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Joined: Oct 2000
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I've written to Kilokat7 ( www.BulbCollector.com ) to see if He will join us again to tell us what he knows about these old Bulbs. If you have some time you should take a look around his site. There are some interesting pictures of old-time things like this Bulb: and Alarm Clock: (There's some British stuff there too Paul) Bill [This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 07-13-2002).]
Bill
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Hi Bill, Thanks for emailing. I’ve read through the discussion and will add to it when I have some time to get my thoughts together. Quickly I can confirm that the majority of all light bulbs manufactured before about 1910 that utilized carbonized filaments all had a vacuum atmospheres (with some rare exceptions.) Around 1910 or so (again I don’t have any reference material in front of me) the use of tungsten filaments came into being. Someone discovered at this time that if tungsten filament bulbs were filled with a mixture of gas (such as nitrogen and argon) their efficiency could be increased, giving way to smaller tungsten filament bulbs that were highly efficient. Prior to this, the only tungsten bulbs made were large high wattage types since anything smaller would not be efficient over the older carbon types. When I get some free time I’ll try and reply with a clearer and more detailed explanation. Today the modern tungsten filament light bulb is gas filled as someone pointed out on your forum but it wasn’t always that way! Regards, -Tim Tromp (Kilokat7) www.BulbCollector.com
Bill
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Fascinating -- I can spend hours trawling through this sort of stuff! These bayonet-cap lampholders look like the fitting which is still standard for most of our smaller bulbs in England: For those of us who are radio enthusiasts, Tim's site also has a good assortment of early vacuum tubes ("valves" in British terminology).
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Joined: Oct 2000
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electrical nostalgia...interesting stuff.
but will they last in a crawl space...
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Joined: Feb 2002
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I have a cheap ceiling fixture that burns out bulbs very quickly too. In my case the problem seems to be heat - the fixture has zero ventilation. When using two 60 watt bulbs (within it's specs) they burn out in a few days or weeks. Since switching to 40 watt bulbs the bulb life seems about normal, and I worry less about burning the house down.
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Joined: Oct 2000
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.... still running .... Bill
Bill
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Joined: Apr 2001
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Just for grins... I'd like to learn how this bulb compares to modern bulbs in terms of lumens, efficiency, color temp., etc. Anyone know?
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Joined: May 2001
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John, It is only 4 watts ! That pretty much explains the longevity.
Donnie
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Joined: Sep 2002
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At the turn of the century (not this) there was extensive research into light bulbs, just like there is today in computers. A range of materials were used and there was competition to offer the longest bulb life. This meant that bulbs with 10,000 hour life were sold.
There are 8760 hours in a year, which means that this bulb has been on for more than 876,000 hours. That is close to a million hours!!!
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Joined: Apr 2002
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Small aside — At one time, the corrugated sleeves for GE extended-service incandescent lamps advised against their use unless the cost of replacement was very high {1300-foot broadcast tower} or the cost of energy was very low {restroom in a 60-year-old hydro generating plant.}
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