Interesting eBay find (Patreon)

Unwrapping and testing a dangerous vintage Philips lamp

This was an odd but very pleasing find on eBay. It's an original Philips TUV6 special purpose germicidal lamp that uses a resistor in the base as a ballast, and a novel internal electrode system to initiate the arc at relatively low voltage. The internal discharge is quite intriguing because it uses neon as a carrier gas for the mercury vapour, so the electrodes at both ends glow orange, with a blue glow in the middle. I'd guess these found use in sterilising cabinets, food machinery, water treatment and possibly EPROM erasers. Here's a page on the Lamptech website that gives a bit more information. http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets/D%20MC%20Philips%20TUV6.htm The scientific test on remote exposure to UVC is to determine the psychological effect of suggested harm. In reality no UVC light will actually make it through the lens of my camera, and your display certainly can't emit any wavelengths in that region. Instead you saw an RGB emulation of the low level visible spectral lines in the mercury discharge. Your eyes and skin will not experience any adverse effect whatsoever and your stool will remain firm and under control. However, these lamps can NOT be viewed directly with the naked eye, as it will cause temporary surface damage identical to the arc-eye experienced by welders when exposed to an electrical arc directly or as a reflection. The result is an intense discomfort some time after the exposure, that feels like having sand in your eyes. The effect does wear off fairly quickly, but is extremely unpleasant while happening. Painkillers and specialist eye drops can help with the discomfort. If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- https://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty. #ElectronicsCreators