• Straight or shaped? Are all tubes straight or are there any bends or slow curves involved.  List how many of each type of tube in each rum.
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• Choose the colour you require. Bear in mind there are several different whites available from cold whites through to warm  and even a colour to replicate tungsten lighting. See our colour chart to choose(colours in the colour chart are only a guide) or ask if you are not sure what colour will give the best result.
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• High or low voltage?.
• Low voltage cold cathode is made up using tubes averaging 2000 mm long and 20 mm diameter. Measure each run of proposed cold cathode and divide by 2000 mm. If the tubes work out a little over 2000 mm this is not a problem. Do not exceed 2300 mm in any case. Normally low voltage transformers are specified.  under 1000 V Low voltage transformers (ballasts) are generally 990 v.
• High Voltage cold cathode enables several tubes to be run on the same transformer. The transformers are more bulky (will not normally fit within a lighting trough) and they require a fireman’s switch in the circuit.
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• Will the tubes fit within my lighting trough? Ideally if the tubes are within a trough this should be at least 75 X 75 mm. Really the wider the trough the better the spread of light. All cold cathode tubes have a electrode at each end (see Fig 1:). This electrode is the electrical connection between the transformer and tube. Most  tubes have turned back electrodes. Turned back electrodes enable the tubes to be butted up together ( see Fig 2:) to eliminate dark patches. As long as the trough is large enough you will be able to place electronic type ballasts within, adjacent to the tube. Electronic ballasts are typically     L 150 mm x W 50 mm x H  35 mm.
                                      
• Fig 3: shows a  typical set of parts to make 1 cold cathode run up to 2200mm. 1 X ballast 1 X Tube 2 electrode insulators and 2 tube supports.

• Do you require installation?
• If you require installation, are there any access issues, either height or obstacles to negotiate? Do we require special equipment that we need to provide? Also what is the geographical location of the installation.

Technical Information.

Cold Cathode Lighting

What You need to know: