@classicmacintosh I always thought it was zirconium wool, and the inside of the bulb is filled with oxygen, so as to make a bright flash. Then again, it could be magnesium too. Either way, I remember I had an instamatic camera with these little flashcubes it took, the smell is immistakeable. Pretty cool though, old school.
you could pull a prank on someone by replacing the bulb in their torch with one of those and watching what happens when they go to use it... might be dangerous though... not reccomended...
Hey, that's a cool flash light - it's got a fluorescent tube in it , as well? What is the brand name of the flash light, and what does it take for batteries?
The flashlight doesn't have any brand name on it, just a "Made in Hong Kong" sticker. It runs on 3 C-cell batteries and has a regular incandescent bulb as well as a small 4-watt fluorescent tube -- neither of which glows very brightly.
That's weird - a 4 watt fluorescent tube is supposed to have 6 volts to work best, and 3 C's is only 4.5 volts. That's why they don't glow bright - both bulbs are probably rated for 6V and only getting 4.5. Typical Chinese manufacturing, I guess.
My dad told me about flash bulbs that would fit in a standard light socket (maybe back in the '40s). His brother (my uncle) had done that to surprise his mother. That's what happened whenever she turned on the light switch. If they worked, they would go...
\^^^^^^/
*POOF*
/vvvvvv\
... and she would scream. :D
I suppose such flash bulbs would be much harder to get than the ones you got.
@ThisGuyFrritz Actually, the big "Mazda base" bulbs that look like a 40 watt incandescent are now being made in Ireland and are used for cave photos, destructive testing, special effects, movie props... There are three models made by Megaflash. The smaller ones are no longer made, so yard sales and flea markets, and a web site or two carries them. They were usually filled with aluminium wire and oxygen with a pyrotechnic igniter and are brighter than the average modern electronic flash.
That "steel wool" stuff is magnesium. and they flash by electrically igniting the magnesium inside the bulb. It gets hot enough to melt the glass. I did not see a flash in your video though. I'm thinking perhaps it needed a bit more of a charge put into it than that flashlight provided to make it burn properly.
I have actually used these in real cameras before. certainly a lot more fun (but I'm a bit of a pyromaniac at heart..)
Sometimes YouTube's "HQ" playback skips frames, and since each flash is only one video frame long, that means you might miss it when viewing here. Try playing the video again or switching to normal quality mode.
Xenon flash tubes can be used many times but require a high voltage provided by a capacitor (which you have to wait to charge up between each picture). These flash bulbs fire instantly at low voltage but only work once. Kodak also made "flash cubes" with 4 flash bulbs on a rotating base so you could get 4 flash photos in a row.
I have seen those flash cubes before at thrift shops sometimes they have the matching camera but I don't buy them because I don't know if there is any film availible.
This is just what you need to ignite a gunpowder charge in a model rocket at apogee.
albyva 3 months ago
Man, the old days were quite dangerous!
"Say cheese!" [bulb shatters into tiny fragments]
SeberHusky 7 months ago
actually, all magnesium flashbulbs have magnesium wool inside of them
lightbulbcollector1 1 year ago
My theory is that the 'steel wool stuff' is in some way magnesium based... maybe magnesium coated steel wool..
Any chemistry boffins care to comment..?
classicmacintosh 1 year ago
@classicmacintosh I always thought it was zirconium wool, and the inside of the bulb is filled with oxygen, so as to make a bright flash. Then again, it could be magnesium too. Either way, I remember I had an instamatic camera with these little flashcubes it took, the smell is immistakeable. Pretty cool though, old school.
punishedexistence 4 months ago
Why did you use them?
trainboy99 1 year ago
@trainboy99 Because I wanted to.
vwestlife 1 year ago 3
Why did you think dropping it would work lol
TheToastPeople 1 year ago
Nooo! Let me use them with my vintage flashgun with my Polaroid Land Camera!
Just kidding, do whatever you want.
Morahman7vnNo2 1 year ago
Why waste them, give them to someone who uses them with their camera. l
lewisldurham 2 years ago
Vintage wtf.... all our lightbulbs in canada are like that! jk :D
iNtAlps 2 years ago
With that flash light it really IS a FLASH light! Those bulbs are odd, with the "steel wool" and breaking the glass on use. Yup, those are dangerous!
CassetteMaster 2 years ago
you could pull a prank on someone by replacing the bulb in their torch with one of those and watching what happens when they go to use it... might be dangerous though... not reccomended...
AnalogueJosh 2 years ago
lol
Mrtechguy94 2 years ago
Wow, that's cool! And funny!
Hey, that's a cool flash light - it's got a fluorescent tube in it , as well? What is the brand name of the flash light, and what does it take for batteries?
Great video!
themaritimeman 2 years ago
The flashlight doesn't have any brand name on it, just a "Made in Hong Kong" sticker. It runs on 3 C-cell batteries and has a regular incandescent bulb as well as a small 4-watt fluorescent tube -- neither of which glows very brightly.
vwestlife 2 years ago
That's weird - a 4 watt fluorescent tube is supposed to have 6 volts to work best, and 3 C's is only 4.5 volts. That's why they don't glow bright - both bulbs are probably rated for 6V and only getting 4.5. Typical Chinese manufacturing, I guess.
themaritimeman 2 years ago
pretty neat
i would do that outside, though--not in the basement. ;)
maskedmillionaire 2 years ago
My dad told me about flash bulbs that would fit in a standard light socket (maybe back in the '40s). His brother (my uncle) had done that to surprise his mother. That's what happened whenever she turned on the light switch. If they worked, they would go...
\^^^^^^/
*POOF*
/vvvvvv\
... and she would scream. :D
I suppose such flash bulbs would be much harder to get than the ones you got.
ThisGuyFrritz 2 years ago
@ThisGuyFrritz Actually, the big "Mazda base" bulbs that look like a 40 watt incandescent are now being made in Ireland and are used for cave photos, destructive testing, special effects, movie props... There are three models made by Megaflash. The smaller ones are no longer made, so yard sales and flea markets, and a web site or two carries them. They were usually filled with aluminium wire and oxygen with a pyrotechnic igniter and are brighter than the average modern electronic flash.
johnlebl 1 year ago
philips did also make that kind of flash bulbs i have a package of philips fotoflux bulbs
agfamatic91 2 years ago
That "steel wool" stuff is magnesium. and they flash by electrically igniting the magnesium inside the bulb. It gets hot enough to melt the glass. I did not see a flash in your video though. I'm thinking perhaps it needed a bit more of a charge put into it than that flashlight provided to make it burn properly.
I have actually used these in real cameras before. certainly a lot more fun (but I'm a bit of a pyromaniac at heart..)
ess1898 2 years ago
Did you blink when they went off? I saw a flash both times he used them in the flashlight.
kevin12567 2 years ago
Sometimes YouTube's "HQ" playback skips frames, and since each flash is only one video frame long, that means you might miss it when viewing here. Try playing the video again or switching to normal quality mode.
vwestlife 2 years ago
You didn't see the flash? I saw it both times!
themaritimeman 2 years ago
They flash in the microwave too.
burtoncharlessmith 2 years ago
This is something me and my roommate in TN would do! lawls
pcwalker 2 years ago
I have several cameras that use thoose. I will post a vid of them on my other channel "tghelectronics".
What a waste of flash bulbs!
tghbenz99 2 years ago
I alwas thought they could be used more than once becuase a camera discharges voltages at microsecond interivals.
raymondleeleggs 2 years ago
Xenon flash tubes can be used many times but require a high voltage provided by a capacitor (which you have to wait to charge up between each picture). These flash bulbs fire instantly at low voltage but only work once. Kodak also made "flash cubes" with 4 flash bulbs on a rotating base so you could get 4 flash photos in a row.
vwestlife 2 years ago
I have seen those flash cubes before at thrift shops sometimes they have the matching camera but I don't buy them because I don't know if there is any film availible.
raymondleeleggs 2 years ago
I think i have one of them somewhere, Now im wondering what they do in a microwave ^ ^
poopooGarret 2 years ago