Cold-Cathode Lamps Prove Their Durability

Five months after Harrah’s New Orleans Casino erected four, 60-ft.-long electric signs around the casino entrances, Hurricane Katrina hit. The casino, located directly across the street from the French Quarter, had relamped the signs prior to the devastating storm, having replaced 15W incandescent lamps with 10,000 of TCP Inc.’s (Aurora, OH) 3W, cold-cathode lamps. Five months after the lamps were installed, 145-mph winds hit the casino and its signs, but the lamps survived the storm intact.

In the planning stages, Patrick Meyer, Harrah’s facilities manager, contacted Ken Troncoso, president of Crescent Sales Associates Inc. (Mandeville, LA), TCP’s manufacturers’ rep, to improve the overall sign-lighting system by reducing energy consumption, creating a brighter appearance, performing longer in moist Gulf conditions and, providing various colors.

Troncoso and Meyer investigated cold-cathode lamps because they well served such rapid-cycle applications as signs, theaters and amusement parks. Also, the 3W lamps matched the 15W incandescents’ light levels, but reduced energy consumption by 30,000W per sign, or 120,000W for four signs. Additionally, cold cathodes’ 120 lumens per lamp provided a brighter appearance. TCP lamps’ special phosphor coating, which is applied to the non-leaded glass, offers color consistency that’s resistant to fading and UV radiation. The 25,000-hour, cold-cathode lamp life reduces maintenance time and costs.

Troncoso worked with Donna Bard, TCP product manager, to develop a tight seal on each lamp to prevent moisture from affecting lighting performance.

Meyer said, “The cold-cathode lamps were a major upgrade over our previous system. They have a longer performance life and have dramatically impacted our operations in terms of reducing both energy consumption and maintenance costs for the signs.”

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