In addition to the general design and the safety features, MSHA considers that a lamp of permissible type should meet certain minimum requirements with respect to performance, as follows:
(a) Time of burning and candlepower. Permissible electric cap lamps shall burn for at least 10 consecutive hours on one charge of the battery and shall give during that period a mean candlepower of light beam of not less than 1.
(b) Bulb life. The average life of the bulbs shall be not less than 200 hours, and at least 92 percent of the bulbs shall have a life of 150 hours. The life of a bulb is the number of hours its main filament will burn in the cap lamp or its equivalent.
The life of a bulb having main filaments in parallel is considered ended when the first filament ceases to burn; the life of a bulb having independent main filament is considered ended when the last filament ceases to burn.
(c) Bulb uniformity.
(1) The bulbs submitted shall meet the following minimum requirements for variation in current consumption and candlepower:
(2) The current consumption of at least 94 percent of the bulbs shall not exceed the average current by more than 6 percent. The candlepower (s. cp.) of at least 90 percent of the bulbs shall not fall short of the average candlepower by more than 30 percent.
(d) Corrosion of contacts. Battery terminals and leads therefrom, as well as the battery gas vents, shall be designed to minimize corrosion of the electrical contacts.
[Sched. 6D, 4 FR 4003, Sept. 21, 1939, as amended at 47 FR 11369, Mar. 16, 1982]