UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > General Vintage Technology > Where To Get Sets and Parts

Notices

Where To Get Sets and Parts For discussions about swapmeets, rallies, NVCF and BVWS, car boot sales, antique and charity shops, dealers, newspaper adverts, the local tip and just about any other source of equipment (other than eBay).

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 21st Feb 2019, 7:41 pm   #1
Guest
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Lamps for lamp limiters

Poundland are doing two "fireglow" 60W bayonet tungsten bulbs with the red coating for (wait for it...) a pound. I haven't got a lamp limiter but bought two anyway.
 
Old 26th Feb 2019, 6:26 am   #2
broadgage
Nonode
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Somerset, UK.
Posts: 2,129
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Sensible IMHO.
The "ban" on many types of incandescent lamp has a number of loopholes, but ready availability is declining and it seems sensible to purchase such lamps whilst you easily can.
broadgage is online now  
Old 27th Feb 2019, 6:37 pm   #3
usradcoll1
Heptode
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, USA.
Posts: 823
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Quote:
Originally Posted by merlinmaxwell View Post
Poundland are doing two "fireglow" 60W bayonet tungsten bulbs with the red coating for (wait for it...) a pound. I haven't got a lamp limiter but bought two anyway.
In the US, we have "Dollar Tree" stores, aptly named because I was taught "Dollars don't grow on trees".
I shop there at least once a week. They have incandescent lamps of all wattages, even 100watt lamps, naturally 120v ES base. For a while, they sold LED 9watt lamps, 4 for a buck. The 9 watt jobs aren't bright enough for task lighting.
usradcoll1 is offline  
Old 4th Mar 2019, 8:52 am   #4
crackle
Rest in Peace
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Basildon, Essex, UK.
Posts: 4,100
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

My local TLC is selling "traffic light" bulbs
60 watt https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/LSGLS60BCCL.html

100 watt https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/LSGLS100BCCL.html

Mike
crackle is offline  
Old 4th Mar 2019, 11:28 am   #5
emeritus
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,316
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

I hadn't come across traffic light bulbs before, but I guess that what makes them particularly suitable for traffic lights is the compact filament arrangement. That would allow a highly directional beam to be produced when the filament cluster is accurately aligned at the focus of a parabolic reflector.
emeritus is offline  
Old 4th Mar 2019, 12:03 pm   #6
turretslug
Dekatron
 
turretslug's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Surrey, UK.
Posts: 4,385
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Hmmm- are they really what one would find in yer common-or-garden traffic signals, or is this an importer applying "creative interpretation" to a legislation clause? All the same, it's a useful source for a niche minority application like ours that has genuine use for a filament ballast.
turretslug is offline  
Old 4th Mar 2019, 12:21 pm   #7
paulsherwin
Moderator
 
paulsherwin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,786
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Quote:
Originally Posted by usradcoll1 View Post
In the US, we have "Dollar Tree" stores, aptly named because I was taught "Dollars don't grow on trees".
I shop there at least once a week. They have incandescent lamps of all wattages, even 100watt lamps, naturally 120v ES base. For a while, they sold LED 9watt lamps, 4 for a buck. The 9 watt jobs aren't bright enough for task lighting.
Standard GLS incandescent lamps have been prohibited from sale in the EU for several years now, so can't be sold in this way. There are a few loopholes in the legislation, but even halogen lamps are becoming difficult to find now. I guess the position in the US will vary by state unless federal restrictions are enacted.
paulsherwin is online now  
Old 4th Mar 2019, 2:09 pm   #8
Refugee
Dekatron
 
Refugee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,549
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

There are quite a lot of traffic light poles in service that have old lamps in them.
The lamps for them will have to remain on sale for some time.
New poles are all LED now as are the portable ones.
Refugee is offline  
Old 4th Mar 2019, 9:54 pm   #9
winston_1
Hexode
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 497
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Traffic signal bulbs used to be 260v, 65w ES. So when used on normal 240v they would be under run and last a long time. (I rarely saw one not working).

I actually found one once in some long grass round a traffic light pole after I had stopped my bike for a red light. I liberated it and took it home where it lasted years and years in my hall. It must have been a vacuum light as the glass gradually blackened with use.
winston_1 is offline  
Old 5th Mar 2019, 12:35 am   #10
broadgage
Nonode
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Somerset, UK.
Posts: 2,129
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Traditionally, "traffic signal lamps" were an improved quality lamp but otherwise very similar to a regular GLS type. Often longer lasting and sometimes in odd wattages, 65 watts was very common.

Usually designed to reliably last 12 months of normal traffic signal use, remembering that they are not lit continually and are also dimmed at night which extends the life.
Long before low energy lamps became available, I used traffic signal lamps at home.
They were also used in other applications where long lamp life was paramount, aircraft warning lamps atop tall structures, navigation beacons, and the like.
They were appreciably more expensive than household GLS lamps.

These days "traffic signal bulb" is usually an inventive way to sell lamps that would otherwise be restricted.
broadgage is online now  
Old 5th Mar 2019, 10:01 am   #11
Paul Stenning
Administrator
 
Paul Stenning's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Cardiff
Posts: 9,060
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

For the amount of use a lamp limiter will get, and with the lamp always under-run (unless there is a serious fault in the set), it is likely that the lamp will last for many years, probably decades. If it is in an enclosed fitting it shouldn't get broken either. One in use and a couple of spares would probably do us for life! So no need to stock up with loads of them.

Another area where filament lamps are still used is oven lights, because LEDs cannot withstand the heat. I think they are 15W, in which case 4 in parallel should work. Maybe even switch bulbs in or out depending on the power rating of the set being tested? I haven't tried these though.
__________________

Paul Stenning
Forum Admin/Owner and BVWS Webmaster
Paul Stenning is online now  
Old 20th Mar 2019, 9:43 pm   #12
Farzooks
Tetrode
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland
Posts: 52
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

As far as I know, Rough Service Bulbs are exempt from the banning, at least for a while. I still had a couple knocking around from my time out on the road banging around in lofts, and they lasted a very long time indeed, where a normal bulb would stop working after a fairly routine bang or thump. Available in 60 and 100W usually, but tended to be under-run as well as being more robust in construction.
They were about twice or three times the price of normal bulbs back then, and if you happen upon any old stock, snap it up. Electrical wholesalers might still have some in the back room, on a dusty shelf. Most service and field maintenance guys have been using LED mains or battery lights for some time now.
__________________
----
Dave
Farzooks is offline  
Old 20th Mar 2019, 10:33 pm   #13
Cobaltblue
Moderator
 
Cobaltblue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Exeter, Devon and Poole, Dorset UK.
Posts: 6,823
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

Traffic light bulbs were ES as Winston has already posted but I doubt there are any of these left in service now they were thin on the ground in the late 1970s. These were fitted to what we called tin lanterns that date back to before the war.
The Mellor signal head introduced in around 1969 used a 12v 50W capsule halogen bulb.

In the case of tin and Mellor the lens dictated the colour the bulbs give white light.

Of course most signals have moved to LED

The move to LED started around 20 years ago but virtually all new installations have been LED for more than 10 years.

Cheers

Mike T
__________________
Invisible airwaves crackle with life or at least they used to
Mike T BVWS member.
www.cossor.co.uk
Cobaltblue is online now  
Old 21st Mar 2019, 2:28 am   #14
emeritus
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,316
Default Re: Lamps for lamp limiters

My local electrical shop ran out of proper rough service bulbs over a year ago, and the guy said he can't get them any more. Fortunately I have several proper spares, as opposed to the candle "rough service" bulbs I saw on a street market stall recently. The only proper GLS bulbs in my local Robert Dyas last week were some SES reflector bulbs packed as Lava Lamp bulbs, not suitable for general illumination, 25W.
emeritus is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 5:00 pm.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.