My 70 - 80 year old Philips Light Bulb Still going strong

[layziebone2152]

It is not very often for light bulbs to blow while they're on, almost always when they're first powered on. This is simply to due to the lower resistance of the filament when first turning it on. As one pointed out, use a variable switch or power supply the gradually turn the light bulb on, this will greatly increase the life of the bulb whether new or antique.

[ninjaslave2]

lol :)

[hitachi088]

those are 500W i think.

[nzoomed]

@hitachi088

No, its not that big! lol

It would be a very large bulb otherwise! this one is marked 30w, but i also have others marked 60w and 25w.

[migette1]

Hopefully I will be getting a camcorder soon and hope to post the odd video, as you can guess I am new to YT but cant wait to get started, hoping to get a collection of various neons, thanks for reply

[robertgift]

@migette1 looking forward to seeing your neons.

Why does this old bulb appear to flicker? Camcorder exposure constantly readjusting?

[migette1]

These rare bulbs need loving care to extend there life while lighting them I find using a Variac (variable transformer) and slowly bring these up to 70 percent of there rated voltage or even less then that on very early examples Tantalum filaments and carbons. Hope these notes help

[nzoomed]

@migette1

i very rarely turn them on, ive got many carbon filament bulbs older than this and have only had them on for a few mins, ive been too scared to leave them on for a lengthy period of time incase it does blow, but i do know that having them for a short period of time is not good either, some peop;e connect them in series with another light bulb to act as a series current limiter which is supposed to help lower current and/or voltage.

[svtcontour]

Its such a beautiful bulb. I'd love to have one.

[SeberHusky]

I guess there is a collector's market for old light bulbs?

[nzoomed]

@SeberHusky

quite possibly, but collectors are very few, they dont seem to sell for as much as i would expect.

[DobermansRock]

It will last longer if you turn it on and leave it on.

[nzoomed]

@DobermansRock

yes probably will, although i rarley actually connect these to the mains, i have older bulbs that work, and am soo scared to leave them on for any peroid of time incase they blow, but you probably are right, it would be better to leave it on for a few mins before turning it off.

[DobermansRock]

@nzoomed 2 minute warm up with a 2 minute cool down. 4 minutes sounds good. Thats what we do with turbine engines to keep the metal from changing temper.

[zaxtor]

@nzoomed Light bulb can also last long if is kept on all the time.

When you turn off and on you give the filament a shock and it shorten its life.

Light bulb in that fire station is the world's oldest bulb and is 110 years old and still working.

Livermore's Centennial Light Bulb been only turned off like few times.

And for 2009 it haven't been turned off for 32 years.

[alongthebluff]

So those light bulb have much longer lifespan than now?

[nzoomed]

@alongthebluff

i guess they did, the filaments are not coiled as tight as a modern bulb so that could be one of the reasons.

There are several stories in the news about old light bulbs still running.

[brandon9966]

@alongthebluff yes but look at how bright it is

[zetrone100]

When did they start making all tungstan filement lightbulbs frosted??

[nzoomed]

@zetrone100

It sems they had frosted bulbs quite a long time ago in the early 1900's from what ive been reading around 1925, but im sure ive seen older ones than that.

[grantourismo0109]

bought of trademe ? u in nz? good place to be mate

[cusanusnicolas]

I used to buy bulbs for my mobile home in Missoula from the dollar store. They'd start popping within a few days, I'd have to replace every one in the house within a month. Don't ask me why. I was working for $10/hr at a K12 high school, had to attend admin meetings every friday with these obese humanoids bragging about infiltrating the churches with their pornography with plans for the curriculum next. I don't live in the US anymore.

[mogul1265]

very cool



[Chmielok]

Now Philips lightbulbs are made in Piła, Poland.

[hairsprayqween]

cool

[GreenRepreive]

its because the the wick thing or whatever its called is so thick

[JubalCalif]

This is quite illuminating footage! Good thing Edison invented the light bulb....if not, we'd be watching televsion by candlelight!

[intheshitter]

@JubalCalif

Im pretty sure ive seen you spam this exact same thing on other video's

[amitjp007]

you r simply stupid...

[DrMotorDude]

@JubalCalif OR EVEN WORSE - You would need to use an oil lamp to change a blown fuse!!

[Rundfunk90]

love this one. I got a photolita, 500 watt light bulb, check my vids out. I wanna yours :D

[nzoomed]

Cool vid, ive recently got a 3000w fishing boat bulb, ill have to upload a vid of that when i get some time.

[Rundfunk90]

You sure have to, I order you to do it. I don't think you even can look straight at it when it's turned on, do you?

[XICANOXOC]

Send me one of those homie!

[RWBHere]

BTH was British Thompson-Houston. They made a range of electrical and electronic components.They had a factory, in Lincoln, England, until about 1963. AEI then took over the factory, until it became MEDL, in about 1981. Both of these made semiconductors. All of these were parts of the U.K. GEC empire. Last time I saw the place, Plessey had taken over.

[nzoomed]

Thanks for that info, i have 2 light bulbs with BTH stamped on them, now i know where they came from!

[Dutch3DMaster]

True Dutch quality from when Philips was a well respected company.

Today Eindhoven isn't the "city of lights" anymore...

[killer1479]

in my mind PHILIPS was, and still is the best at manufacturing many things... truely reliable products from the worls greatest eletronics company =D

[DrMotorDude]

There is a fire house in NYC with one of the last working Edison bulbs. It was put in when they wired the electricity and as of last year it was still on.

[nzoomed]

yeah, ive heard of that bub before, they dont make lightbulbs like they used to! There are several old light bulbs i have read about that still work, i have some older light bulbs, but rarely use them.

[Rothirsch]

Yes, the "Centennial Light Bulb" in Livermore, installed in 1901. Google "centennialbulb". There have installed a webcam for it... and yes, it is still on!

[UBERKron]

@DrMotorDude ive watched that bulb on a webcam before.

[roybo1930]

I Have A Few Of These! I LOVE Them, They Are The Best Bulbs Made. I`m Using One In My Bedroom I Have Had For Around 18 Years, And It`s Still Going Strong.

[howtobeterrorist]

shoot it with water gun. see what happen. i have tried this in my video.

[autophyte]

I have a similar caged filament bulb, by 'Mazda', still in its original cardboard packaging. It's billed as a 'tipless' bulb. I'll post a video of it when I dig it out of my old stuff.

[nzoomed]

ive got 2 mazda bulbs like that, one is 60w with a tip, and a 30w without a tip, great light bulbs, but are english make, mazda was used on more than one brand as far as im aware

[autophyte]

Mine has "Made in Rugby" printed on the wrapper, but it has a "BT-H" logo on it, too.

[nzoomed]

Ok, thats interesting, Mine have BT-H on them too, so are probably the same, i think these were made by G.E.C in england, ill be keen to see a video when you get the chance :)

[JPRichardson]

I have a bulb at home, above the front door, that has been working for 39 years (we know because my mother was the last person to change it and that was when she was pregnant of my brother, who is about to turn 40). My wife wants to change it for an energy saving lamp, but I am just curious as to just how long will that darned thing will keep functioning...

[Membrane556]

@JPRichardson

I Had a light of America made in the USA last four years.

It was still working before I moved but the new CFLs that are usually made in China die after just six months in an outside fixture and won't even turn if it's below 40F.

They also don't handle ceiling fans well it's enough to make you want to switch back to incandescents.

BTW you can buy new 25,000 hour bulbs which is what that probably is.

[killtroy811]

Their is a bulb in my old store room that has been their over 30 years and still works like new!

[Hopjumpskip]

I know an old lady whose had the same light bulb going for 40 years...a friend told me the reason might be because they completely evacuated the air from the bulb. But of course that would make no sense for a company if you wanted to make money...so every standard light bulb has a tiny bit of air left in so it will eventually go out! Wonder if it's true?

[nzoomed]

I honestly dont know, as its supposed to last longer with argon or any inhert gas in the bulbs like they use today, with a vaccuum, there is no gas to conduct the heat and take it away to the glass, but with a vacuum the filament gets hotte and vaporises and thats why the glass used to go black, however the odd thing is that there is lots of these old bulbs still going and in a museum there is still one going for close to 100 years i think!

[windoes98se]

NICE LIGHT BULB

[BenHutchinson1]

NOT mercury. It never got blue or green.

[jessos1]

real energy efficient?

[sohoW1]

thanks for posting this museum-piece data.

Cheers.

from,

del-boy.

[TeluguThought]

Great...a tribute to philips lighting...which is still going strong with new interactive concept lighting

[schenker69]

My friend thanks for sharing. She is beautiful

[noorudeenshakur]

Wow...they sure dont make em like they used too

Very Cool! Whats a bulb like that cost on todays market?

[nzoomed]

They cost about $12US to get a good replica

[MattW74656]

Look at the filament on that thing its huge...

[nzoomed]

its a cage filament, at the time they never thought of coiling the filaments, or else, they were uncessful at doing it.

they give a wonderful light.

[HartfordTommy]

The filament appears huge because this was before technique developed by which to minutely coil brittle tungsten wire. IF you were able to measure the actual filament length of a modern equivalent-brightness tungsten bulb, its wire length would be about the same as seen in the caged-filament. hth.

[nzoomed]

i have just got hold of some more old mazda bulbs, about 70 - 90 years, old, will post videos asap

[jefferyb304]

Super kool