I was in the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop with Selfridges, Birmingham this afternoon enjoying a coffee with of course a doughnut, butterscotch flavour to be precise.

Just over from where we were sat there is a area of the store lit by fluorescents. There is a wire mesh tray at high level with the control gear sets and wiring mounted on it all sprayed matt black. Suspended from this there are a large number of fluorescent tubes of varying lengths randomly spaced and at differing heights all hanging vertically to give the impression of not being mounted in a fitting thus just a bare tube.

In reality there is a small fitting onto of the tube connecting it to the hanging flex, then from this a small cable runs down the side of a plastic tube that contains the fluorescent lamp to another fitting on the bottom of the tube.

Any idea where these can be sourced?

Also having tried Googling them I have seen suggestions that if hung vertically the gas in the fluorescent tube will settle and the tube needs flipping over occasionally to maintain performance. Incidentally I have also seen suggestions that vertical tubes are particularly good for some kinds of indoor horticulture!

Andy

i had the 'pleasure' of having to dismantle a few of this system in an architects office, but these were mounted horizontally. I did see what make they were and googled it and had a look at there website, but can i remember what make they were? No.

They have a very thin plastic jacket around the glass, presumambly to contain it in the event of a crunch.

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Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine....

Every man has to know his limitations- Dirty Harry

Do you meant the cover? Encapsulite?

">http://www.encapsulite.co.uk/index.php


I've used these when you can't have a lamp breaking and contaminating food production etc. if that's what you mean.

I didn't know vertical lamps were good for the those special greenhouses though.

yes.... my ones were the stick light

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Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine....

Every man has to know his limitations- Dirty Harry

Something along these lines http://www.encapsulite.co.uk/p.../17_T8_Stick_Lite.pdf

Andy

Have a look at www.kinoflo.com.
These lights are used extensively in the film industry and can be used with the conrol gear remote to the fitting

I heard of tungsten-halogen needing to be horizontal (as they work by re-condensing the evaporated metal back onto the filament), but not of similar problems with fluorescents - if there was such a problem I would have thought that wall lights with circular or 2D lamps would have been in trouble...
- Andy.