Re: CFL effciency?

In <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Victor Roberts wrote:
>On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 13:53:07 +0000 (UTC), [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Don
>Klipstein) wrote:
>
>>  The way I envision it, if you put an inductor in series with a diode and 
>>apply AC, you don't get runaway current.  The current builds up during one 
>>half cycle and decreases to zero the next half cycle.  If there is also 
>>resistance, then the current decreases to zero before the second half 
>>cycle is over and stays at zero for a little while.
>>  One thing I just realized:  The peak current is (theoretically) twice 
>>what it would be without the diode, and that would normally saturate a 
>>ballast.
>>
>If you place a diode in series with the line you have created a DC
>component to the supply voltage. The magnetic ballast cannot "impede"
>a DC current so there is no current control for the lamp.

  During the half-cycle that applies voltage in the direction opposite 
that of current flowing through the diode and inductor, the line voltage 
will be across the inductor in the direction opposing current flow.
  If you want halfwave rectified voltage to appear across the inductor and 
no opposing voltage during the other half cycle, you will have to put a 
second diode in parallel with the inductor.  That would result in DC 
current limited only by resistance.

 - Don Klipstein ([EMAIL PROTECTED])