OT: Strange light bulbs
Glenn Goens
File this one under "it came from the archive".
While going through my late father's collection
of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
be? Are they really light bulbs or maybe some
kind of ballast for some archaic control gear?
Bottom line: keep'em or pitch'em?
Thanks
Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
Howard R. Garner
One use was with the railroads. Many of the generators were
28 or 30 volts. These could have been used for general
lighting in passenger cars (dc battery powered) or on
locomotives.
I am sure others will have other ideas.
Howard
>
> Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
>
Lou Boyd
>
> File this one under "it came from the archive".
> While going through my late father's collection
> of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
> bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
> bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
> 30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
> be? Are they really light bulbs or maybe some
> kind of ballast for some archaic control gear?
>
> Bottom line: keep'em or pitch'em?
>
> Thanks
>
>
Assuming they're incadescent bulbs just wire four in series and use them
on regular 120 volts. They will draw 400 watts total. If they produce
satisfactory light use them. When one burns out I suggest replacing all
four. No reason to waste them although they are probably no more
valuable than other 100 watt bulbs. They'd also work reasonably well
on 24 volt truck or aircraft power systems.
--
Lou Boyd
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mle...@my-deja.com
Throw something away? What is wrong with you? Build a bigger shop and
keep everything like the rest of us.
Mike L
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Tim Shoppa
>
> File this one under "it came from the archive".
> While going through my late father's collection
> of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
> bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
> bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
> 30 volts.
Did your father frequent farm equipment auctions? 30V was
a common voltage for folks who ran their own lighting equipment
from their own generators. You're most likely to see this
stuff at old farms or building contractors.
Tim.
j...@sisqtel.net
wrote:
>
They look like a conventional incandesent
>bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
>30 volts.
>Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
>
Do they have a manufacturer name anywhere? If so, search the web.
There are also specialty lightbulb dealers. One may be called
SPECIALTY LIGHT BULBS in fact, if I correctly recall. Bulbs made for
projectors, medical uses, subway tunnels, etc.
Jon
Ted Edwards
> bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
> bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
Many farm and marine lighting systems were 32 volt back in the 40's and
50's.
Ted
john miller
Glenn Goens <gdgo...@mail.idt.net> wrote in article
<395b8d78...@news.idt.net>...
>
> File this one under "it came from the archive".
> While going through my late father's collection
> of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
> bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
> bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
> 30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
mull...@advinc.com
Ted Edwards <Te...@bc.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> Many farm and marine lighting systems were 32 volt back in the 40's
and 50's.
This is probably the correct answer. They were probably used with
either Windcharger wind generators or Delco gasoline lighting
plants, before REA brought power in.
One can also find 32 volt dc radios in old catalogs as well.
Jim
Kenneth W. Sterling
Wouldn't necessarily have to change all four when one goes, though. All will
go out with the one bad one. Fortunately you probably have CLEAR glass, so
spotting the burned out one should be easy. PLUS, you could get a nice tan
if you keep all four close together. <grin>
Ken
Lou Boyd <bo...@fairborn.dakotacom.net> wrote in message
news:395B9944...@fairborn.dakotacom.net...
> Glenn Goens wrote:
> >
> > File this one under "it came from the archive".
> > While going through my late father's collection
> > of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
> > bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
> > bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
> > 30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
> > be? Are they really light bulbs or maybe some
> > kind of ballast for some archaic control gear?
> >
> > Bottom line: keep'em or pitch'em?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
> >
>
Ken Moffett
Not only in catalogs, but also on my shelf.
I have an old 32vdc Delco radio that my grandmother had on her farm.
They had a generator. They also had a whole shelf full of glass jar
cell batteries in the pantry, in the basement. Then REA came through
and their home generated power went the way of the buggy whip. I
wonder if home water systems (ie: wells) will disappear with advent
of Rural Water Syetems? :) :(
mull...@advinc.com
Ken Moffett <moff...@maroon.tc.umn.edu> wrote:
> mull...@advinc.com wrote:
> > One can also find 32 volt dc radios in old catalogs as well.
> Not only in catalogs, but also on my shelf.
LOL. I don't have any that new - I collect the ones that use
6V car batteries and dry cell B batteries. But I never did
come across a rural 32V one.
>
> I have an old 32vdc Delco radio that my grandmother had on her farm.
> They had a generator. They also had a whole shelf full of glass jar
> cell batteries in the pantry, in the basement. Then REA came through
> and their home generated power went the way of the buggy whip. I
> wonder if home water systems (ie: wells) will disappear with advent
> of Rural Water Syetems? :) :(
Nope - for the simple reason that electrons don't freeze in
the winter - but water pipes have to go under the frost depth.
Seems like this is the order of development: 1) habitation
2) telephone service (only needs one wire, for 10 houses)
3) electrical service 4) city water 5) city sewers.
fda...@attglobal.net
"Glenn Goens" <gdgo...@mail.idt.net> wrote in message
news:395b8d78...@news.idt.net...
>
> File this one under "it came from the archive".
> While going through my late father's collection
> of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
> bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
> bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
> 30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
> be? Are they really light bulbs or maybe some
> kind of ballast for some archaic control gear?
>
> Bottom line: keep'em or pitch'em?
>
lighting systems. The power supply was a battery of 16 two-volt lead
cells in heavy glass shells, usually in the basement, charged
automatically by a 32-volt single cylinder gasoline engine direct
connected to a 32-volt DC generator. Made by DELCO division of
General Electric. Very heavy flywheel. This thing has a neat control
panel that included about four primitive relays to start up engine
whenever the load on the line exceeded a certain set point. For light
loads, the battery source was sufficient. Gasoline fed by gravity
from a small tank elevated on a pipe stand. When I was about 12 years
old my uncle (an electrician) installed one of these units in a
farmhouse in western Pennsylvania. As I recall, he piped the exhaust
through the basement wall into an empty wooden beer keg buried about
two feet deep. It was a homemade muffler, and when the engine was
running you couldn't hear a thing upstairs! I would like to hear from
anyone who has experience with those units. I own four of five of
them in my collection, and also have some of the original Delco
operating manuals. Would you like to sell me just ONE of those light
bulbs? Until WW-2 Sears Roebuck used to sell those 32 volt light
bulbs.
Regards, Dave Anderson
Orrin B. Iseminger
railroads and farms used 32 volt systems. There are not too many folks
restoring old Winchargers these days, but plenty of folks are restoring old
32 volt Delco light plants and they're begging for 32 volt lamps for their
displays.
Graingers and a few other places still sell lamps like this, but I'll wager that
you get a good response if you auction them on eBay.
Regards,
Orrin
In article <395b8d78...@news.idt.net>, gdgo...@mail.idt.net says...
> I found a box full of strange light
>bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
>bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
>30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
>be? Are they really light bulbs or maybe some
>kind of ballast for some archaic control gear?
>
>Bottom line: keep'em or pitch'em?
>
Glenn Goens
wrote:
>Glenn Goens wrote:
<anip>
>Did your father frequent farm equipment auctions? 30V was
>a common voltage for folks who ran their own lighting equipment
>from their own generators. You're most likely to see this
>stuff at old farms or building contractors.
>
My father was a confirmed pack-rat, he seldom went to an auction
without buying several things and often needed multiple trips
with the family car to haul everything home. Going to auctions
was a favorite pastime of his for many years. Even after he
quit buying so much stuff he was quite capable of egging others
into buying more than they had planned on; that's why I bought
two lathes when I hadn't planned on buying any one saturday ;-)
Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
Glenn Goens
>Are you crazy?
>
>Throw something away? What is wrong with you? Build a bigger shop and
>keep everything like the rest of us.
>
Well light bulbs of most sorts are commodity items, lathes aren't.
I need the room for the good stuff and so I can go through more
things and find more good stuff. Maybe I can shuffle them around
the room a few more times and make enough space to put up some
shelves..
Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
Ken Moffett
Actually I was speaking in the real world. My grandmother's farm is now
on a Rural Water System. Deep wells are hard water (her's), and shallow
wells are dangerous (my father's, 1/4 mile from her's).
Things seemed simpler then. We always had a gas stove. When the REA
power went out, we always had some heat, and could cook. The people who
bought into the total REA concept couldn't.
I'm not longing for "the good old days", just thinking about my past.
Steve Rayner
The 32 Volt bulbs were also used to illuminate the interior of buses. I
used 12 Volt lamps in my old cabin cruiser. These also looked just like
normal household light bulbs.
Ted Edwards (Te...@bc.sympatico.ca) wrote:
: Glenn Goens wrote:
:
: > bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
: > bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
: > 30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
: Many farm and marine lighting systems were 32 volt back in the 40's and
: 50's.
: Ted
--
I'm a Canadian eh! Steve.
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Steve Rayner
: I concur.... however, BRIGHT christmas light string :-).
: Wouldn't necessarily have to change all four when one goes, though. All will
: go out with the one bad one. Fortunately you probably have CLEAR glass, so
: spotting the burned out one should be easy. PLUS, you could get a nice tan
: if you keep all four close together. <grin>
: Ken
: Lou Boyd <bo...@fairborn.dakotacom.net> wrote in message
: news:395B9944...@fairborn.dakotacom.net...
: > Glenn Goens wrote:
: > >
: > > File this one under "it came from the archive".
: > > While going through my late father's collection
: > > of "stuff", I found a box full of strange light
: > > bulbs. They look like a conventional incandesent
: > > bulb but they're marked "100W 30V"; 100 watts,
: > > 30 volts. Any ideas what their intended use might
: > > be? Are they really light bulbs or maybe some
: > > kind of ballast for some archaic control gear?
: > >
: > > Bottom line: keep'em or pitch'em?
: > >
: > > Thanks
: > >
: > > Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
: > >
: >
: > Assuming they're incadescent bulbs just wire four in series and use them
: > on regular 120 volts. They will draw 400 watts total. If they produce
: > satisfactory light use them. When one burns out I suggest replacing all
: > four. No reason to waste them although they are probably no more
: > valuable than other 100 watt bulbs. They'd also work reasonably well
: > on 24 volt truck or aircraft power systems.
: >
: > --
: > Lou Boyd
: >
: >
: > -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
: > http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
: > -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----
--
Steve Rayner
DC supply, with some filtering to reduce the ripple, and put them to work.
Glenn Goens (gdgo...@mail.idt.net) wrote:
: Glenn Goens -- gdgo...@mail.idt.net
fda...@attglobal.net
<fda...@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:395c0...@news1.prserv.net...
>
> KEEP EM! They are antiques from the 20's used on 32 volt DC farm
> lighting systems. The power supply was a battery of 16 two-volt
lead
> cells in heavy glass shells, usually in the basement, charged
> automatically by a 32-volt single cylinder gasoline engine direct
> connected to a 32-volt DC generator. Made by DELCO division of
Spelling correction ..... should be DELCO division of General Motors,
not General Electric. BTW, I am pleased to find such an enthusiastic
response to the mention of Delco 32 volt lighting systems. I have
love to hear from others who have restored them. Dave Anderson
Mike M
neighbor, he worked for the L & N Railroad & said they were used in
cabooses. I heard that there is a town in North Carolina called Delco
that supposedly was named after one of these DC lighting systems, any
truth to this story?
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