DON'T THROW OUT THAT LIGHT BULB !!!

[liddokun]

Beautiful.  I can get building once again without lack of parts. 

[arawn]

those little transformers would be great for something like a bobtavia

[demonstar]

I've been thinking about these bulbs. Before everyone goes pulling them out their lights and breaking them open, will those aluminium electrolytics in there be charged at mains voltage? Just a thought on safety.

[earthtonesaudio]

Salvaged stuff is great!  Thanks for the earth-friendly examples, Dragonfly.  I think anyone can agree that it's better for the environment to re-use something rather than throw it in a landfill, no matter what the pro's and con's of the original product might be.

I've also wondered about using those 1-5mH choke coils for some sort of filter.  I would think you might be able to get it with impedance scaling, but the limiting factor might end up being the active components.  Maybe not... I'd love to see a light bulb wah!

Oh, another thing you could use those choke coils for would be power supply noise filtering, especially if you're using something like a MAX1044 charge pump, the small inductors would be great for filtering out high-frequency noise.

[Dragonfly]

I cant remember who originally mentioned this...I think it was Jack, but may have been RG or one of the other "Big Brains" around here...anyway, they deserve the credit...I'm simply bringing it to the masses ! 

^^^^^^^^^^^


I just wanted to point the above comment out again - I cant take credit for the idea - I'm just packaging it up with ribbons and bows...

[Dragonfly]

I havent tested the x-formaer - I had thought "octavia" possibility as well...

Each of these bulbs seems to have slightly different contents depending on the manufacturer, but the parts are all pretty useful. The projects are simply starting points. (Renegadrian - yep - the OD is definitely Electra based)

Anyway - have fun - dont break the bulb - but salvage and build away !


BTW - The "Dollar Fiesta" store near me carries these bulbs (they're actually $1.29 or $1.49...something like that - even the cheapest of the bulbs has nice quality parts inside.

[asfastasdark]

Dragonfly, do you happen to know if these components can be found in other types of bulbs? I just figured out that we don't use a single one of these, only halogen lamps... 

[Dragonfly]

Dragonfly, do you happen to know if these components can be found in other types of bulbs? I just figured out that we don't use a single one of these, only halogen lamps... 

I don't think so - I know theyre not in incandescent and regular (long tube) flourescents- not sure about mercury vapor, metal halide, halogen, etc.

[soggybag]

That's brilliant! Good work, dude, do you ever stop thinking about this stuff? You are unstoppable.

[Dragonfly]

That's brilliant! Good work, dude, do you ever stop thinking about this stuff? You are unstoppable.

Nah, credit Jack - IIRC, he discovered it...

[Steben]

Dragonfly, do you happen to know if these components can be found in other types of bulbs? I just figured out that we don't use a single one of these, only halogen lamps... 

I don't think so - I know theyre not in incandescent and regular (long tube) flourescents- not sure about mercury vapor, metal halide, halogen, etc.

No, no electronics in old school lamps, they are just weird resistors . But you CAN use them as resistors of course 
Compact fluorescents just have the "balast" inside instead of outside like the long tubes, but for the rest they are the same.
If your "long tube" TL crashes, you can't but throw it away, since the electronic stuff is in the box aside of it, still working!

[birt]

Dragonfly, do you happen to know if these components can be found in other types of bulbs? I just figured out that we don't use a single one of these, only halogen lamps... 

I don't think so - I know theyre not in incandescent and regular (long tube) flourescents- not sure about mercury vapor, metal halide, halogen, etc.

No, no electronics in old school lamps, they are just weird resistors . But you CAN use them as resistors of course 
Compact fluorescents just have the "balast" inside instead of outside like the long tubes, but for the rest they are the same.
If your "long tube" TL crashes, you can't but throw it away, since the electronic stuff is in the box aside of it, still working!

there's a little difference there. very old compact fluorescents were like that. these modern types work at about 20KHz instead of 50Hz (60Hz in america) like long tube fluorescents. theory is the same but technology is different.

[soggybag]

I was looking at the circuits presented here: http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/LIGHT+BULB+PROJECTS/LB4PROJECTS.JPG.html

Is Q1 one of the transistors used in the bulb? Supplying a transistor is not such a big deal. But, if the transistor comes from the bulb, that makes the whole idea so much better.

Too bad there isn't two 1/4" jacks and stompswitch in the bulb.

[col]

Most of the transistors in the ones I have found in the UK are similar to BD139 power transistor types and have a BCE pinout. I have found one or two with "standard" npn looking types and a CBE pinout. They make very good Si FFs as they have a pretty low gain. I have not found any yet thet I can identify on the 'net from the numbers on them but have tested them for gain and used appropriately.
I usually cut around the plastic base with a hacksaw as all the ones I have come across are glued, I leave the actual glass part alone and dispose of that in our tube bin at work. I have asked before about the small inductors that look like an electro cap with a thin waste but have no writing or colour code on them. I have a few now but don't know what to use them for. Some of the bigger transformer type have two contacts and others have 4 but I've not been able to use them yet either! I won't need any 1N400x diodes for a while though.
Most of the resistors are pretty useless values of 1 and 2 ohms so I stopped bothering with them a while ago.

[Dragonfly]

I was looking at the circuits presented here: http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/LIGHT+BULB+PROJECTS/LB4PROJECTS.JPG.html

Is Q1 one of the transistors used in the bulb?

yep.

Supplying a transistor is not such a big deal. But, if the transistor comes from the bulb, that makes the whole idea so much better.

In the 8 or 10 bulbs Ive salvaged, all of them had usable transistors. Check the pinouts on them, but the ones Ive pulled sounded pretty good...

Too bad there isn't two 1/4" jacks and stompswitch in the bulb.

[Dragonfly]

Most of the resistors are pretty useless values of 1 and 2 ohms so I stopped bothering with them a while ago.

Lots of 10 ohm ones, and an occasional 470k here...but resistors are so cheap, i figure "why bother pulling ?"


Dead on about the transistors...Ive had great luck with them too.

[Marcos - Munky]

Cool!!! Need to remember to save the bulbs before my dad throw them out.

[Steben]

Dragonfly, do you happen to know if these components can be found in other types of bulbs? I just figured out that we don't use a single one of these, only halogen lamps... 

I don't think so - I know theyre not in incandescent and regular (long tube) flourescents- not sure about mercury vapor, metal halide, halogen, etc.

No, no electronics in old school lamps, they are just weird resistors . But you CAN use them as resistors of course 
Compact fluorescents just have the "balast" inside instead of outside like the long tubes, but for the rest they are the same.
If your "long tube" TL crashes, you can't but throw it away, since the electronic stuff is in the box aside of it, still working!

there's a little difference there. very old compact fluorescents were like that. these modern types work at about 20KHz instead of 50Hz (60Hz in america) like long tube fluorescents. theory is the same but technology is different.

"Modern" long tubes also work on high frequency electronics (switching supply technology).
The 50Hz pre-boxes are cheaper and still sold though.

This tells it all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

[OnLyTNT]

I always collect the circuit of these dead lambs. You can produce many new circuits. I made a white led driver to operate the led with a 1.5 V battery. Also guitar effect sounds very interesting. I'll give it a try.

[rotylee]

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=are-compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs-dangerous

The problem comes when a bulb breaks. Mercury escapes as vapor that can be inhaled and as a fine powder that can settle into carpet and other textiles.

http://maine.gov/dep/rwm/homeowner/fluorescent.htm

Maine law does not allow fluorescent bulbs, including CFLs