AS 3138—1993

Australian Standard
This is a free 6 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

Approval and test specification—

Starters for fluorescent lamps
 This Australian Standard was prepared by Committee EL/4, Electrical Accessories. It
was approved on behalf of the Council of Standards Australia on 15 December 1992
and published on 13 April 1993.

The following interests are represented on Committee EL/4:

Association of Consulting Engineers Australia
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Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association
Department of Defence
Department of Housing and Construction
Department of Public Works, N.S.W.
Electrical Contractors Association of Australia
Electricity Supply Association of Australia
Railways of Australia Committee
Regulatory authorities (electrical)
The Plastics Institute of Australia
Telecom Australia

Review of Australian Standards. To keep abreast of progress in industry, Australian Standards are subject
to periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue of amendments or new edit ions as necessary. It is
important therefore that Standards users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edit ion, and any
amendments thereto.
Full detail s of all Australi an Standards and related publications wil l be found in the Standards Australia
Catalogue of Publications; this information is supplemented each month by the magazine ‘The Australian
Standard’, which subscribing members receive, and which gives detail s of new publi cati ons, new edit ions
and amendments, and of withdrawn Standards.
Suggesti ons for improvements to Australian Standards, addressed to the head offi ce of Standards Australia,
are welcomed. Noti fi cati on of any inaccuracy or ambiguity found in an Australi an Standard should be made
without delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action taken.

This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 87259.

 AS 3138—1993

Australian Standard
This is a free 6 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

Approval and test specification—

Starters for fluorescent lamps

First publi shed as AS 3138—1993.

Incorporating:
Amdt 1—1994

PUBLISHED BY STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

(STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA)
1 THE CRESCENT, HOMEBUSH, NSW 2140
ISBN 0 7262 8043 7
 AS 3138— 1993 2

PREFACE

This Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia Committee on Electrical

Accessories.
It is one of a series of approval and test specifications issued by Standards Australia.
These specifications are accompanied by a general specification AS 3100, General
requirements for electrical equipment containing definitions and general requirements for
electrical materials and equipment. The purpose of these specifications is to outline
conditions which must be met to secure approval for the sale and use of electrical
equipment in Australia. Only safety matters and related conditions are covered.
This Standard applies to interchangeable glow-starters with enclosures of insulating
materials for use with preheat type fluorescent lamps. It is based on IEC 155:1983,
Starters for tubular fluorescent lamps; however, some of the requirements of that
publication have been modified to suit Australian conditions. These modifications include
the addition of a pull test, a test to determine the ignitability and combustion propagation
This is a free 6 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

of solid insulating materials, and limitation of the specification to starters with enclosures
of insulating material.
Performance requirements for interchangeable glow-starters are covered by AS 4111,
Starters for fluorescent lamps — Performance requirements.
Standards Australia desires to call attention to the fact that this Standard does not purport
to include all the necessary provisions of a contract.

 Copyri ght STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Users of Standards are reminded that copyri ght subsists in all Standards Australi a publications and soft ware. Except where the
Copyri ght Act allows and except where provided for below no publi cati ons or soft ware produced by Standards Austr alia may be
reproduced, stored in a retr ieval system in any form or transmitt ed by any means without prior permission in writ ing from
Standards Austr alia. Permission may be conditi onal on an appropri ate royalty payment. Requests for permission and informati on
on commercial software royalt ies should be directed to the head offi ce of Standards Austr alia.
Standards Austr alia wil l permit up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard to be copied for use
exclusively in-house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Austr alia.
Standards Austr alia wil l also permit the inclusion of its copyright material in computer soft ware programs for no royalt y
payment provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs.
Care should be taken to ensure that materi al used is from the current edit ion of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the
Standard is amended or revised. The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identif ied.
The use of materi al in print form or in computer software programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in
commercial contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty. This policy may be vari ed by Standards Austr alia at any ti me.
 3 AS 3138 — 1993

CONTENTS

Page

1 SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 APPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6 MARKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7 TEST CONDITIONS AND ORDER OF TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

APPENDICES
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A INSULATION RESISTANCE (AFTER HUMIDITY TREATMENT) TEST .. 9

B METHODS OF TESTING DIMENSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10
C MECHANICAL STRENGTH TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
D RESISTANCE TO HEAT AND COMPRESSIVE FORCE TEST . . . . . . . .. 14
E CAPACITOR TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15
 AS 3138— 1993 4

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Australian Standard

Approval and test specification—

Starters for fluorescent lamps

1 SCOPE This Standard applies to interchangeable glow-starters with enclosures of

insulating material for use with preheat-type fluorescent lamps.
This Standard does not apply to metal-cased starters.
NOTE: This Standard should also be read in conjunction with AS 1201 and AS 3168.
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2 APPLICATION
2.1 General requirements of AS 3100 This Standard shall be read in conjunction with
AS 3100, and the appropriate provisions of AS 3100 shall apply to the construction of the
starter and the insulation and safeguarding of parts which normally carry current.
2.2 Specific requirements of this Standard A starter shall be deemed to comply with
this Standard only if it complies with all the appropriate requirements of this Standard and
passes the relevant tests.

3 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS The following documents are referred to in this

Standard:
STANDARDS
AS
1201 Tubular fluorescent lamps for general lighting service
1939 Degrees of protection provided by enclosures for electrical equipment (IP
Code)
2420 Fire test methods for solid insulating materials and non-metallic enclosures
used in electrical equipment
4111 Starters for fluorescent lamps— Performance requirements
APPROVAL AND TEST SPECIFICATIONS
AS
3100 General requirements for electrical equipment
3109 Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes
3109.1 Part 1: General requirements
3168 Fluorescent lamp ballasts

4 DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this Standard, the definitions below apply.
4.1 Glow-starter — a starter which depends for its operation on a glow discharge in a
gaseous atmosphere.
4.2 Starter—an interchangeable device which sequentially closes and opens the
preheating circuit of a fluorescent lamp for the purpose of starting the lamp.

4.3 Deactivated lamp— a lamp in which one or both filaments are deprived of emitting
material, but neither of which is broken.

COPYRIGHT
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AS 3138-1993, Approval and test specification -

Starters for fluorescent lamps
This is a free 6 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

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