Sort of OT was Re: [Boatanchors] Re Coloring Dial Bulbs

Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:02:17 -0600

I apologize to Duane, but this might actually have some value.  But I doubt
it.

If you find a correctly colored new dial-light bulb for sale, check it over
carefully before installing it..  When my dad was alive, he had an alarm
clock that also projected the time on the ceiling, using your standard white
night-light style bulb.  Eventually the bulb burned out when he was in a
motel in a small Oklahoma town.  The closest thing he could find at the
local department store that night was a red Christmas bulb of the same
shape.  He took it back to the motel and whittled on the paint with his
pocket knife while he watched TV for a couple hours.  Finally after all the
paint was off he installed it, reassembled the clock, turned out the lights,
climbed imto bed, and turned on the projection feature.

It worked--for about 3 seconds.  Then...poof...darkness.  He started to cuss
and grabbed the clock.  He quickly unplugged and disassembled the clock.
Curiously, the bulb seemed intact.  Reinstalled the bulb.  Reassembled.
Lights out.  Turns it on...success!  For about three seconds.  Dark.  He
picks it up...and it lights!

Now he's really cussing as he tears into it again, looking for an
intermittent connection.  Tightens a couple screws.  Trys it again.  As he
held his breath, the bulb came on...then quit.

This time he just swore at it...and it came back on...then quit.  Then it
came back on.  Then it quit.  Then...he turned on the bedside lamp and
fished the bulb's package out of the waste basket.

The label read "U.L. Approved Flashing Ornament Bulb".

73,
Tom

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Markavage" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 5:15 PM
Subject: [Boatanchors] Re Coloring Dial Bulbs

> I use to go to the craft shops, you find them in all the strip malls
> under a host of names, and get those small bottles of paint that they
> sell for glass painting. Very abundant supply during the Xmas season. I
> don't remember the cost but it was relatively cheap. Lasted for many many
> years before the paint in the bottle got too hard to manage. When I was
> doing service work for Lafayette, the paint on the lamps used in their
> receivers use to chip off after a few years so I use to repaint them with
> the stuff from the craft shops.
>
> Pete, WA2CWA
>
> On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 15:00:52 -0500 "Duane Fischer, W8DBF"
> <[email protected]> writes:
> >
> >
> > For those of you who have the need to color a lamp in your
> > Hallicrafters, or any
> > other electronic item, here is some information that should prove
> > very useful.
> > It is courtesy of Ed Benjamin, one of the list subscribers, who
> > rarely posts
> > publically.
> >
> > Hello, Duane.
> >
> > Your friend may find it even easier to locate than I did.  I
> > heard about it some time back on the good old Hallicrafter's
> > List, and found it at Ryder's Hobby Shop.  I doubt if Ryder's
> > have got all the way to California yet, but the paint
> > actually comes from Japan, by way of California.
> >
> > The product is "Tamiya Color Acrylic Paint".  The hobby shop
> > has it in a 10ml size (which will color a lot of bulbs!) for
> > $2.  Now, just don't try to convert that to dollars per pint,
> > or none of us could afford it!
> >
> > Luckily for your friend, it is distributed in the USA by
> > Tamiya America, Inc., 2 Orion, Aliso Viejo, California 92656.
> > Their phone number is 949 362-2240.
> >
> > I really like the way it works.  It's clear as a bell, and
> > one dip leaves the bulb fully coated with brilliant color.
> >
> > Ed Benjamin
>
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