DON'T THROW OUT THAT LIGHT BULB !!!

[Top Top]

Here's a dumb question. I have a couple of 13w sylvanias that died. I can't seem to pry the plastic open on the bottom.

Any hints?

[nbabmf]

I ended up breaking the bulb off one and using a pair of cutters to cut away the top.  I don't recommend it, but if all else fails...

[earthtonesaudio]

Don't break the bulb!  It's not worth it.  Sharp glass, mercury and whatever else is in there are probably not the most healthy things to have on you or on your floor.  If you can't easily pry the base off with a sharp knife or small screwdriver, wait for an easier-to-open bulb to die.  It will happen eventually.

[darron]

hahaha... mine fall apart in my hands

[dan5150]

Bump.

I just cracked open a dead CFL bulb this evening.

The tranny's are marked "F6D 13003". Google tells me the "13003" family are NPN fast switching Power transistors.

I hope to breadboard the "Flourescent fuzz" tommorrow.

Anyone build one of these circuit's with these style of tranny's and get it to work?

-Dan-

[bigchasbroon]

my wifes breadmaker died last week so i took it apart to have a look    got a load of 1n4148 some trannies S9015 and ..14 and a L708 5v volatage regulator as required in tonepads rebote delay also some other interesting stuff that I dont know what to do with. I will need to BREADboard some projects but I havent got the DOUGH.

[Ben N]

my wifes breadmaker died last week so i took it apart to have a look    got a load of 1n4148 some trannies S9015 and ..14 and a L708 5v volatage regulator as required in tonepads rebote delay also some other interesting stuff that I dont know what to do with. I will need to BREADboard some projects but I havent got the DOUGH.

Well, just wait and those projects will start to RISE. Don't wait too long or they may get CRUSTY.

[jacobyjd]

Those are some STALE puns, boys. Carry on.

[Wasted_Bassist]

I've taken apart a few tvs. Lotsa caps sitting around now...

[Cliff Schecht]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think about meth and crack addicts smoking out of light bulbs.. I wouldn't recommend trying this with a CFL though .*






*I do not condone doing nasty drugs like mentioned above

[Wasted_Bassist]

Note to self: Don't use old CFLs for crack anymore...

[aziltz]

unfortunately, i can't figure out how to search this thread only.


Don't these things contain mercury and other nasty stuff?  Be careful people!

[Cliff Schecht]

Yeah, they use mercury vapor. Scary stuff.. From Wikipedia

The disposal of phosphor and particularly the toxic mercury in the tubes is an environmental issue. Governmental regulations in many areas require special disposal of fluorescent lamps separate from general and household wastes. For large commercial or industrial users of fluorescent lights, recycling services are available in many nations, and may be required by regulation. In some areas, recycling is also available to consumers.

I got to take a tour of Ludlum Measurements manufacturing facilities last semester and was really blown away by their modern tube manufacturing facilities. They use the tubes from fluorescent light bulbs (buying them as new bulk stock) and cut the glass on these really nice glass lathes. Then they have a couple of rooms for the assembly of the photomultiplier insides. The coolest room was where they seated the electrodes inside the tube, pulled a vacuum and sealed off the tubes all in one step. It was also cool watching their "getter" flashing machine. And that was just one of 5 buildings for manufacturing that we visited..

[aziltz]

I got to take a tour of Ludlum Measurements manufacturing facilities last semester and was really blown away by their modern tube manufacturing facilities. They use the tubes from fluorescent light bulbs (buying them as new bulk stock) and cut the glass on these really nice glass lathes. Then they have a couple of rooms for the assembly of the photomultiplier insides. The coolest room was where they seated the electrodes inside the tube, pulled a vacuum and sealed off the tubes all in one step. It was also cool watching their "getter" flashing machine. And that was just one of 5 buildings for manufacturing that we visited..

wow.  I still have to rely on glass blowers for a few cells in my lab.

[earthtonesaudio]

The coolest room was where they seated the electrodes inside the tube, pulled a vacuum and sealed off the tubes all in one step. It was also cool watching their "getter" flashing machine. And that was just one of 5 buildings for manufacturing that we visited..

I would love to have seen that!

[col]

If you can't prise the base open try carefully cutting round the seam with a junior hacksaw, I do. You don't need to risk the nasties in the glass tube then. BTW a lot of the transistors I have found in these are BCE pinout rather than CBE and they make great fuzzes.

[BoxOfSnoo]

Major bump on this one.  I just had a CFL die on me last night, plus I finally pried open one I had for over a year now!

Questions: what's the best way to safely discharge the caps?  Any old resistor or something like a 1k?
Also, the little toroid, is that actually an inductor or should it just be used as a ferrite bead in some noise cancelling project?

Any cool uses for the transformer?

And most importantly, any cool enclosures you guys have made for these projects?

[nexekho]

Oh, wow, I love this thread, thanks for bumping it.

[Frances Rhodes]

i've been wanting to reuse the fluorescent powder inside old light bulbs and neon tubes with UV LEDs in translucent plastic cases
is it just me or somebody else had the same idea? and did anyone try?

[Earthscum]

i've been wanting to reuse the fluorescent powder inside old light bulbs and neon tubes with UV LEDs in translucent plastic cases
is it just me or somebody else had the same idea? and did anyone try?

?!?  

That is not worth the health risk involved. When you break one of those open, there is vaporized mercury in there. That is (the catalyst?). That mercury is also pretty much embedded in all the coating. JUST DON'T DO IT. You should google about how both those systems work.

ETA: If you want something like that, look at your local hobby store for anything that glows. They have about 10 different blacklight reactive paint colors now... should be able to find at least blue, orange, and of course, green. Then you paint the inside of a plastic (clear, my favorite color!) tube and light the inside with the UV LED's. If you get the right stuff (I think the glow-in-the-dark glue should work awesome) it will shine a soft blue through until the material starts to react and REALLY glow. Just remember you want it translucent (maybe even transparent?).