-
When an arc lamp is brand new and first fired up, it should
be left on for two hours, whether observing specimens or not. This is to
allow the arc to establish arcing points on the electrodes to which the
arc will always go and keep the arc stable when the lamp is fired in the
future.
-
The lamp should properly aligned to: a) allow for the brightest
fluorescence, and b) to make sure that the real and mirror images of the
arc are not overlapping which may cause overheating (possible explosion
hazard).
-
The lamp should always be cold when it is turned on. Never
turn an arc lamp when it is warm. This causes clouding of the glass in
the bulb and both considerably shortens the life of the burner and decreases
the burner's brightness. When the glass is clouded, the burner will heat
up more and the lamp is more likely to explode.
-
Once a lamp is turned on, it should be left on for a minimum
of twenty minutes (thirty is preferable). This allows it to warm up properly
and will help prevent premature wearing out (clouding) of the burner.
-
Rated life of mercury arc lamps is as follows:
HBO 50W : 100 hrs
HBO 100W: 200 hrs
HBO 200W: 400 hrs
After a lamp has reached its rated life in hours, it should
be inspected for cloudiness. If you have turned a 100W burner on only 10
times for 20 hr periods and otherwise cared for it properly, it may not
be cloudy and last for many hours beyond its rated life. It is a good idea
to inspect it often during this period, however. Other than firing the
burner when warm, turning the lamp on and off repeatedly (many warmups
and cooldowns) is probably the worst contributor to shortening the life
of burner.
-
I (Matt Schibler, X59783) can teach you how to replace and/or
align your mercury arc lamps if you do not how to do this correctly.
