«

I have a Kodak safe light that looks like a metal cone. One end screws into
a lamp socket, the other holds a round filter. It's probably from the 1960's
or older, but it's the only thing I could get here in any color except red.

I bought out the last of the locally availaible little red things that
use nightlight bulbs and a bunch of the bulbs, so I am covered for red,
but I wanted an orange (Wratten OC) filter as I can see much better by
it.

The problem I have, is that here in Israel, we have been ahead of
everyone else in energy saving, CFL bulbs have been sold here, and used
by me, since 1997. That's good, but it has caused the demand and
therefore the supply of low wattage incadescent bulbs to dry up.

I found a few Chinese made 7-10 watt bulbs, but they only last a few
hours. I found a 15 watt bulb sold for refrigerators, but it has a
different base and I am trying to adapt it, but may not be able to get
those bulbs much longer and they are very expensive being made to
operate at 0F and below.

The smallest incadescent bulbs that are still common here are 40 watt
bulbs.

What is everyone else doing for safelights?

Thanks in advance,

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel (E-Mail Removed) N3OWJ/4X1GM

On 2009-05-04 07:34, Geoffrey S. Mendelson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I found a few Chinese made 7-10 watt bulbs, but they only last a few
> hours. I found a 15 watt bulb sold for refrigerators, but it has a
> different base and I am trying to adapt it, but may not be able to get
> those bulbs much longer and they are very expensive being made to
> operate at 0F and below.
>
> The smallest incadescent bulbs that are still common here are 40 watt
> bulbs.
>
> What is everyone else doing for safelights?

Here in Poland 15W bulbs are quite common and could be bought in almost
any shop (supermarkets etc.), but it is also possible to get 5
and 7 watt ones. The prices are like 0.5 euros for the 15W ones and
approximately 2 euros for smaller ones (they aren't so popular). Some
of the popular makers is Tungsram (owned by GE) and PIL1 (polish).

--
Maciej Zielenkiewicz RLU #232362
"This isn't right. This isn't even wrong." Wolfgang Pauli

On Mon, 4 May 2009 07:34:04 +0000 (UTC), "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>
>What is everyone else doing for safelights?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Geoff.

I had solved the problem building a safeligt using a dozen of hi bright red
leds, some resistors and an old phone charger.

Being almost monochromatic, the illumination is much brighter that anything I
had used before while testing safe for VC paper.

The LEDs we're purchased in a small shop and I don't know manufacturer or model
but is easy to source from major distributors components with known
characteristics.

Maciej Zielenkieiwcz wrote:

> Here in Poland 15W bulbs are quite common and could be bought in almost
> any shop (supermarkets etc.), but it is also possible to get 5
> and 7 watt ones. The prices are like 0.5 euros for the 15W ones and
> approximately 2 euros for smaller ones (they aren't so popular). Some
> of the popular makers is Tungsram (owned by GE) and PIL1 (polish).

Thanks, I tried the supermarkets with no luck. I asked on a local group and
got some leads on real lighting stores, so I'll try them.

Although we have not gone as far as to ban incadescent bulbs, the market
seems to have spoken.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel (E-Mail Removed) N3OWJ/4X1GM

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
> I have a Kodak safe light that looks like a metal cone. One end screws into
> a lamp socket, the other holds a round filter. It's probably from the 1960's
> or older, but it's the only thing I could get here in any color except red.
>
> I bought out the last of the locally availaible little red things that
> use nightlight bulbs and a bunch of the bulbs, so I am covered for red,
> but I wanted an orange (Wratten OC) filter as I can see much better by
> it.
>
> The problem I have, is that here in Israel, we have been ahead of
> everyone else in energy saving, CFL bulbs have been sold here, and used
> by me, since 1997. That's good, but it has caused the demand and
> therefore the supply of low wattage incadescent bulbs to dry up.
>
> I found a few Chinese made 7-10 watt bulbs, but they only last a few
> hours. I found a 15 watt bulb sold for refrigerators, but it has a
> different base and I am trying to adapt it, but may not be able to get
> those bulbs much longer and they are very expensive being made to
> operate at 0F and below.
>
> The smallest incadescent bulbs that are still common here are 40 watt
> bulbs.
>
> What is everyone else doing for safelights?

I use 7 1/2 watt 120 volt incandescent lamp bulbs. Whereas most incandescent
lamps are designed to last about 750 hours, these little ones are designed
to last 1250 hours. I do not know if I have ever had one burn out. Now if
you run them at 220 volts, their lifetime would be very short.

My safelights came with 15 watt bulbs, and they did not seem to fog paper,
but since the lights are slightly less than the 4 feet distance from my
working surfaces, I thought it would be better to use smaller lamps in them.

Incandescent lamps run much longer as their input voltage is reduced. You
might consider putting a suitable resistor in series with the bulb to dim
the bulb slightly and increase its lifetime. The trick is to compute the
proper resistance. If you measure the resistance of the bulb with an
ohmmeter, it will be very low, so you will get too low a value to put in
series. It is better to calculate it. If it is a 22 watt bulb at 220 volts,
the bulb draws 1/10 amp, so it is 2200 ohm with a hot filament. So you might
try a 110 to 220 ohm resistor to lower the voltage. You might wish to use a
5 watt resistor.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Geoff.
>
>


--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 07:10:01 up 40 days, 13:24, 3 users, load average: 4.02, 4.15, 4.13

On May 4, 7:24*am, Jean-David Beyer <jeandav...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
> > I have a Kodak safe light that looks like a metal cone. One end screws into
> > a lamp socket, the other holds a round filter. It's probably from the 1960's
> > or older, but it's the only thing I could get here in any color except red.
>
> > I bought out the last of the locally availaible little red things that
> > use nightlight bulbs and a bunch of the bulbs, so I am covered for red,
> > but I wanted an orange (Wratten OC) filter as I can see much better by
> > it.
>
> > The problem I have, is that here in Israel, we have been ahead of
> > everyone else in energy saving, CFL bulbs have been sold here, and used
> > by me, since 1997. That's good, but it has caused the demand and
> > therefore the supply of low wattage incadescent bulbs to dry up.
>
> > I found a few Chinese made 7-10 watt bulbs, but they only last a few
> > hours. I found a 15 watt bulb sold for refrigerators, but it has a
> > different base and I am trying to adapt it, but may not be able to get
> > those bulbs much longer and they are very expensive being made to
> > operate at 0F and below.
>
> > The smallest incadescent bulbs that are still common here are 40 watt
> > bulbs.
>
> > What is everyone else doing for safelights?
>
> I use 7 1/2 watt 120 volt incandescent lamp bulbs. Whereas most incandescent
> lamps are designed to last about 750 hours, these little ones are designed
> to last 1250 hours. I do not know if I have ever had one burn out. Now if
> you run them at 220 volts, their lifetime would be very short.
>
> My safelights came with 15 watt bulbs, and they did not seem to fog paper,
> but since the lights are slightly less than the 4 feet distance from my
> working surfaces, I thought it would be better to use smaller lamps in them.
>
> Incandescent lamps run much longer as their input voltage is reduced. You
> might consider putting a suitable resistor in series with the bulb to dim
> the bulb slightly and increase its lifetime. The trick is to compute the
> proper resistance. If you measure the resistance of the bulb with an
> ohmmeter, it will be very low, so you will get too low a value to put in
> series. It is better to calculate it. If it is a 22 watt bulb at 220 volts,
> the bulb draws 1/10 amp, so it is 2200 ohm with a hot filament. So you might
> try a 110 to 220 ohm resistor to lower the voltage. You might wish to usea
> 5 watt resistor.
>
>
>
> > Thanks in advance,
>
> > Geoff.
>
> --
> * *.~. *Jean-David Beyer * * * * *Registered Linux User 85642.
> * */V\ *PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A * * * * Registered Machine * 241939.
> * /( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey * *http://counter.li.org
> * ^^-^^ 07:10:01 up 40 days, 13:24, 3 users, load average: 4.02, 4.15, 4.13- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I think the OP needs to consider what is available locally. Those
sound good, but I am not sure what is available in Israel. If the
enclosure will withstand a higher wattage bulb, it is also possible to
reduce the illumination by simply moving the safelight farther away,
shining the light on a dark wall or covering part of the filter with
black paper. Having tried any of these suggestions it is still
necessary to test the result.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
> The problem I have, is that here in Israel, we have been ahead of
> everyone else in energy saving, CFL bulbs have been sold here, and used
> by me, since 1997. That's good, but it has caused the demand and
> therefore the supply of low wattage incadescent bulbs to dry up.

I use 3W CFL lamps in my beehive safelights. They are supposed to
produce equivalent light output to 15W incandescents. They certainly
seem to produce about the same amount of illumination in my darkroom,
and no fogging problems when used for similar periods of time.

Ian

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Kodak safe light that looks like a metal cone. One end screws into
> a lamp socket, the other holds a round filter. It's probably from the
> 1960's
> or older, but it's the only thing I could get here in any color except
> red.
>
> I bought out the last of the locally availaible little red things that
> use nightlight bulbs and a bunch of the bulbs, so I am covered for red,
> but I wanted an orange (Wratten OC) filter as I can see much better by
> it.
>
> The problem I have, is that here in Israel, we have been ahead of
> everyone else in energy saving, CFL bulbs have been sold here, and used
> by me, since 1997. That's good, but it has caused the demand and
> therefore the supply of low wattage incadescent bulbs to dry up.
>
> I found a few Chinese made 7-10 watt bulbs, but they only last a few
> hours. I found a 15 watt bulb sold for refrigerators, but it has a
> different base and I am trying to adapt it, but may not be able to get
> those bulbs much longer and they are very expensive being made to
> operate at 0F and below.
>
> The smallest incadescent bulbs that are still common here are 40 watt
> bulbs.
>
> What is everyone else doing for safelights?
>
If that 40 watt bulb can indeed fit in your safelight, what about hooking it
up to a variable resistor? A specific one commonly available (I trust even
in Israel) is the room dimmer. Get an electric/junction box which allows
two switches/receptacles, one two prong receptacle, and one room dimmer.
Mount the dimmer and the receptable in the box suitably wired. If desired,
add a cover plate. If desired, add rubber feet/felt pads to the bottom of
the box. Plug your safe light wire into the receptacle and turn on/off the
safelight using the room dimmer. You may want to mark the cover plate
suitably to indicate illumination levels. And connect the box to any wall
receptacle using a length of suitable wire ending in a male plug - I suggest
cannibalizing an plain old extension cord - cut off the female end and wire
it into the box.

Richard Knoppow wrote:

> AKA Beehive lamp. Get the smallest wattage compact
> fluorescent lamp you can obtain and use some layers of plain
> writing paper over the filter or inside against the filter.
> The compact fluoresent lamps have some after glow but that
> should not be a problem for a safelight. I don't think they
> run hot enough to cause problems with the paper.

Thanks, and to everyone who suggested something. I went to another lighting
store today and found a bunch of GE 15 watt bulbs (made in Hungary).I bought
six, so I am set for a long time.

I'm still thinking about the other possibilites as I need more safelights,
and I doubt that there more Beehive lamps around (here).

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel (E-Mail Removed) N3OWJ/4X1GM

A 1 amp diode in series with the bulb will reduce the wattage
(but not by half). Try a 1N4004. 400V @ 1amp. About 10c or less.
Murray

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

> Richard Knoppow wrote:
>
>
>>AKA Beehive lamp. Get the smallest wattage compact
>>fluorescent lamp you can obtain and use some layers of plain
>>writing paper over the filter or inside against the filter.
>>The compact fluoresent lamps have some after glow but that
>>should not be a problem for a safelight. I don't think they
>>run hot enough to cause problems with the paper.
>
>
> Thanks, and to everyone who suggested something. I went to another lighting
> store today and found a bunch of GE 15 watt bulbs (made in Hungary).I bought
> six, so I am set for a long time.
>
> I'm still thinking about the other possibilites as I need more safelights,
> and I doubt that there more Beehive lamps around (here).
>
> Geoff.
>
>