not left out either, as the table lamps also gradually warmed up; they were also replaced in September.

And it so happened that gradually I changed all the lamps in the house to energy-saving ones, and at the same time the monthly payment for electricity decreased. So is an energy-saving lamp a miracle? There is no miracle here.

Thanks to modern technologies an old fluorescent lamp and a fluorescent lamp were combined to the size of a regular lamp. Also, a special paint (luminescent) was used to cover the walls of the glass tubes, which glows when irradiated with ultraviolet radiation.

The occurrence of ultraviolet radiation occurs due to a corona discharge on the electrodes of mercury atoms, stabilized by inert gases, xenon or argon. So mercury vapor is a strong poison, which should not only not be broken, but also not thrown into the trash.

Many people now, I think, thought that due to such a relative danger, I would not use them at all. But you shouldn’t worry about this so much, since in such lamps work has been done to reduce the volume of pipes to a minimum, and besides, the amount of mercury pumped into them is negligible. And I gave information about harmful components as a preventive measure, so that in the event of some unforeseen situation, adequate measures were taken.

The base for energy-saving lamps is the usual E 27, which is suitable for all types of standard lamps. Replacing them is not difficult, although at the time of purchase the even longer length of the lamp is taken into account, which may not yet fit into the existing dimensions. Suitable for small luminaires with E 14 base.

Here it is also necessary to decide overall dimensions, since all energy-saving lamps have an electronics unit, due to which its size increases significantly. You can determine how much power the luminous flux of a lamp has using the number and letter W, which should be indicated on the lamp itself, i.e. 5W, 10W, etc.

For high-quality lamps, the switching on is smooth, i.e. the lamp warms up, and it will work at full power after a while. The service life of these lamps is reduced precisely because of frequent switching on and off. I can recommend not turning off the light in the kitchen, because in a minute someone will turn it on again.

As a result, energy-saving lamps have:

1) long term services

2) low heat release

3) smooth on, smooth and soft off

4) significant energy savings

5) high technical level execution and modern design

The disadvantages of energy-saving lamps include:

1) high cost

2) habit of incandescent light

Energy-saving light bulbs (ESL) have become firmly established among modern consumers, as they have many advantages over outdated incandescent lamps. First of all, they allow you to save energy due to lower power, while the light output will be 4-5 times greater than that of the “Ilyich bulb”. Lighting of this type are a type of linear fluorescent lamps, but they are more advanced technically and have a compact form for installation in lamps. Let's look at how they are designed and how they work.

What does ESL consist of?

The device is quite simple. It consists of two main parts: a glass bulb and a body. These elements are connected to each other by special wires that are wound to four pins located in pairs at the edges of the board. On some models they may be soldered. An electronic circuit is installed in the housing; it is also called ballast.

A distinctive feature of compact fluorescent lighting devices is that they already have an electronic ballast; it does not have to be connected separately.

The housing, which houses all the electronics, can be made of infusible plastic or ceramic. It ends with a base or pins, with which the light bulb can be screwed into a socket or lamp. Modern ESLs are adapted to Russian users, they have the following bases:

• E27 (standard Edison base with a diameter of 27 mm);
• E14 (reduced minion base, mainly found in chandeliers, lamps, sconces);
• E40 (large base with a diameter of 40 mm, which is most often used in industrial production).

To understand the principle of operation of an energy-saving lamp, you need to understand how each of its components works. Let us consider in more detail the internal structure of the device and the features of its elements.

Glass flask

The tube of an energy-saving lamp is made of glass, so it is quite easy to damage its integrity. Its inner layer is covered with a phosphor, this is a special coating that is responsible for the transformation of ultraviolet radiation into light visible to humans. The flask can have a variety of shapes:

• U-shaped;
• F-shaped;
• spiral and many others.

By twisting the gas-discharge bulb, manufacturers were able to reduce the size of the lamp while maintaining acceptable light output parameters. It is sealed on both sides, all the air is pumped out of it, and a special inert gas (argon, xenon, creon, etc.) and mercury or its alloys are pumped inside.

At the edges of the tube there are incandescent spirals; they are covered with a layer of oxides, which is necessary to create thermoelectrode emission.

Housing structure

The housing itself contains an electronic circuit that is responsible for starting the lamp and turning it off. The ballast is a pulse converter that turns an alternating voltage of 200 W into an alternating voltage of 440 W. The high-frequency converter in this type of lighting fixture eliminates flicker that occurs when an electromagnetic choke operates at a frequency of 50 Hz.

The circuit itself has a noise filter; it is necessary to eliminate interference in the power supply network when the light bulbs turn on and the voltage becomes higher than standard.

Also an important element of the ballast is the fuse; it is this that protects all electronics from burning out during power surges. In some devices, the fuse is replaced with a limiting resistor. The resistor has two outputs, one connected to the threaded contact of the base, and the second to the board itself.

Mechanism of action

Energy-saving lamps, the device and principle of operation of which we are considering, do not produce flickering and noise during operation, like their linear counterparts, since the electronic trigger circuit is already built into the device. Let's look at how the lighting device works.

When the converted voltage enters the filament coils, they begin to heat up. Due to the presence of an oxide layer on them, thermoelectrode emission occurs. Forms in the flask a large number of electrons that collide with mercury atoms.

The process results in the formation of a low-temperature mercury amalgam, which produces ultraviolet radiation. However, a person cannot perceive these rays; they are converted into visible light by a phosphor, which is applied to the inner surface of the bulb.

It is worth noting that the cathode and anode in a fluorescent lamp change places. If this did not happen, the anode would constantly overheat from a continuous flow of electrons, and this would very quickly destroy the oxide layer of the heating coil.

How to disassemble a lamp

The energy saving lamp is very easy to disassemble. All models have a similar mount. The bulb is connected to the body using special latches or glued. To separate the segments from each other, you need to find a thin joint on the plastic part and carefully insert a thin screwdriver or blade into it. Next you will see the wires with which the circuit is connected to the tube itself. These wires must be disconnected, sometimes they are simply wound, in which case you will need to remove the winding. If the wire is solid, you need to cut it, but only so that you can then reconnect it.

Disassembly is carried out to inspect the lamps and determine the reasons for their failure. This must be done with extreme caution so as not to damage the tube, as it contains mercury, which is hazardous to health.

In some cases, parts of the electronic circuit can be replaced, as well as filament coils. However, this should only be done by a qualified specialist who understands how the housekeeper works and what exactly is broken in it.

In conclusion

Operating principle of energy saving compact lamps similar to the operating principle of fluorescent linear lighting devices. However, the compact version has certain advantages. First of all, an electronic ballast is already built into it, the electronic ballast is equipped with high-quality parts that prevent flicker and noise during operation. Manufacturers also managed to significantly reduce the size of the lighting fixture by bending it into a spiral or arc.

Housekeepers have high efficiency and allow you to consume less electricity, but be careful with their use, there is mercury inside the gas discharge tube, so these products require special disposal.

Currently, so-called energy-saving fluorescent lamps are becoming increasingly widespread. Unlike conventional fluorescent lamps with electromagnetic ballast, energy-saving lamps with electronic ballast use a special circuit.

Thanks to this, such lamps can be easily installed in a socket instead of a conventional incandescent light bulb with a standard E27 and E14 base. It is about household fluorescent lamps with electronic ballast that will be discussed further.

Distinctive features of fluorescent lamps from conventional incandescent lamps.

It is not for nothing that fluorescent lamps are called energy-saving, since their use can reduce energy consumption by 20–25%. Their emission spectrum is more consistent with natural daylight. Depending on the composition of the phosphor used, it is possible to produce lamps with different shades of glow, both warmer tones and colder ones. It should be noted that fluorescent lamps are more durable than incandescent lamps. Of course, a lot depends on the quality of the design and manufacturing technology.

Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) device.

A compact fluorescent lamp with electronic ballast (abbreviated CFL) consists of a bulb, an electronic board and an E27 (E14) socket, with which it is installed in a standard socket.

Inside the case there is a round printed circuit board on which the high-frequency converter is assembled. The converter at rated load has a frequency of 40 - 60 kHz. As a result of being used quite high frequency conversion, eliminating the “blinking” characteristic of fluorescent lamps with electromagnetic ballast (based on a choke), which operate at a power supply frequency of 50 Hz. The schematic diagram of a CFL is shown in the figure.

According to this schematic diagram mostly going to be enough cheap models, for example, produced under the brand Navigator And ERA. If you use compact fluorescent lamps, then most likely they are assembled according to the above diagram. The spread of the values ​​of the parameters of resistors and capacitors indicated on the diagram actually exists. This is due to the fact that for lamps of different wattages elements with different parameters. Otherwise, the circuit design of such lamps is not much different.

Let's take a closer look at the purpose of the radioelements shown in the diagram. On transistors VT1 And VT2 assembled high frequency generator. Silicon high-voltage transistors are used as transistors VT1 and VT2 n-p-n MJE13003 series transistors in TO-126 package. Typically, only the digital index 13003 is indicated on the housing of these transistors. MPSA42 transistors in a smaller TO-92 format or similar high-voltage transistors can also be used.

Miniature symmetrical dinistor DB3 (VS1) serves to autostart the converter at the moment of power supply. Externally, the DB3 dinistor looks like a miniature diode. An autostart circuit is necessary, because the converter is assembled according to a circuit with feedback by current and therefore does not start itself. In low-power lamps, the dinistor may be absent altogether.

Diode bridge made on elements VD1 – VD4 serves for straightening alternating current. Electrolytic capacitor C2 smoothes out the ripples of the rectified voltage. Diode bridge and capacitor C2 are the simplest network rectifier. From capacitor C2 constant pressure goes to the converter. The diode bridge can be designed as individual elements(4 diodes), or a diode assembly can be used.

During its operation, the converter generates high-frequency interference, which is undesirable. Capacitor C1, choke (inductor) L1 and resistor R1 prevent the spread of high-frequency interference through the electrical network. In some lamps, apparently to save money :) a wire jumper is installed instead of L1. Also, many models do not have a fuse FU1, which is indicated in the diagram. In such cases, the breaking resistor R1 also plays the role of a simple fuse. If the electronic circuit malfunctions, the current consumed exceeds a certain value, and the resistor burns out, breaking the circuit.

Throttle L2 usually assembled at Sh-figurative ferrite magnetic core and looks like a miniature armored transformer. On the printed circuit board this inductor takes up quite an impressive amount of space. The inductor winding L2 contains 200 - 400 turns of wire with a diameter of 0.2 mm. You can also find a transformer on the printed circuit board, which is indicated on the diagram as T1. Transformer T1 is assembled on a ring magnetic core with an outer diameter of about 10 mm. The transformer has 3 windings wound with mounting or winding wire with a diameter of 0.3 - 0.4 mm. The number of turns of each winding ranges from 2 - 3 to 6 - 10.

The fluorescent lamp bulb has 4 leads from 2 spirals. The leads of the spirals are connected to the electronic board using the cold twist method, that is, without soldering and are screwed onto rigid wire pins that are soldered into the board. In low-power lamps with small dimensions, the leads of the spirals are soldered directly into the electronic board.

Repair of household fluorescent lamps with electronic ballast.

Manufacturers of compact fluorescent lamps claim that their lifespan is several times longer than that of conventional incandescent lamps. But despite this, household fluorescent lamps with electronic ballast fail quite often.

This is due to the fact that they use electronic components, not designed for overload. It is also worth noting the high percentage of defective products and low quality manufacturing. Compared to incandescent lamps, the cost of fluorescent lamps is quite high, so repairing such lamps is justified at least for personal purposes. Practice shows that the cause of failure is mainly a malfunction of the electronic part (converter). After a simple repair, the performance of the CFL is completely restored and this allows you to reduce financial costs.

Before we start talking about CFL repairs, let’s touch on the topic of ecology and safety.

Despite their positive qualities, fluorescent lamps are harmful to both the environment and human health. The fact is that there are mercury vapors in the flask. If it is broken, dangerous mercury vapor will enter the environment and possibly into the human body. Mercury is classified as a substance 1st hazard class .

If the flask is damaged, you must leave the room for 15–20 minutes and immediately forcefully ventilate the room. You must be careful when using any fluorescent lamps. It should be remembered that mercury compounds used in energy-saving lamps are more dangerous than ordinary metallic mercury. Mercury can remain in the human body and cause harm to health.

In addition to this disadvantage, it should be noted that the emission spectrum of a fluorescent lamp contains harmful ultraviolet radiation. If you stay close to a fluorescent lamp for a long time, skin irritation is possible, as it is sensitive to ultraviolet radiation.

The presence of highly toxic mercury compounds in the bulb is the main motive of environmentalists who call for reducing the production of fluorescent lamps and switching to safer LED lamps.

Disassembling a fluorescent lamp with electronic ballast.

Despite the ease of disassembling a compact fluorescent lamp, you should be careful not to break the bulb. As already mentioned, there are mercury vapors inside the flask that are hazardous to health. Unfortunately, the strength of glass flasks is low and leaves much to be desired.

In order to open the housing where the electronic circuit of the converter is located, it is necessary to release the plastic latch that holds the two plastic parts of the housing together with a sharp object (a narrow screwdriver).

Next, you should disconnect the leads of the spirals from the main electronic circuit. It is better to do this with narrow pliers, picking up the end of the spiral wire output and unwinding the turns from the wire pins. After this, it is better to place the glass flask in a safe place to prevent it from breaking.

Remaining electronic board connected by two conductors to the second part of the housing, on which a standard E27 (E14) base is mounted.

Restoring the functionality of lamps with electronic ballast.

When restoring a CFL, the first thing you should do is check the integrity of the filaments (spirals) inside the glass bulb. The integrity of the filaments can be easily checked using a regular ohmmeter. If the resistance of the threads is low (a few ohms), then the thread is working. If during measurement the resistance is infinitely high, then the filament has burned out and use the bulb in in this case impossible.

The most vulnerable components of an electronic converter made on the basis of the circuit already described (see circuit diagram) are capacitors.

If the fluorescent lamp does not turn on, then capacitors C3, C4, C5 should be checked for breakdown. When overloaded, these capacitors fail because the applied voltage exceeds the voltage for which they are designed. If the lamp does not turn on, but the bulb glows in the area of ​​the electrodes, then capacitor C5 may be broken.

In this case, the converter is working properly, but since the capacitor is broken, a discharge does not occur in the bulb. Capacitor C5 is included in oscillatory circuit, in which at the moment of startup a high-voltage pulse occurs, leading to the appearance of a discharge. Therefore, if the capacitor is broken, the lamp will not be able to switch to operating mode normally, and a glow caused by heating of the spirals will be observed in the area of ​​the spirals.

Cold And hot mode starting fluorescent lamps.

There are two types of household fluorescent lamps:

With cold start

With hot start

If the CFL lights up immediately after switching on, then it has a cold start. This mode The bad thing is that in this mode the cathodes of the lamp are not preheated. This can lead to burnout of the filaments due to the flow of a current pulse.

For fluorescent lamps it is more preferable hot start. During a hot start, the lamp lights up smoothly within 1-3 seconds. During these few seconds, the filaments heat up. It is known that a cold filament has less resistance than a heated filament. Therefore, during a cold start, a significant current pulse passes through the filament, which can eventually cause it to burn out.

For conventional incandescent lamps, a cold start is standard, so many people know that they burn out just the moment they are turned on.

To implement hot start in lamps with electronic ballast, the following circuit is used. A posistor (PTC - thermistor) is connected in series with the filaments. In the circuit diagram, this posistor will be connected in parallel with capacitor C5.

At the moment of switching on, as a result of resonance, a high voltage appears on the capacitor C5, and, consequently, on the electrodes of the lamp, necessary for its ignition. But in this case, the filaments are poorly heated. The lamp turns on instantly. In this case, a posistor is connected in parallel with C5. At the moment of startup, the posistor has a low resistance and the quality factor of the L2C5 circuit is significantly lower.

As a result, the resonance voltage is below the ignition threshold. Within a few seconds the posistor heats up and its resistance increases. At the same time, the filaments also heat up. The quality factor of the circuit increases and, consequently, the voltage at the electrodes increases. A smooth hot start of the lamp occurs. In operating mode, the posistor has a high resistance and does not affect the operating mode.

It is not uncommon that this particular posistor fails, and the lamp simply does not turn on. Therefore, when repairing lamps with ballast, you should pay attention to it.

Quite often, the low-resistance resistor R1 burns out, which, as already mentioned, plays the role of a fuse.

Active elements such as transistors VT1, VT2, rectifier bridge diodes VD1 - VD4 are also worth checking. As a rule, the cause of their malfunction is an electrical breakdown. p-n transitions. Dinistor VS1 and electrolytic capacitor C2 rarely fail in practice.