Long time lurker, first time poster (I think...)

[Zelandeth]

...Think I might have made one or two posts before...but not in a long, long time.

Well, I'm here now, and figured it'd be a good time to point out my website showcasing my lamp collection.? It's still under construction, but is growing steadily - and I've got more still to add than is already there.? Afraid that it's mostly newer stuff (I swear these CFL's are multiplying like tribbles when I've got my back turned...), the oldest being a 55W SOX lamp which I think's dating back to the late 70s.? Older stuff is planned to be added in future though.? I've got examples of: Incandescent, low and high pressure sodium vapour (including WhiteSON), high pressure mercury vapour, metal halide (quartz and ceramic style), linear fluorescent, compact fluorescent, and neon discharge lamps.? Though not all those sections are up yet!

My real passion: Discharge lighting!? To the extent that my first SOX lamps were grabbed from a streetlight maintenance engineer putting up new fluorescent based heads in a local villiage - was about to take the old SOX units to the skip - I rescued two of them (I was walking, okay, or it would have been the lot!).? I think the guy was more than a bit puzzled.? I desperately need to find an MA lamp though...huge...gap...in..collection...must...fill...gap!? Though being honest, anything that gives out light's in danger of getting collected.

Most lamented loss: Original, boxed Philips SL*18 which disappeared (presumed broken) when we moved house six years ago.? First discharge lamp I ever got - found it in a box in our old neighbours house when I was about seven - they'd bought it when they first saw one - but didn't like it, so stuffed it in a box.? I then found it, and was fascinated by the "funny bulb"...and ended up owning it.? Probably the first lamp in my collection - but the interst in lighting goes back further.? Not sure precisely how far - I do remember though being fascinated by the (SOX) streetlight at the end of our driveway at age four though...so heh...at least sixteen years!

Okay guys, random introductory babble over...hopefully in future my posts will be slightly more focused!

(And yes, I know the button for the lighting section should read Lamps & Lighting, not light bulbs...it'll be fixed soon).

http://zelandeth.artamir.org

Go take a look if you're interested!

[Chris W. Millinship]

Welcome (back?) to the Bulb Forums! Nice collection so far and will be interested to see the rest too.

Where did you find those coloured spiral CFLs? I havn`t seen those for sale in this country before. Did pick up some miniature globe shaped ones from Maplins several years ago (with a vertical double-loop tube inside) and it seems the colours are very similar to your descriptions - same tube manufacturer perhaps. They also apparently made a yellow one but every time I tried to order one, it immediately went on back-order and then got discontinued, only to return in the next catalog again. Frustrating!

I know what you mean about the tribbles thing, and it`s not just CFLs that are prone to multiplying. All the lamps in my collection seem to do the same thing here....

 

[Zelandeth]

Afraid I can't help much with the details of the SCR-18 lamps, as I didn't buy them.  They were included in a (pretty large!) shipment of lamps/ballasts donated by a reader of my site last year (and I've been promising to get them online ever since!), and I've no idea where they were originally purchased.

Manufactured by Pro-Lite however - and Maplin DO sell their products, so it's possible your lamps and mine are sourced from the same manufacturer.  If there's a yellow one there too...may just have to have a poke around and see if I can find one...
I'll fire off an email this evening, see if I can make contact with the person who donated these lamps to my collection, and find if they've any more idea where they came from than I do.  The packaging is utterly unhelpful - just a plain white box with the text "240V 50Hz RED B22 18W" on the end.  Not even a reorder code or anything tracable!

[Max]

Hello Zelandeth,

Welcome to this forum, and nice to hear about another lamp enthusiast. I find you site well designed, and I have just added a link to it on my web pages - it will appear on the next update.

Most lamented loss: Original, boxed Philips SL*18 which disappeared (presumed broken) when we moved house six years ago.?

I think I may have a spare SL*18 in my collection - I will search through my stock and let you know.

Since you are particularly focused on CFLs, you may be interested to know that Osram made in the early 1980's a non-integrated CF lamp of a rather clever design under the name "centralux". A problem plaguing early compact lamps was the high operating temperature of the folded discharge tube which induced a high mercury vapor pressure. Despite the fact that it was Osram who invented the amalgam technology allowing higher operating temperatures, it was Philips who first used amalgams in its SL* lamps, as opposed to its PL* range (ballast non-integrated) introduces at about the same time.
More intriguing, Osram in its first CFL- the centralux -did not employ the amalgam technology. As an alternative, the folded discharge tube was operated in an outer bulb, with a particularity that both vessels communicated via a opening in the discharge tube. This way, the hot electrical discharge was confined to the folded tubes, while the outer bulb kept the mercury pressure at its optimum value. The only other lamps where I have seen this scheme came from a Japanese manufactuter (maybe National).
 

Best regards and keep up the good work!

Max

[Zelandeth]

Thanks for the response, and the info there!  *crosses fingers and SL*18 turns up*

Looks like someone knows their CFL's there!  Very thourgh information, which I'll have a better read of tomorrow...at some time other than 3AM which it is now!

Just thought I'd use this as an opportunity for a shameless plug for the fact that I just got another two lamps added to the page (One in Incandescent - bit of an oddball at that - and one in CFL's).

Any opinions on that sign lamp are welcome too...I know the individual who sent it to me had some data, but I can't find the email to save my life...figures!

[Max]

I have seen this particular "sign lamp" in use at Disneyland Paris on strings of lights. The reason why they employ such lamps is, I believe, to give some special decorationnal effects while keeping a safe use of light (12V and shatterproof). Also, the interest of using clusters of lamps compared to the hose-type light string is that one can easily change patches of dead lights.
This is all I can infer about this lamp. Maybe someone else will know better - especially who makes them.

Max

[Chris W. Millinship]

>SCR-18...Manufactured by Pro-Lite however...

I went and found one of my globes, they are Philex "Eco Lamp" branded. No sign of who the actual manufacturer is though.

Osram` Centralux sounds intriguing - I have never seen one of those. Philips SL-P and SL-C were quite common in the supermarkets here at one time however. When I was much younger we had an SLC18 in our toilet that stayed on all night and must have lasted a good 10 years before it finally died of old age. They might be big and not as efficient as some modern electronic units but they were certainly of a high quality.

And that plastic lamp is just wierd - nice find! I have a lamp here that is tubular shape with a string of nine little low voltage bulbs like those, only they are wired in series for 115 volt operation. It`s Japanese I believe, and could have been intended for US style exit signs.

<img src="http://bulbmuseum.net/exitsignmultibulb.jpg>

<img src="http://bulbmuseum.net/exitsignmultibulbclose.jpg>

It would not surprise me if your little globe was made in Japan also, but when I first saw the photo this morning I would have sworn you`d made that yourself! Has a very primitive home-made quality to it.

[Max]

Osram` Centralux sounds intriguing - I have never seen one of those.

Because this lamp was a total fiasco and was discontinued the same year it was launched (1981 if I am correct). This source needed a seperate ballast and an electronic igniter which was seen as a drawback by the public in view of the fact that GLS lamps could not be retrofitted simply by changing the bulb. Philips' PL range did not meet this fate because of a much more compact design more appealing to luminaire designers.

It`s Japanese I believe, and could have been intended for US style exit signs.

At least the socket resemble Japan's E11. I am wondering if your lamp is provided with a fuse or if the small 12V bulbs are designed to whistand 115V when the filament breaks..

Max

[Chris W. Millinship]

Thanks for the info about the Osram lamp. One to keep an eye out for, but I expect they are impossible to find even on Ebay.

-

The multi-bulb exit sign lamp has a USA style E17/Intermediate base (fits USA "C9" outdoor deciration light sets) which as far as I know is the standard in their mains powered exit signs, usually two lamps. I don`t recall seeing a fuse in the base but admittedly I don`t know where that lamp is right now so can`t check. Quite what the purpose of such a design is, beats me, it doesn`t seem like it would have a lot of an advantage over a conventional mains lamp. Longevity possibly, as those little indicator grade bulbs I often see in component catalogs with lifetimes specified in many thousands of hours, a lot more than a standard tubular lamp especially if it had the fragile "showcase" filament style. The tiny durable bulbs and shatter resistant plastic housing would also make it very resistant to damage should the actual intended use not be for exit signs.

[Tim]

Hi Chris,

I have one of these odd multi-mini-bulb lamps too, but no information about it either.  It looks identical to yours, except your lamp is in much better condition.  The lamp that I have has a large resistor in the base - there's a hint of it shown in Chris' first picture - just like mine.  It’s cheaply made and I can’t find markings on it anywhere.  More info needed!

Hi Zelandeth, welcome to the forum.

Here in the US, Target retail stores were offering a similar lamp with a globe shaped envelope.  It was sold for decorative purposes with similar small bulbs arranged in decorative patterns inside the globe.  They were slightly larger than your version, but the same idea I believe.  I don't think they are being offered anymore.

[Max]

Thanks for the info about the Osram lamp. One to keep an eye out for, but I expect they are impossible to find even on Ebay.

Yes, the only known examples are owned by osram. I have attached a picture of it, though I will post a much better image on my site in the future.

Max

[jonathan cassiday]

I was in Target the other day and say a string of christmas lights designed very much like the bulbs above but has a globe shaped envelope and 5 0r 6 colored bulbs spiraled around a glass stem, with a c-7 base. Though of this post when i saw them at the store.

[Mónico González]

Hi.
I'm very surprised by the fact completely unknown for me, that such a kind of multi-lamps could being made and marketed!, because 18-20 years ago, I made a prototype of one of them by myself.
My lamp are fitted with three miniature globe flashlight lamps, rated at 3,5 V/0,3 A each one, connected in series to match the 12 V battery voltage (slightly overdriven, but less than if they were powered by a 3R12 4,5V pouch-type dry battery as they are rated for).
Despite the fact that E10 screwed bulbs were choosen for my lamp, the whole frame structure (constituted by two heavy copper lead-in wires) was completely soldered to the individual caps, using no one lampholder.
The outer envelope was constituted by an 15 mm dia. glass domed tube, so that, a chemical testing tube was used for.
Such a lamp wasn't fitted with any kind of screw or bayonet cap, instead, it was equipped with a small disc made from bakelite PCB with two thick tinned copper pins emerging from it to make the electrical connections.
These bakelite piece are held in place by means of a brass ring that surrounds the rimmed tube's end.
The latter version was left in clear glass, but a former one was mechanically frosted by me (using soft sandpaper), with the annoying result that the tube gradually began to cracking longitudinally, untill it was fully broken.
At this night, I will try to take a picture of it to you can see it.
Regards.

[Mónico González]

Hi again!
Tonight I've looking for the second prototype, but I haven't found it. Instead I found the first one, the broken tube lamp, so, I have taken a picture of it for you can see this "invention" of mine, made when I was ignorant about any commercial lamp like this was been manufactured nor commercialized.
Here are the "thing"...
Best regards.