Here's a couple of Champion F14T12/CWs after I tested and cleaned them, they're the same ones in this pic. Both of them are in pretty good condition and lights up brightly. I don't know the date of these or more about Champion so I would appreciate it if you have more info.
UPDATE: Thanks to Dave for providing further information about these lamps.
I forgot how the Champion date codes work but yours were made between '55-'59. Pre '55 lamps were inside etched. Champion Lamp Works was a small manufacturer based in Lynn, MA.
Yeah. I've noticed nobody likes to clue others in on how to date lamps either. People went nuts when i posted the GE date codes. Perhaps it was the manner that i addressed it in that set people off...
Lamp manufacturers want to keep their date codes a secret...that's why they didn't just but the date on the etch
I know the Philips system, and enough of the Westy and GE florescent system to tell if they're from the 70s or 80s. Sylvania is tricky but I think I've got part of it.
The thing is... date codes are technically an industry secret. Workings of some systems are published, others are just simple to figure out, and the rest is usually difficult to decipher!
With lamps already dated by others I've been able to find how pre-90s GE fluorescents are dated. I've been sorta able to do the same with vintage Sylvania fluorescents, but I partly forgot it LOL. But this one is known to be very complex! There are quite a few others I found too, and some more (mainly Canadian date codes) that I have to discover entirely by myself since there's little knowledge about Canadian lighting products. They sort of follow the US in their evolution but dates are mostly off by more or less 3 to 5 years or more.
More recently I figured out how GE 60s mercs were dated, but I'm gonna have to refresh my memory a little xD
From spending lots of time on LG and GOL I've noticed that 80s Westy florescent tubes have the number at the bottom of the etch with dots on each side for the month so I cay say for example "August nineteen-eighty-something" and on GE florescents the extra dot means 80s. I can't decipher the rest of said codes though. Same with Sylvania florescents.
@ Andy; i meant members here and on the LG that can decode the lamps codes are generally unwilling to share how that particular code system works. The only way i know how to date lamps is judging by the design of the etch. i know Sylvania's + shaped etech was a 70s thing, for example.
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![Champion F14T12s
Here's a couple of Champion F14T12/CWs after I tested and cleaned them, they're the same ones in [url=http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2959]this pic.[/url] Both of them are in pretty good condition and lights up brightly. I don't know the date of these or more about Champion so I would appreciate it if you have more info.
UPDATE: Thanks to Dave for providing further information about these lamps.
Keywords: Lamps](albums/userpics/normal_100_1880.JPG "Click to view full size image
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Champion F14T12s
Here's a couple of Champion F14T12/CWs after I tested and cleaned them, they're the same ones in [url=http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-2959]this pic.[/url] Both of them are in pretty good condition and lights up brightly. I don't know the date of these or more about Champion so I would appreciate it if you have more info.
UPDATE: Thanks to Dave for providing further information about these lamps.
Keywords: Lamps")
I know the Philips system, and enough of the Westy and GE florescent system to tell if they're from the 70s or 80s. Sylvania is tricky but I think I've got part of it.
With lamps already dated by others I've been able to find how pre-90s GE fluorescents are dated. I've been sorta able to do the same with vintage Sylvania fluorescents, but I partly forgot it LOL. But this one is known to be very complex! There are quite a few others I found too, and some more (mainly Canadian date codes) that I have to discover entirely by myself since there's little knowledge about Canadian lighting products. They sort of follow the US in their evolution but dates are mostly off by more or less 3 to 5 years or more.
More recently I figured out how GE 60s mercs were dated, but I'm gonna have to refresh my memory a little xD