Modern Bubble lights from Simply Lighting.

[Chris W. Millinship]

I recently submitted a link to this site, for decorative lighting company Simply Lighting, primarily for their range of new type bubble lights. I ordered some of the more traditional style multicolour ones which arrived today. I thought I`d post some pictures and details here so if anyone else wants to get some they`d have an idea of what they`re like. They resemble, as far as I can tell, vintage Paramount Tulip C7 types. The other types of bubble lights that Simply Lighting have are the new style angular ones with mainly transparent bodies, and as of yet I don`t have any of those.

   

They are sets of 7 bulbs, and are the large C7 type, each bulb burns independantly. The lamp spacing is 20 inches which allows the lights to be spaced out on your tree among your other lights. They`re big, bright and eye-catching...

   

This shows the bubbling action- actully it`s better than this in reality.
Well there you go- hope this info is of some use to anyone wishing to purchase any of these lights in the near future.

-chris

(if any of these pics aren`t showing up properly, this is because of problems that my image host have been experiencing recently, hopefully resolved very soon)

[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited September 21, 2000).]

[Tim]

Hiya Chris,

The pictures look great - I like the animation! I get a ton of email from others curious about purchasing new bubble lights and this will be helpful with Christmas fast approaching. How would you rate the quality of these lights? I purchased a new set last year at a local hardware mall and nearly all of the lights in the set were duds and were of horrible quality. The ones in your pictures look a lot nicer. I didn't keep the set I had so I couldn't tell you who produced them......

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-Tim

[Chris W. Millinship]

Well I`m not too familiar with the general quality of new American lights as I`ve not got any others yet  , but they look pretty good to me, I`d say probably 7 (maybe out of 10.
The only major complaint I have is the adhesive they use to hold the bubble tubes in is a bit brittle and one tube has become slightly loose, but it`s not actually a big problem especially if you`re careful with`em. I suppose a minor complaint is that there`s not much lead in wire from the male plug, but I think this is to retain even lamp spacing when end-to-end chaining multiple sets and is probably common on most sets that can be chained like this. Finally sometimes one or two don`t start bubbling so need a bit of a shake, but maybe it`s common to all bubble lights (these are my very first so I don`t know- anyone?) or perhaps cos they`re new? They`re all bubbling nicely right now though, just beside me here, and looking good!
Overall I`m pleased with them and will definately be buying more from Simply Lighting in the future I think.

Glad to have been of some use here!

-chris




[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited September 21, 2000).]

[Chris W. Millinship]

I have recently got some more of the Simply Lighting bubble lights, for those interested here`s what thery`re like...

These are clear bodied bubblers that have transparent coloured bulbs and coloured bubble tubes, they`re avaliable in red and blue and it seems the blue are different from the picture on the website, but are actually nicer in my opinion. I couldn`t really afford more whole sets so just got the replacement bulbs....

   

Finally this is a great set of MINI bubblelites. It`s a set of 10 series wired minilites and has covers that fit over each bulb with a 2-inch (approx.) bubble tube coming out of it and a fixing clip on the bottom. The bubble tubes are protected and held in place by clear plastic covers. The light sockets go in at right angles to the bubble tubes so the filaments of the bulbs are right under the end of the tubes for the best bubbling effect possible. They look really good and would be ideal for brightening up your small tabletop tree.



I just thought I`d post the details of these new additions to my collection for the same reason I posted the multicolor bubblelight set- so others can see what they`re really like if they want some for themselves. If I get others I`ll post them too, just hope the details are of any use to anyone...?



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-chris

http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/chrismillinship

[James]

Do any of you guys know anything about the making of the glass bubble tubes?  I am pretty sure that all they are is a glass tube filled with dyed methylene chloride, and often containing a bit of sand to stimulate the liquid to boil, but when I've made them before they don't usually work as well as the ones you can buy.  Some of mine are OK but others are a dismal failure even though I think I've made them all exactly the same.  You seem to have to pump out the glass tube to partial vacuum, and the gas pressure remaining seems to have to be very critical as to whether or not they work well.

I've never seen any documentation on how they work or are made but I'd be really interested to know if anyone understands a bit of the technical side relating to these things!

[Chris W. Millinship]

Not really too much help but I remember reading somewhere that the tubes are partially evacuated so the methylene chloride is at quite a low pressure and hence will boil easier at a lower temperature. Don`t remember if there was a mention of the pressure though, or where I saw the info- and I can`t seem to find it again, sorry!
Perhaps the dye used has some sort of effect on the boiling point too- do you have a specific colour that won`t work so well, or havn`t you coloured yours?

I thought it was sugar, salt or some other clear crystalline stuff in the bottom (maybe ground glass?), all mine have something like that in them. Wouldn`t sand block out most of the light so the bubbles don`t show up too good in the dark? Just a thought...


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-chris

http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/chrismillinship

[James]

Thanks Chris.  My only Bubble Lites are an old Pifco set from the 1950's and they appear to have sand in them.  There are only a few grains though so it doesn't block out too much light.

I haven't added colours yet to the tubes I made, but thats an interesting thought.  Certianly in my old set, the red ones always start first and bubble the most vigorously, while blue takes ages to start and nearly always needs a tap on the side to get them going.  I'll give it a go and see what happens!

[Chris W. Millinship]

While on the topic of bubblelites...

I`m in the process of buying my first genuine vintage Noma "biscuit" bubblers (including a working 1949 set of 9 in the original box   ). The seller tells me (with over 20 years experience in dealing in vintage holiday decorations) that ones with green bubble tubes are often even harder to come by than purple ones. Is this true? Are there any bubblelites collectors watching who could enlighten me further? I always thought it was the purple tubes that were the rarest as they were only made for the first 3 years of production, but what about greens? Anyone?


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-chris

http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/chrismillinship

[Bill Nelson]

Hello eveeryone! On the subject of bubble tube color rarity, here is a bit of information that I've discovered while collecting. The purple liquid color is indeed the rarest of all, as it was made for only the first three years of NOMA's  (and Paramount's) production. The purple color has a tendency to fade over time, and it is often found with just a hint of purple instead of a vivid color. The strong color tubes are the most desired. As for the green color, it was available in several shades, from a traditional "Christmas" green to an almost lime green. The lime is the least common of the greens, but is not considered by collectors to be rare. As for the sand or crystals often found in the tubes, it is indeed either salt or sugar, neither of which will dissolve in the methylene chloride. The salt and/or sugar is called an "activator", and helps the bubbling action. In Paramount's oil-filled tubes, the crystals that can be seen within the tube are actually small pieces of metallic glitter, which helps the smaller bubbles produced in the oil to be easier seen.  Hope this helps!

[ASBESTOS FINGERS]

quote:Originally posted by tim:
Hiya Chris,

The pictures look great - I like the animation! I get a ton of email from others curious about purchasing new bubble lights and this will be helpful with Christmas fast approaching. How would you rate the quality of these lights? I purchased a new set last year at a local hardware mall and nearly all of the lights in the set were duds and were of horrible quality. The ones in your pictures look a lot nicer. I didn't keep the set I had so I couldn't tell you who produced them......

CHRIS:THESE ARE THE BUBBLE LIGHTS I PURCHASED LAST YEAR ,I FOUND THEM TO BE UNIQUE,I PURCHASED THEM IN A WELL KNOWN GARDEN STORE IN SOUTH JERSEY,I RECENTLY,GAVE INPUT ON ANOTHER SUBJECT,CONCERNING C-7 BULB REPLACEMENT,I WAS TRYING TO DISCRIBE THESE LIGHTS,THAT I HAD BAUGHT LAST YEAR.MY FAVORITES ARE THE ROYAL BLUE WITH RED COMBO,THAT IS A COLOR COMBO I HAVE NOT SEEN.THESE ALSO ARE MADE WITH GOOD QUALITY LAMPS.ALSO I WILL ADMIT I HAVE CREATED MY OWN COLOR COMBOS,BY SWITCHING REFLECTOR TOPS.

[Chris W. Millinship]

I have an update about these particular lights if you`re interested? I meant to post this sooner but quite frankly things have been so busy lately that it just slipped my mind until now. Anyway-

I had this one set of 7 bubble lights strung out accross a wall over christmas, with the sockets clipped to the wiring of another set and all bulbs pointing up as they should be. I noticed that very few of them started bubbling on their own. Normally just one would start up, then later on especially if it was warmer in here, another one or 2 may start, but the rest didn`t. They needed a good shake, sometimes quite hard, before they`d get going. I originally put this down to those bulbs inside. They are indeed good quality, probably the "energy saving" long life kind that are a slightly higher voltage rating and lower wattage so they burn a little cooler, I`d say 130 volts and 5 watts as a guess. But although they`re going to last a long time on my 110 volt transformer (in Britain our mains is 240v so I have a big transformer to run my American lights with), and won`t melt the plastic bodies either, they don`t generate quite enough heat to start the bubble tubes off.

I also have a set of the recent Noma brand repro. bubble lights- with the red/green bases and red/gold tubes- and they seem to be different. The size is very similar and the C7 bulbs inside again seem good quality and probably the same power, but the bubble tubes are different. They started bubbling much sooner, and the bubbles were a bit smaller. The Simply Lighting lights (Roman brand) would suddenly start with a bit of a kick, but the Noma ones gradually started and built up the bubbling. I guess the Noma-brand ones (made by Midwest of Cannon Falls so I`m aware) use a better quality bubble tube, perhaps the activator (crystalline stuff in the bottom) is different, or maybe the tubes are pumped down to a lower vacuum so they boil at a lower temperature.

Anyway I have concluded that although the sets themselves are great quality, overall they`re not as good quality as the Noma ones you may find because of those reluctant bubble tubes, but the bright bold colours make up for that- Noma`s ones are only red and green bodies with gold/red tubes. Also there`s loads of other styles and colours from Simply Lighting including ones with gold or silver glitter in their tubes that sound good. If (or most probably when) I get some of those others, I`ll post another update here.

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-chris

http://members.ebay.co.uk/aboutme/chrismillinship