A collegue asked me if I could test a newly purchased lamp for his projection TV. Looking it up on the internet I saw that they have a polarity.

What happens when applying the wrong polarity? What is their working principle? It's one of those big 62" TVs.

Here is the lamp: http://www.discount-merchant.com/To...Assembly-p/toshiba_y196_72514012_lamp_enc.htm

Thanks

 

it will not work with the wrong polarity, they have put a cable on the lamp for you to prevent incorrect wiring.

 

This is likely a Plasma Discharge Lamp. Proper polarity is required or correct ionization will not occur!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_lamp

Panasonic used them in projection TVs, it may be that Toshiba uses them too. They are supposed to last a very long time with high efficiency.

 

Yes they come with connector that does not allow polarity inversion.
However , he asked me to test the lamp with a DC power supply.
If inverted will it just not work or will it damage the lamp?

Can I tell from looking at the lamp what pin is what pole?