ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion Strange lightbulb

You can get a low energy replacement:
http://www.firstlightdirect.com/scp...mps/3_Pin_Bayonet_Cap_BC3_Lamps_MEM.html

Does anyone remember the colored "party" bulbs that had a magnet and a special filament that would wave around inside when lit? Haven't seen one of those in years...

Yup. I remember those when I was a kid and was always curious as to how they worked.

Guess it just got too expensive to manufacture one of those vibrating filament things?

Those bulbs had a small bar magnet in them, usually right above the seals. The 60Hz magnetic field in the filament reacted with the bar magnet, causing the filament to move.

Sort of the same theory behind volt-meter mechanisms (D'Arsonval movements), huh? Neat.

Wonder how the filament survived without breaking.

My daughter has a bulb like that in her room except the socket is a medium base. Got it at the dollar store!

looks like the bulb from the dome light in that bus in the movie "priscilla queen of the desert"

I've ordered and installed the "Fire-Glow" lamps before and they have a red colour to them.
They are nothing like this lamp however.
Which made me wonder about the three pin thing.
If a 25-40W bulb, needs 3 pins, is this to prevent a larger wattage bulb being fitted to the heater?.
I had a thread here years back, where a mate of mine that ran a restaurant at the time, had a heap of spot fittings in the windows and they were all 3-pin BC lampholders.
All 25 of them.
The last owner, took all the bulbs with them.
I hope they had fun getting them to fit thier lamps at home.

I'm sure you can just make them fit a normal lampholder by filing the third pip down?

That is if pips one and two are at their standard locations.

The ones I'm referring to have the pins spaced evenly 120 degrees apart around the base.