Spiral CFL's vs tubular CFL's

DMGIX

Well-Known Member
Just thought i would share this with all you boys and girls... Go for the Tubular CFL's and not the Spiral ones, well for growing anyways, the spiral one are for decorative effect and thus the glass(or whatever the technical term is) has to be thicker reducing efficency.
 

DMGIX

Well-Known Member
I do, hold on....... (Philips CFL Tornado) Last Paragraph

(sic)
The helical compact fluorescent lamp was invented by Ed Hammer at GE in 1976. His proposal was to coil a long, thin high efficiency tube into this form, such that it would better match the size and light distribution of a frosted incandescent lamp. However GE felt that coiling glass tubes into this complex shape was not compatible with high speed manufacturing techniques, and the idea was shelved.

It was not until 1992 that GE completed a machine for bending the glass, and samples of the so-called Heliax lamp that it produced were issued to the market that year. Sadly the lamp never made it to mass production, owing to extreme difficulty in controlling the production process.

The commercial introduction of the lamp had to wait a further three years until a Chinese firm, Shanghai Xiangshan, marketed the first successful design. The low labour rates in China allowed this company to economically undertake the manufacture by employing a small army of glassblowers to create the spiral form. Since then the market has taken off and many of the major firms now out-source a spiral CFL lamp from China. This is Philips' first lamp from 2003.

In fact the spiral CFL is a very poor lamp in terms of efficacy. There are two ways to make it. The first is to coil the pre-coated glass tube. This causes damage to the phosphor layer during the deformation of the glass. The second is to first coil the glass, and then coat it. Owing to action of gravity, coating thickness cannot be uniformly controlled. It is too thick on the lower half of each coil, and too thin above. The result is a lamp of lower efficacy than when straight tubes are used, but owing to its compact size the lamp remains popular.
 

mattman

Well-Known Member
Hmm, that does make a ALOT of sense.... my imagination is now rolling again on a new setup, how fucking awful.

lol ive been thru like 20 different setups to get the best...
 

DMGIX

Well-Known Member
Im not saying they dont work DUH obv i've been following many a Amazing grow with them...im just saying the tube ones are CHEAPER TO PURCHASE and MORE EFFICANT!
 

DWR

Well-Known Member
Spiral is to make it actually longer.... ^^ u have more square centimeters than you would have if yo umade the twirls straight... ^^

i think thats why they are spiral and not for decorative pleasure ^^
 

thelittletruck

Well-Known Member
yes, i believe spiral creates more surface area, and cfls work by reacting uv light with mercury (?) powder on the inside surface of the gas to releases energy in the form of visible light. or something like that. so more surface area = more light -> COMPACT flourescent.

but i could be wrong.
 

DMGIX

Well-Known Member
how many babies are you running and whats your average yield, with those lights?
I had two going because of space limitations, but one turned out to be male :cry: the one i've got left is a sexy bitch, proper bushy. I made sure i picked a strain that wasn't that hard to grow. Yield i've not got a clue its my 1st gow with this setup.
 

DMGIX

Well-Known Member
yes, i believe spiral creates more surface area, and cfls work by reacting uv light with mercury (?) powder on the inside surface of the gas to releases energy in the form of visible light. or something like that. so more surface area = more light -> COMPACT flourescent.

but i could be wrong.
A tubular/rectangular CFL i would say produces more penatrative light where as the spiral spreads it over a wider area and requires a slightly higher wattage for the same light..because of the damage cause to the phoshor while being manufactured. I could be completely wrong im not an expert. Im just going off the details from my source. :peace::peace::peace::peace:
 

Dabu

Well-Known Member
I can believe that tube flourescents are more efficient with light. However, they are also more fragile and difficult to transport, and they limit many options when it comes down to single plant or other small grows.
 

Tanuvan

Well-Known Member
I've read that tubes are more efficient. In fact if you look at the T5 watt per lumen, it is more efficient than a CFL bulb. Part of that reason is that the light from the inner surface of the bulb has to make it outside, as opposed to the outer surface of the spiral. The center surface light is perpendicular to the other side of the bulb.

This is why the most effective parts of the CFL are the outer surfaces.
 

tycoon

Active Member
I cant believe this site when you need a simple question asked,noone even answers you.tycoon 5/4
 

tycoon

Active Member
Has anybody heard of someone who has no place to put under lights,pop there seeds in water or paper towel and going right to ground when it gets warmer? Can someone respond? tycoon 5/4
 
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