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BULB DISCUSSION BOARDS => Antique Bulb Discussion => Topic started by: LtBTed on March 31, 2013, 10:06:13 am

Title: What IS this ? An old Night Light ?
Post by: LtBTed on March 31, 2013, 10:06:13 am

Hi ALL!
I got this box of old electrical parts years ago. I have one of these THINGS ! It looks like a Night Light. I have plugged it in, it does work!
It has umbosssed on the bottom "Armer" , "Carwool" , "7DR" ???

Title: Re: What IS this ? An old Night Light ?
Post by: Hemingray on April 14, 2013, 09:48:59 am

Looks like a homemade nightlight from a 120V panel indicator. The bottom may have been a smallish container that someone put on it to prevent shock.

Title: Re: What IS this ? An old Night Light ?
Post by: Mónico González on May 14, 2013, 08:55:18 am

Hi!
I could say that this thing definitely looks like a lighting device or illuminator for a pannel meter instead a night light or even a simple indicator or pilot lamp. These ones like yours were very popular for lighting electric or non electric instruments in control pannels no matter whathever could be, also were used in tuning dials in radio sets and even in cars, locomotives and aircraft booth pannels. Some oscilloscopes are fitted with similar illuminators for lighting the graduated grid placed in front of tube's screen, to make measuring of waves magnitude easier than in full darkness.
It's actually fitted with a 120 v bulb? because such a device could fit lamps in a wide range of voltages, but always in low power.
Regards,
M. Gonz?lez.

Title: Re: What IS this ? An old Night Light ?
Post by: adam2 on May 17, 2013, 08:28:09 am

What size are the pins ?
They looked to me as though intended to be inserted into a standard USA mains outlet, which is why I suspected a home made nightlight.
Made from a panel lamp and an old mains plug.

If however the pins are smaller than that and not intended to fit a mains socket, then they are probably solder tags for attaching wires within an appliance or vehicle, a fairly standard pilot lamp.

The bulk of the item suggests that it may incorporate a small transformer so as to work a 6 volt lamp from a mains voltage supply.

Title: Re: What IS this ? An old Night Light ?
Post by: Mónico González on May 17, 2013, 01:44:19 pm

I cannot appreciate at full scale the size of this device, but it seems to be fully factory manufacturated, not a homemade gadget built using a couple of surplus pieces.
As you have said, the pins looks like a regular US plug, although them could be a pair of Faston male pins also. In any case, this device looks like not having any kind of transformer inside, but instead seems to be fitted with a direct 120 v lamp.
Here in Europe even miniature full 230 v low power lamps (with E10 or B10 caps) are fairly common for signalling uses despite there are not a daily basis.
Regards,
M. Gonz?lez.