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Bayonet Base Lamp

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Paul Hovnanian P.E.

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Oct 6, 2007, 10:43:24 PM10/6/07
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I have several light fixtures that were imported from France. They are
equipped with bayonet type 2 pin contact base bulbs (the base diameter
is about 22 mm) rated at 125V 60W.

Now I'm in the Seattle Washington area and one of the bulbs has burned
out. Are there any local sources of these? I've been told that the 125V
lamps are difficult to come by even in the EU, being used in only a few
places.

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:Pa...@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Leap and the net will appear.

Andrew Gabriel

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Oct 7, 2007, 1:32:14 AM10/7/07
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In article <470847CC...@hovnanian.com>,

"Paul Hovnanian P.E." <pa...@hovnanian.com> writes:
> I have several light fixtures that were imported from France. They are
> equipped with bayonet type 2 pin contact base bulbs (the base diameter
> is about 22 mm) rated at 125V 60W.

They'll be B22d.

> Now I'm in the Seattle Washington area and one of the bulbs has burned
> out. Are there any local sources of these? I've been told that the 125V
> lamps are difficult to come by even in the EU, being used in only a few
> places.

110V lamps are available in the UK, being the
standard for use on construction sites here, e.g.
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=LP01371

I can't think of anywhere in the EU which would
use 125V lamps.

What about changing the lampholders?

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

fur...@mail.croydon.ac.uk

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Oct 7, 2007, 8:41:07 AM10/7/07
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On 7 Oct, 06:32, and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
> In article <470847CC.F45DD...@hovnanian.com>,

> "Paul Hovnanian P.E." <p...@hovnanian.com> writes:
>
> > I have several light fixtures that were imported from France. They are
> > equipped with bayonet type 2 pin contact base bulbs (the base diameter
> > is about 22 mm) rated at 125V 60W.
>
> They'll be B22d.
>
> > Now I'm in the Seattle Washington area and one of the bulbs has burned
> > out. Are there any local sources of these? I've been told that the 125V
> > lamps are difficult to come by even in the EU, being used in only a few
> > places.
>
> 110V lamps are available in the UK, being the
> standard for use on construction sites here, e.g.http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=LP01371

>
> I can't think of anywhere in the EU which would
> use 125V lamps.
>
> What about changing the lampholders?
>
> --
> Andrew Gabriel
> [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

What type of lamps are they? If they are standard 'GLS', i.e. just
ordinary pear shaped light bulbs, or a few other shapes, then 110V
ones are readily available in the UK. Here http://www.bltdirect.co.uk/cat504_1.htm
for example. BC cap is B22d. 110V lamps would be somewhat over-run
on your 120V supply; I looked to see if the long-life lamps are
available in 110V, but they're not. Since the long-life lamps are
basically just under-run a bit, they would probably have been just
about right on 120V.

Changing the lampholders might be an easier option, depending on the
design of the fitting; how are the lampholders attached; are they the
screw-on type? If so, then I think you'll find that the threads are
different in Europe to the ones that you have over there. European ES
(E27) holders might be an option, but there may be a problem.
European E27 lamps always seem to work in US medium base (E26)
holders, whereas medium base lamps sometimes work in E27 holders, and
sometimes jam. I know that sounds the wrong way round, E27 lamp will
go into a E26 holder, but not the reverse, but it is the case. Some
medium base lamps sold in the US actually seem to be E27, I've got
some Sylvania ones which are. The screw section on the E27 cap is
usually slightly longer than on the E26 one, which is the easiest way
to tell the difference by eye.

The situation's worse with E39 Mogul base and E40 GES caps. E40 lamp
will go into a E39 holder, but I cannot get any E39 lamp into a E40
holder; it will jam in less than one turn. I had to buy some E39
holders from the US. I measured them, and the problem seems to be
that the thread on the E39 is shallower, so the core diameter is
smaller; the outside diameter and pitch are close enough so as not to
matter.

E12 and E17, both of which are common there are almost unknown here,
and the E39 Admedium base seems to totally unknown here, and almost so
over there. We use E14 where you would use E12 and E17. There is a
smaller version of the BC cap, SBC (Ba15-d) which I believe is
sometimes also used over there. At one time bayonet caps were almost
universal on normal domestic lamps here, but in recent years screw
ones have become more common, and both are now readily available.

mrob...@worldnet.att.net

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Oct 7, 2007, 8:52:31 AM10/7/07
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Andrew Gabriel <and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <470847CC...@hovnanian.com>,
> "Paul Hovnanian P.E." <pa...@hovnanian.com> writes:
>> I have several light fixtures that were imported from France. They are
>> equipped with bayonet type 2 pin contact base bulbs (the base diameter
>> is about 22 mm) rated at 125V 60W.
>
> They'll be B22d.

A little Googling with that base type reveals that adapters do exist:
http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Fittings/Lamp-Holders/B22D-Cap-to-E27-Lamp-Adapter
- only $10 each plus shipping. (At least you won't have to pay the
VAT.) This does look like it will make the lamp stick out quite a bit
further from the socket, though.

Don's Bulbs does list a few 60 W B22D lamps:
http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/b7446%7c130v%7c60w~orbitec.html
http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/i%7c120v%7c60w%7cb22d%7ca23%7cfr.html
http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/st2052%7c130v%7c60w~orbitec.html
at low, low prices of $20 to $22 each.

>> Now I'm in the Seattle Washington area and one of the bulbs has burned
>> out. Are there any local sources of these?

I know where I'd go in Tulsa, but that doesn't help you much. :) The
place here is a company that has two sides. One side is an independent
retail hardware store. They stock all the usual hardware-store stuff,
but also offer repairs and rebuilding of light fixtures. They know
about "weird" sockets from other countries in fixtures. The other side
is a commercial lamp distributor, for people that buy lamps in case
lots.

You need to find a place like that in Seattle. Unfortunately nothing
leaps out at me from the online Yellow Pages listings. One way is to
have the burned-out lamp in your hand and visit places that just sell
fixtures. They probably won't have the lamp, but may be able to tell
you where to go. You could also try electrical distributors - some
national ones are GE Supply and Graybar - for a referral. Grainger is
a more general distributor but may also be able to give you a referral.
Sometimes the people at your local big-box home center (Home Depot,
Lowe's) will refer you to another store that has what you want - for
better results, ask an older clerk if you have a choice. Failing
everything else, on Saturday morning, drive to the part of town with
lots of pre-WWII houses. Find people working in their gardens or
walking their dogs and ask them where the hardware store is. Most of
these people will have already figured out that it's fairly useless to
go to Home Depot to get parts for a faucet that's old enough to be the
clerk's grandfather.

> What about changing the lampholders?

This may be the simplest in the long run, unless there is just no way to
adapt a US-standard lampholder to the fixture. Here, again, it's good
to find a local hardware store that fixes fixtures; they will have a
wide selection of sockets with different mountings and are more likely
to have something that will fit.

If you're feeling really adventurous, break the glass off of the
burned-out lamp and use the base to build your own adapter. You could
probably fit a candelabra socket inside the B22d base, but it's kind of
hard to find 60 W candelabra lamps.

If you stay with the B22d lamps, it might be advisable to run the
fixtures on a dimmer if possible. Even if you just use the dimmer at
100% or off, I think many dimmers switch the lamps at the zero crossing
of the AC line, which may help the lamps last a little longer.

Standard disclaimers apply; I don't get money or other consideration
from any companies mentioned.

Matt Roberds

fur...@mail.croydon.ac.uk

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Oct 7, 2007, 1:00:18 PM10/7/07
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On 7 Oct, 13:52, mrobe...@worldnet.att.net wrote:

> If you're feeling really adventurous, break the glass off of the
> burned-out lamp and use the base to build your own adapter. You could
> probably fit a candelabra socket inside the B22d base, but it's kind of
> hard to find 60 W candelabra lamps.

Standard adapters are readily available to fit a ES lamp into a BC
holder, but they add something like 30mm to the length; this may or
may not be a problem in this case.

Thomas Paterson

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Oct 7, 2007, 1:57:06 PM10/7/07
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On Oct 6, 9:43 pm, "Paul Hovnanian P.E." <p...@hovnanian.com> wrote:
> I have several light fixtures that were imported from France. They are
> equipped with bayonet type 2 pin contact base bulbs (the base diameter
> is about 22 mm) rated at 125V 60W.

Paul,

There are a few solutions - obviously you could rewire for US bases,
but this is not necessary. There are a number of importers of
interesting lamps in the States who can Fedex you what you need (hint,
buy up for the life of the fixture to manage the shipping and time
costs). These include Atlanta Light Bulbs http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/
(follow the link for European base lamps) and others - there may well
be one in your area. There are also converters that are available
(usually black market since they aren't UL, but they convert Bayonet
to Med base easily enough. You may wish to convert to Cand base
however, as the adaptors give less extension to the lamp this way and
retain the filament closer to its correct position.

As pointed out by others, you could also buy 120V lamps from Europe -
seems a lot of shipping though. Generally speaking, a nominal 110V
lamp in Europe is a 120V lamp being under-run, so you won't get it's
rated life, but it won't be tragically off either. In the US, it's
not unusual to under-run 130V lamps to get extended life for this
reason, but being based in Mexico where 130V is what we get on supply,
we get normal life out of them

Another option which is nice in residential and restaurant
applications sometimes is to get a 230V lamp, overrated by around 100%
(100W lamp in place of a 60W lamp for example) and let the lower
supply effectively dim it. You'll get exceptional life, really nice
warm color temperature, good survivability on spiky current and so
forth. What you lose is efficiency. It depends upon the application
as to whether this is appropriate.

Also, if you usually run it dimmed by 50% or more, just get a 230V 60W
lamp and you won't need to dim it much if at all.

The base rating of 125V is to do with the electrical insulation of the
base - if it is only fed on 125V, it doesn't matter the rating of the
lamp. The wattage, however, is important. It can only cope with a
lamp dissipating 60W of heat. My example above of the 230V 100W lamp
would be fine (dissipating approximately 50W of heat) as would any
other lamp at 60W or below.

A final option to consider is that you could use a CFL in this
application. Bayonet bases are more tricky to get, but once you have
them they should last long enough that it'll be many years until you
replace.

All the best, and let us know how you go.

Regards,

Thomas Paterson
http://www.luxpopuli.com

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