People within the Shatterproof Lamps industry may understand what the colour and number of bands represents on a fluorescent tube, but for those of you that don't The Greenstock Lamp Company are here to help... and quite simply it is not all about colour.
The truth is, the colour of the band is generally only a representation of the company that supplied the product (the band colour is branding), and needless to say a Purple Band represents The Greenstock Lamp Company. It has been perceived within the shatterproof industry that band colour represents conformity to certain regulations however colour only represents the lamp branding and not necessarily quality or conformity. There are a variety of coloured bands available e.g. blue, pink, green, silver etc, but please be aware the colour does not necessarily represent conformity.
Within the Shatterproof Lamp industry the specification of the lamp coating is illustrated by the number of bands that are located at one end of the fluorescent tube. You will see either 1 band, meaning the lamp is coated with a material that conforms to the IEC 61549 regulation, The Greenstock Lamp Company use the FEP material (as shown below), also known as the single banded tube.
Or you may find the fluorescent tube has 2 bands meaning it is coated with a PET or alternative material. The PET material is the more inferior of the two coatings, for use only in open fittings, this material does not conform to the IEC regulation.
The Greenstock Lamp Company pride themselves on manufacturing and stocking high quality Shatterproof Lamps that conform to a number of standards such as the IEC 61549. Allowing customers of The Greenstock Lamp Company to boast this compliance to their customers and have true peace of mind in the lamps they are supplying.
Whilst IEC 61549 is not currently a legal requirement within the food industry, it was formally released as an international standard during April 2013 and it is now considered best practice to comply with this standard. As such in order to avoid potential additional costs at a later date we would advise all our customers to start installing IEC 61549 compliant lamps now. For true piece of mind go for the single purple banded IEC compliant lamp.