Lamp Changing Protocol

Materials and Equipment Needed

  1. Fluorescent bulbs
  2. Incandescent bulbs
  3. Key for growth chamber control panel (Located in the panel of one of the three chambers)

Safety Issues

Turn chamber off while removing or inserting bulbs to avoid any possibility of electric shock.  Avoid standing in puddles of water to prevent any possibilities of electric shock.  Be aware that recently turned off working bulbs may be hot enough to cause burns.  Fluorescent bulbs contain Mercury and care should be used not to break them.

Time Required

minimum of 20 minutes

Procedure

Step Image
Change panel setting to 44.  (Do this by pressing Hold, Prog, Enter (3 times), #4 (2 times), Enter, and Run.)  This turns all bulbs on.  A programming guide is in the front compartment of chamber 1.

Open chamber and note which bulbs are not working.  Turn chamber off.

  
Replace burned out incandescents.
Check fluorescent bulbs to determine which are bad.  Bulbs are wired such that the two outside bulbs are paired (wired in series).  When one bulb burns out, both bulbs in the pair fail to light. 
Turn chamber OFF to avoid electrical shock.  (Note: Lamps are on in photo only to allow for a clear photo.)  Remove one bulb from a pair that is not working.  The bulb with darker ends is more likely to be bad.  Push the bulb to one side until the bulb is released, being careful not to drop it. Set the bulb on the chamber floor and insert a new bulb from the box in the lab.  Turn chamber on to test the bulb.

If the bulbs light, place the bad bulb in a burned out bulb box on top of the chamber.  If bulbs do not work, switch the bulb on the chamber floor with the bulb that has not been changed in the pair and test by turning chamber on. 

 

  

If the bulbs do not light, exchange the bulb installed in the previous step with a new bulb as both bulbs may have been burned out. 

 

Repeat with other pairs of fluorescent bulbs.  Place burned out fluorescent bulbs  in a box on top of the chamber and incandescents in the trash. 

 
If bulbs have black X's or writing on them, then the wiring may be bad in that socket.  Other bulbs have X's on them to keep the correct number of bulbs lit in the chamber.  While some of the bulbs will light if a new bulb is inserted, they also stay on during the night cycle (not desirable).    
Return chamber to desired lamp settings.  Thrips chambers should half of the fluorescents and half of the incandescents, usually a setting of 22 on the panel (currently 24 on chamber 1 due to problems with incandescents coming on at night).