# Light bulb collections



## Achilleus (Jan 6, 2007)

Just wondering! Anyone here have a collection?


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## Achilleus (Jan 7, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

Well let me start off then - this is a display of 4 different types of HID - commonly found in street lighting. From left to right they are mercury vapor, metal halide, high pressure sodium, low pressure sodium, of various wattages. I'll post more types if there is any interest.


Dean


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## Macaw (Jan 7, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

That's really a cool display Achilleus! Thanks for posting it. I only collect flashlights myself.


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## JanCPF (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

This is cool. Please post some more if you got. 

Anybody have spectrum graphs on these kinds of bulbs. I really have no idea if they are spikey or smooth. Am I right in assuming, that mercury vapor is the whitest (closest to 5600K) followed by metal halide?

Jan


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## Achilleus (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

Thanks! The specturm of the low pressure sodium is basically one yellow line (actually two very close together) - the same color you get when you throw salt into a flame. Absolutely everything under that light looks the same color, which is why its quite difficult to find your car in the UK sometimes


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## abvidledUK (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

Darkness Sucker ?

Illuminatrix

Luminaire

Luminary


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## Meduza (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

Bulbaholic?


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## winny (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



Achilleus said:


> Well let me start off then - this is a display of 4 different types of HID - commonly found in street lighting. From left to right they are mercury vapor, metal halide, high pressure sodium, low pressure sodium, of various wattages. I'll post more types if there is any interest.



Very nice!

Any problems running that LPS base down?
You always see them in horizontal operation here and after reading here , I'm curious.

I do collect some lamps, but I haven't put them on display as beautiful as you have. My collection only covers newer ceramic metal halide, HPS and WhiteSON lamps. I'm trying to get hold of an induction lamp as well.


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## Ra (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

... Bulbophobic...

Achilleus, is that your nightstand in your bedroom??  :candle: :sleepy: :candle: 


EDIT: Can someone make me a smilie holding a 40,000 lumens HMI-bulb ??


Regards,


Ra.


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## Achilleus (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



winny said:


> Very nice!
> 
> Any problems running that LPS base down?
> You always see them in horizontal operation here and after reading here , I'm curious.
> ...


 
No problems with mine yet, although it is an older type, not like that one you linked to. There might be a problem if the sodium condensed onto the filament, but when I watch it the sodium always seems to stay on the glass. There is a little shield over the filament too.

Are the induction lamps out yet?

(ps do you leave those window lights on when you go out? I only ask because MH's can blow and that hot quartz would be a real fire hazard if you were not around. Great display though!)


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## winny (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

Achilleus,

Does it have a filament? :huh2: 

Anyway, what does the wife/girlfriend say about your "little" display?  

Yes, Philips have been selling them since 1992. I've seen one eBay action with one, but I missed it. Quite cool with 100 khours lifetime.

I don't leave it on, ever. I do especially not run it with open windows because of the explosion risk with any incoming water hitting the hot glass.


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## Achilleus (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

It has a filament in the same way the a fluorescent tube does - a source of electrons for the discharge. I think it does anyway (at work right now)!


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## Achilleus (Jan 9, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

Hey Winny - induction lamps:

http://www.kwhlighting.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=kwh&Product_Code=SYL-26100&Category_Code=L-M-E
 
http://www.kwhlighting.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=kwh&Product_Code=SYL-49751&Category_Code=L-M-E
 
http://www.kwhlighting.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv? 

Bit pricy! Lamp + balast = $700 approx.

Dean


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## Nereus (Jan 9, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



Achilleus said:


> Just wondering!



Should we ask this guy?

http://ioannis.virtualcomposer2000.com/spectroscope/collection.html

-N


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## UVIR (Jan 9, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



JanCPF said:


> This is cool. Please post some more if you got.
> 
> Anybody have spectrum graphs on these kinds of bulbs. I really have no idea if they are spikey or smooth. Am I right in assuming, that mercury vapor is the whitest (closest to 5600K) followed by metal halide?
> 
> Jan


 
Check this collection of spectra of various light sources out:

http://ioannis.virtualcomposer2000.com/spectroscope/amici.html#colorphotos

I think this is the same guy whose collection is shown later.


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## Achilleus (Jan 10, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

This is my brightest and most powerful bulb, and also my largest! These are stadium bulbs. The box and cooling system I built to contain the enormous balast, total weight around 50 lb.
























Dean

*Description:*M1500U/3K
*Watts:*1500
*Average Life Hours:*3,000
*Initial Lumens:*165000
*Base Type:*E39 Mogul Screw
*Finish:*Clear
*Kelvin:*3000
*CRI:*65
*MOL:*15.25 in. (387.35 mm.)
*Diameter:*7.00 in. (177.80 mm.)


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## Achilleus (Jan 11, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

And these are the bulbs I use around the house for low level night lighting (so my kids don't fall over in the night). I have about 20 of them positioned around the house, they are only 1 W each so they get left on all the time. The bulbs are from exit lamps, and Lowes had a good deal on them once, although they are normally $18 a pair.

Of course, the house does look like a scene from some kind of horror movie!

Dean


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## 2xTrinity (Jan 11, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



Achilleus said:


> And these are the bulbs I use around the house for low level night lighting (so my kids don't fall over in the night). I have about 20 of them positioned around the house, they are only 1 W each so they get left on all the time. The bulbs are from exit lamps, and Lowes had a good deal on them once, although they are normally $18 a pair.
> 
> Of course, the house does look like a scene from some kind of horror movie!
> 
> Dean


Interesting. Last time I went into Home Depot I saw they had about 10,000 packages of LED night lights on the shelf -- 6 for $5, .25W each with an automatic photocell. Don't know if they're any good, but I'm tempted to buy a few, and if they don't work out, gut them for the spare parts.


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## yuandrew (Jan 11, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*

I guess I have a collection of CFLs. A lot of Asian stores we shop at pass some of these out if you purchase more than $40 worth of groceries. The Buffalo, MaxLite, Top-Lite, Sunpark, and the 100 watt output Greenlite were all given out by Asian grocery stores. I bought the two Philips Dimmables and the 4 pack of Greenlite 75 watt output bulbs at BigLots. The old GE magnetic ballast was from WalMart


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## khclamps (Jan 14, 2007)

wonderful lightings


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## Ra (Jan 14, 2007)

Dean,,

You must very much love your daughter, putting her so close to a highly pressurised bulb like that !!!


:whoopin:


Regards,

Ra.


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## lpcmidst128 (Jan 17, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



yuandrew said:


> I guess I have a collection of CFLs. A lot of Asian stores we shop at pass some of these out if you purchase more than $40 worth of groceries. The Buffalo, MaxLite, Top-Lite, Sunpark, and the 100 watt output Greenlite were all given out by Asian grocery stores. I bought the two Philips Dimmables and the 4 pack of Greenlite 75 watt output bulbs at BigLots. The old GE magnetic ballast was from WalMart



Thats a good collection of CFLs. I had a collection of CFLs too, should have taken a picture. I've never seen the Top-Lite or Buffalo brand before must be rare stuff. Greenlite is fairly common, I've seen the discount sticker on them except here is PG&E, a 4 pack like that would be as little as $4-$5. Sunpark at one time Longs Drugs carried them but haven't seen those in a long time.


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## Achilleus (Jan 17, 2007)

Ra said:


> Dean,,
> 
> You must very much love your daughter, putting her so close to a highly pressurised bulb like that !!!
> 
> ...


 
Do you mean that plasticoated(R) indoor-safe exposion proof metal halide bulb there?


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## Achilleus (Jan 17, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



lpcmidst128 said:


> Thats a good collection of CFLs. I had a collection of CFLs too, should have taken a picture. I've never seen the Top-Lite or Buffalo brand before must be rare stuff. Greenlite is fairly common, I've seen the discount sticker on them except here is PG&E, a 4 pack like that would be as little as $4-$5. Sunpark at one time Longs Drugs carried them but haven't seen those in a long time.


 
Have you guys that collect CFLs seen the colored versions? They look like they are white, until you turn them on. They contains phosphors that emit only single colors. I have red, green and blue (and they sell yellow buglite versions in the shops). The greens are really intense as that is the most sensitive frequency of the human eye, giving them a higher lumen rating. Good for xmas!


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## winny (Jan 17, 2007)

Achilleus said:


> Do you mean that plasticoated(R) indoor-safe exposion proof metal halide bulb there?



I don't know about plasticoted, but what's labeled as explosion proof isn't always just that:

video 

Still, her survival chances are probably far greater than mine, as Ra was kind enough to point out.


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## Ra (Jan 17, 2007)

Explosionproof or not, these bulbs are used with blastproof enclosures !

This is not an average household bulb you're playing with.. And if the inner bulb explodes during full operation, it will be with considderable force: NO GUARANTIE THE OUTER BULB WILL HOLD !!!

And protected or not, your sweet daughter will never stand that close to a bulb ever again, when she has experienced a lamp-burst that close at her age!!!

And indoor-safe is meant for factory and hangar-use,, not "household"-safe !!


Regards,

Ra.


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## Achilleus (Jan 17, 2007)

MH bulbs usually blow only when they are at the end of their lifetime. That one has probably 10 hours on it out of an expected 3000, and she stood there for ooooh, lets see now, 10 seconds? I appreciate the concern, but there's probably more chance of being hit by a meteorite.


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## Ra (Jan 17, 2007)

Achilleus said:


> MH bulbs usually blow only when they are at the end of their lifetime. That one has probably 10 hours on it out of an expected 3000, and she stood there for ooooh, lets see now, 10 seconds? I appreciate the concern, but there's probably more chance of being hit by a meteorite.




Yep, you're right, they usually do ! But one small defect in fabrication-process can cause them to explode earlier. Indeed chances are small, but they are real.

Regards,

Ra.


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## Ra (Jan 21, 2007)

Achilleus,

I noticed you have edited post #16.. :goodjob:

No hard feelings I hope ...

At least we now know you have a beautifull, sweet daughter !!


Regards,

Ra.


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## brickbat (Jan 21, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



Achilleus said:


> Have you guys that collect CFLs seen the colored versions? They look like they are white, until you turn them on. They contains phosphors that emit only single colors. I have red, green and blue



I'd like to find some of these. Where'd you see these? I've seen colored CFLs before, but they have always had colored glass, and I never really knew if they had specific color phosphor (as you describe) or were just the usual phosphor mix with colored glass...


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## dudeldam (Feb 19, 2007)

*Re: Is there a name for light bulb collecting?*



brickbat said:


> I never really knew if they had specific color phosphor (as you describe) or were just the usual phosphor mix with colored glass...


 
I bought some of those too, they are so intense you get a headache. I thought it would be a good idea to put some of these around the house as a fun lightning to enjoy the children, but due to the immense intensity it looks really disgusting. There is really no proper application I can think of, besides theater or concert lightning.


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## Mark_Larson (Feb 19, 2007)

What i'd like to know is how you photographed ... scratch that, how you were able to be in the same room as that extremely bright bulb. Do you have permanent eye spots on your retina now?


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## Zelandeth (Feb 26, 2007)

I do have a "small" collection.

Favourite technologies: Compact fluorescent and low pressure sodium.

Running SO* lamps in a base down position isn't good for them, as it runs the risk of sodium being able to get to the area behind the electrodes. This is where the glass is at its weakest, and the sodium can attack the glass, eventually causing a crack to form. The sodium actually coming into contact with one of the electrodes is unlikely, but could lead to all sorts of strange things happening, such as rectification.

Running them for short periods like in a display like that shouldn't really cause too much of a problem though I wouldn't have thought. Ideally though, a base up orientation would be best though. In most application's they're horizontal, at a slant of 10° or so with the base at the highest point.

Highlights in my collection:

Circa 2004 Philips QL 85W induction lamp and ballast.
Original 1984 Philips SL*18 and SL*25 compact fluorescents (which took an age to find!).
Sylvania Mini-Lynx pastel (rose) coloured CFL (one of the first colour corrected lamps).

Plus a couple of Iwasaki blended mercury vapour lamps, lots of Philps CDM series metal halide lamps, and several very ordinary lamps. I did try to catalog the lot a few weeks ago, and came up with an inventory showing around 250 lamps. They're not all in the photo below. This was taken about 3/4 of the way through the inventory process, when I ran out of space!







60 or so of these so far have pages on my website (see signature). Some pages more complete than others!


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## lpcmidst128 (Mar 1, 2007)

Thats a nice collection you got there. I noticed some of the bulbs have a different base (not screw in kind). Is that more common over there? I've never seen those before. I'll try to post up my bulb collection soon. I prefer buying CFL bulbs in cardboard box packaging rather than the plastic blister pack.


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## DudeDon (Mar 1, 2007)

Wow, and I thought I was alone! I collect colored Christmas tree lights of different sizes. I will post a picture soon.


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## KROMATICS (Mar 2, 2007)

The GE Genura is an electrodeless fluorescent induction light but at $30 and in an odd R25 size it's not for everyone. Nice for track lighting though.


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## yuandrew (Mar 2, 2007)

I've seen the Genura before. The Carl's Jr restaurant near my location uses them for tracklights and for some of the pendants over the tables.


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## lpcmidst128 (Mar 9, 2007)

I don't have a huge collection but a small stash. Most of my bulbs are installed in fixtures. My current collection below.
Feit Electric 9W, 16W, and 4-pack 23W
Greenlite 6-pack 9W, 18W, and 23W
GE Reveal 40W
GE 60W blacklite
F4T5 fluorescents for battery powered fluorescent. Have them in cool white and daylight


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## Zelandeth (Mar 10, 2007)

The bayonet base (B22) is the dominant fitting type in the UK market, though E27 screw fittings (very slightly different to the US bases - though more or less compatible) are pretty common too.

I too far prefer lamps which come in proper cardboard packs...saves me having to buy two of them...or in the case of some rarer lamps have to fight a moral battle with myself as to whether I'll work out as non-destructive way as possible to get into the thing.

Beware of collecting those F4T5 fluorescents...they're the first thing to start multiplying when you're not looking! Soon you'll start finding them everywhere!


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## yuandrew (Mar 10, 2007)

You just reminded me that I had some Coleman F4T5 tubes for a lantern as well. I originally bought them when I found I had enough spare components sitting around to try building this circuit. http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/flampdrv.asp

Although I got it to light the tube; it didn't really perform it's intended task very well and the light was very dim not to mention it quickly blackened the ends of the lamp. Anyway, I dug the circuit out (not shown except for the red and yellow wires) along with one of my tubes and hooked it up with a 12 volt drill battery for you to see.





I also have a 4 inch Cold Cathode tube made by JKL components I bought from Fry's Electronics which operated a lot better off the same driver circuit.





Here are some more Compact Fluorescents that I purchased a few days ago. I bought two of the last remaining Commercial Electric 14 watt models at my Home Depot (they are changing to the N'Vision brand) plus a 14 watt Sylvania model from Lowes which has a globe over the tubes. 





The other Commercial Electric, which I removed from it's blister package, being compared in size with a GE 60 watt "Super Soft White" bulb. The Super Soft White came out about the same time as the Enrich (now Reveal) series. It featured a more advanced frosted coating that was supposed to reduce filiment glare. Other than that, it's pretty much the same as a normal 60 watt bulb.





A Sylvania HIR MR-16 halogen. Note how the capsule shaped like a sphere vs a cylinder as in a normal MR-16. 50 watt MR-16 brightness but uses 37 watts. This one is a "Flood" model but a 10 degree "Narrow Spot" is also avaliable.





Finally, I have to give my 13 watt Ott Lite Visionsaver PL tube some credit since it provided light while I took the pictures above.


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