
Present solutions work with a unidirectional switch,
like MOS transistors or GTO (Gate Turn Off
thyristor). As a starter is a bi-directional switch, it is
necessary to use a rectifier bridge (4 diodes of
1500V or 8 diodes with a lower breakdown
voltage).More, 2 or 3 diodesin series with the GTO
are required to get the necessary switch off effect,
and the whole switch is controlled with an analog
timer built around a small SCR.
The interest of a bi-directional switch arises itself: a
drastic reduction of the number of components,
and of course, a reduction of power losses (only 1
forward voltage instead of 5 or 8 dependingon the
version).
The ignition feature is another interesting point. A lamp requires a minimum energy level to be ignited, but
this energy depends especially on the temperature of the tube. The lower the temperature is, the more
energetic the lamp strike is.
This energy stored in the ballast is directly proportional to the ISO (E
=
1
2
LI
2 with I=ISO).
In other words, the required energy and of course the ISO, are maximum for the minimum temperature.
Results based on experiments show that it is necessary to switch off a current of 350mA to strike a 58W
tube at -20C (with a voltage amplitude clamped at 1300V).
Therefore, the best way to strike a tube independentlyof the temperature is to keep the maximum ISO level
for all the temperature range. Unfortunately,the solution is not so simple to implement because the energy
level at ambient or warm temperature would be much important: the lamp would be ignited, but the lamp
life time would be shortened. This is why one of the innovations of the ASD is to modulate the striking
energy versus temperature (see feature hereafter).
For negative temperatures,the ISO levelis maintainedat 350 mA, and for positive temperature,the ISO level
decreases slowly, a little bit above the conventional GTO profile.
GTO
SCR
1500V
Conventional discrete circuit
( Minimal version )
t(
°C)
ISO
350 mA
-20
°C20°C
0
°C40°C75°C
EFS KIT profile
Conventional GTO profile
EFS
7/13