Ever seen something as weird as this?.
Rated at 15W at 230V, the thing is, it has 3 pins, not two as your standard Bayonet cap bulb.
BTW here is the pic:



Sorry the other 2 pins are out of the frame, but this is not the first time I have seen lamps with this configuration.
Why would you have 3 pins on a lightbulb?.
Your guess is as good as mine so, go ahead!.

Do you folks have the same 3-way lamps that we have over here? (dual filaments of differing wattages, which are run either individually or combined, for 3 different wattages. ie: 50/100/150)

May be a silly response, but assuming that the other two pins look like the one shown, could they be for the purpose of keeping the bulb seated in the socket - a sort of bayonet device (push the bulb in and rotate it a short distance to the right or left?

Wild decorating on the outside, too...

The three way lamps we have in the USA start off with the same type of medium base screw shell, with the difference being the construction of the "button" in the insulating middle of the shell - a small button in the center, and a somewhat larger "ring" that encircles the space between the button and the shell. Shell is common to both filaments, with button as hot for one filament and the ring as hot for the other filament.

Mike (mamills)

[This message has been edited by mamills (edited 12-01-2006).]

The pins on the sides of the cap are just to latch the bulb in the socket.

Electricity goes to the filament via two contacts (solder blobs, essentially) at the bottom. Similar to the center contact in a screw-base lamp.

The third peg on the cap was probably a way to thief-proof the bulb -- nobody would bother stealing it if they couldn't latch it into their socket at home. The theory would be similar to left-handed screw-in bulbs.

I can't explain the wacky paint job, though.

As for the "wacky" paint job, I've seen very similar paint jobs on bulbs here in the USA. You can usually find them at Wal-Mart and places like that, usually 25 watt bulbs with wild paint decorations. They are sold as novelty "party" bulbs, just meant to be displayed in open fixtures, strictly for their decorative appeal.

Patridge Family anyone?

I'VE NEVER SEEN A bulb like that, no.

SunBeam made bulbs like that here in the USA, generally rated 25W/120V. They were made in all sorts of wacky designs, Sold as "Art Bulbs" Commonly found in WAL-MART.

I actually saw a bulb very close to this the other day. It was an orange color with the same type of size and base. When I asked what it was out of the customer replied that it was out of an electric fireplace that came from Europe. Also he said that the bulb made a flickering type of light.

Allen

Groovy color scheme..... If you weren't "down under" I'd think it came right out of the Haight-Ashbury district!

In line with Allen's comment, I've seen porcelain/brass BC lampholders in old electric heaters which have the three locating pins instead of the usual two. I don't recall ever seeing any bulbs in them though -- Possibly because they are no longer available?

Why a domestic electric heating appliance ever needed such an oddball configuration is anybody's guess. Plenty of other heaters had the regular BC lampholders and "Fireglow" or similar flickering amber/red bulbs for those are still obtainable.

Three pin bayonets can be found on mercury vapour lamps:
http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets/Philips%20MLU300.htm

But this is more likely to be a fire glow lamp:
http://www.firstlightdirect.com/scp/Fire_Glow_Lamps/Special_Fire_Glow_Lamps.html


[This message has been edited by gideonr (edited 12-02-2006).]

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.