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Hi,

I've used Hg lamps over 270h ( osram HBO 100w/2).

But...You must pay attention to the intensity decrease even when its still
new.

If you turn on the lamp when its hot, instead of 200 hours it can just work
for a few tens or they can just die (switching on and off lots of times its
also a bad thing for the lamps, unfortunately we cannot live without this)

The other thing is : time to time, if you have patience, open the lamp
socket and see if there is already some small hg drops around the electrodes
or if it has a gray layer on the glass. This is usually a indicator of how
good is your lamp health...most times more then its lifetime.

Of course the explosion risk increases with bulb age, nevertheless they
usually just stop giving light!

Cheers,
  _____

Nuno Moreno, Eng.
Instituto Gulbenkian da Ciência
Unidade de Imagiologia Celular

Rua da Quinta Grande Nº6
2780-156 OEIRAS
Portugal

Tel: +351 214 464 606
Fax: +351 214 407 970
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  _____





-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Dr Pedro J
Camello
Sent: Segunda-feira, 18 de Março de 2002 10:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Hg bulb can explode


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Hi all,

not strictly confocal, but I would like to know how real and serious is
the risk of explosion of a Hg bulb when used after its nominal lifetime
( in my case 200 hrs).

Thanks in advance


Dr Pedro J Camello
Dept Physiology
Fac Veterinary Sci
Univ of Extremadura
Campus Universitario
10071 Caceres
SPAIN
Phone/Fax: 927-25-71-54
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