Does there exist a standard for furnace UV lights?

Question

When you're replacing neon light tubes you don't think twice about compatibility. The distance between the two pairs of pins on opposite sides of the tube is a fixed standard, the voltage (in one country) is a constant, and even the length of the tube is manufactured in just two (I think) lengths.

Is this also the case for UV (ultraviolet) lamps meant for killing germs inside the ducts at a furnace? I see lamps from Honeywell, from Philips, from Swordfish. They all seem to have exactly the same four pins. Is it safe to assume that they also take the same voltage (the bases do not look like they have any serious transformers) and the same tube length?

Online chatters suggests that an exacto knife might be needed to, let's say, force the compatibility. I can live with that, but how much truth is there in this statement?

Just to be clear, I am not discussing here the UV bulbs that go into insect zappers, and which we can stare at in a backyard without too much of a worry. I'm talking here about the bulbs that emit UV light with wavelength low enough to be harmful to the eye.

Answer 1

You are free to abuse your own equipment, but you are better off all-around NOT forcing misfit sockets to fit. It's not an accident they don't fit. A lot of engineering goes into preventing them from fitting. Standards organizations hate defining yet another socket type, so they don't do it unless there's a safety or essential functionality reason for doing so.

The problem is how you are shopping. I gather you're a visual person, so you are shopping for sockets that look the same on online pictures. Your logic is if it physically fits, it's good 2 go, and now you are extending that to "if I can make it fit with modifications it's good 2 go". I wouldn't say so.

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The lamps will have two numbers: one will indicate the size, and the other that brand's particular model number.

For instance my favorite 48" tube is a size F32T8, and model FO32/V41/ECO. In that fixture, any F32T8 tube from any manufacturer will do, I don't need that other number which will only give me one Sylvania tube.

Identify the size number of that lamp, and it is probably identified in the owner's manual for that furnace or UV light assembly.