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Unguarded florescent tubes

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Camden

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Sharp glass when broken (inc occassional spontaneous shattering), and mercury contents... Is it not terribly wrong for a moving mechanical vehicle to contain these with the bars exposed?

A cover certainly gives more pleasant ambience, but surely safety ought to mandate them??
 
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dosxuk

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Are you sure they aren't sleeved? You can get clear plastic tubes that fit around the fluorescent tube, adding strength (and containing debris if broken) but without blocking any light.

The good ones are invisible to the eye, until you go to change the tube.
 
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edwin_m

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I think it's the 150/1 ones as originally installed (may have been modified since) that looked a bit vulnerable if someone was a bit slapdash in putting an over-large piece of luggage on the rack.
 
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Parallel

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The 150/1s are definitely unguarded. When they were with FGW, they changed the tubes from T8 or T12 to LED with a plastic tube.
 
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Meerkat

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I hate unguarded fluorescents, make my eyes go really red and itchy.
If I do a long tube trip I have to shut my eyes as much as possible.
 
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Crepello

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The 507s/508s had open strips pre-refurb, and I'm guessing other PEP-based EMUs. Never saw a problem - they're close to the ceiling, inset from the luggage racks.

Used to commute on the old G1-G7 trams in Amsterdam - high floors so low ceilings, and open strips near the grab rails. Nearly made that mistake one time as a standee, when the tram lurched. Would say others were less fortunate over the 45+ years those great machines were in service!
 
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sannox

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Crepello said:
The 507s/508s had open strips pre-refurb, and I'm guessing other PEP-based EMUs. Never saw a problem - they're close to the ceiling, inset from the luggage racks.

Used to commute on the old G1-G7 trams in Amsterdam - high floors so low ceilings, and open strips near the grab rails. Nearly made that mistake one time as a standee, when the tram lurched. Would say others were less fortunate over the 45+ years those great machines were in service!
Click to expand...

Yep 314s were the same. 156s were too but Scotrail added defusers when they were refurbed with PIS in the early 2000s. Not sure what other ops did with their 156s
 
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AMD

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Generally not a problem, they've been there for 30 years and theft hasn't been an issue up to now. As for breakages, you have to be standing on table before something happens, at which point you shouldn't be up there.
 
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Bletchleyite

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AMD said:
Generally not a problem, they've been there for 30 years and theft hasn't been an issue up to now. As for breakages, you have to be standing on table before something happens, at which point you shouldn't be up there.
Click to expand...

I don't habitually nick them, but I can reach them from the floor.
 
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aleggatta

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Although unguarded, I don't know of any examples that would be removable without some form of tool or vandalism
 
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Journeyman

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PermitToTravel said:
Surely worth guarding them even if just so that we don't steal the tubes to light our homes?
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People regularly nicked unguarded tungsten bulbs in days of old, only to find that railway bulbs worked on just about every voltage but 240v...

When I was a kid, practically every house I knew had at least one fluorescent tube light in it, usually in the kitchen, but they've not been common for years. How many people still have them?
 
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aleggatta

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Journeyman said:
Don't they all work off some sort of high-voltage, high-frequency supply, with electronics in the lighting units themselves to drive them?
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Depending on the rolling stock, they will either take supplies directly from auxiliary power (say 24v or 110v DC) and the lighting ballast will kick out 230/240v AC to run the tube, or it will be run directly off 'hotel' power taking in 230v and kicking out 230v to the tube. with regards to frequency, it will be whatever frequency the ballast has been designed to kick out. Older designs used 'chokes' and starters, but these have largely been replaced as high frequency electronic ballasts have fewer failure points, and can easily incorporate an emergency battery pack if required.
 
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jfollows

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Journeyman said:
How many people still have them?
Click to expand...

I have three of them, although most of my house hasn't been significantly modernised since it was built in 1981.

I really like them a lot, but only once I replaced the (glow plug) starters with electronic versions from Tabelek in Waterlooville. Since then (a few years) I haven't had to replace either a tube or a starter. Probably more importantly, they also now start almost instantly because the aleatoric nature of the glow plug starters has been removed.
 
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Surreytraveller

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There is also the issue of unguarded fluorescents becoming projectiles in the event of a collision
 
Terry Tait

Terry Tait

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Years ago my girlfriend was on a CIG with her sister on the way back from her mum, two yobs were on the train at the same time and smashed the florescent lights with some sort of stick as they run through the carriage on their way out at Pevensey.
 
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