It’s actually quite a neat circuit. I wonder what sort of thyristor they used before this application specific thyristor was introduced.

I can recall opening one of these PulseStarter units when I was younger, but didn’t have the skills to fully understand the operation. It’s a lot clearer now, but there is still an oddity of how the thyristor that shunts the starter contacts is kept off if the tube doesn’t strike.

They actually reponded quite quickly to my report. They had also received another similar report and had the product in question to be tested. According to the tests (I received a copy of test report) they had found out that the product will fail sometimes, but they had not considered it to be so dangerous that selling it should be banned (low quality product but not too dangerous).

“Electronic fluorescent tube starter ignite quickly, evenly, and then extend the fluorescent lamp and ballast life. Reduces maintenance costs by 50-70%. automatically shut down the faulty fluorescent tubes and chokes to prevent overheating and burning. 4-80W, S10, 220-240V, 50Hz.”

Source: http://taloustalokirri.fi/tuote/axel-elektroninen-loisteputken-sytytin-2-kpl/