3-500Z lamp base

[W8JX]

Another option is doing what I'm doing.  HOARDING LIGHT BULBS!  I went through the horrible government mandated water efficient toilets..... and that is a long story, not fit to be printed here.

Could use a outhouse as it uses no water

I'm now burning government mandated 15% ethanol in my old car even thought the manual says not to.....

Could walk. This is 2011 and fuel realities are different today.

I'm just getting damn sick and tired of the government dictating every aspect of my life.  My only option is to do what I can do to fight back for as long as I can and that's to hoard light bulbs.  Damn the inefficiency!  (Now you know what it's like to be a cantankerous old fart!)

Wishing for it to go away will not make it so. If you think energy cost are high now, wait 10 or 15 years and today will sound dirt cheap if we do not change. As much as we would luv to believe otherwise are resources are finite not infinite.

[K7GLM]

... I went through the horrible government mandated water efficient toilets..... and that is a long story, not fit to be printed here.

(Now you know what it's like to be a cantankerous old fart!)

Right there with ya' brother. I have a personal, biological imperative against the water savers. Two of the three bathrooms in my house still have the 1977 water-hog-big-tank models, and they're going to stay that way.

[N2EY]

HOARDING LIGHT BULBS! 

The only problem I see with that is...how many does one need to stock in order to have, say, a 10 year supply? 100? 200? 500?

It seems to me the "ban" is a very bad implementation of a very good idea. I think it would make a lot more sense to simply require efficiency ratings on the bulb packaging. Educate rather than eliminate. If prople want to throw 98 cents of every dollar away, who am I to stop them?

btw, a fellow in Germany figured out how to get around the ban. He simply doesn't call them lightbulbs; instead, they are electric heaters - which are not banned.

A standard 100 watt incandescent gives off about 2 watts of light and 98 watts of heat. So it's really a matter of honest labeling to call them heaters rather than light bulbs.

I am not making this up:

http://heatball.de/en/

I went through the horrible government mandated water efficient toilets..... and that is a long story, not fit to be printed here.

About 6 years ago the old 4 gallon monster upstairs was replaced with a 1.6 gallon Kohler - which is far less trouble than the old one, on less than half the water.

I'm now burning government mandated 15% ethanol in my old car even thought the manual says not to.....

All I can find around here (NC, VA, WV, PA, NY, NJ, DE, CT, MA) is 10% ethanol.

I'm just getting damn sick and tired of the government dictating every aspect of my life.  My only option is to do what I can do to fight back for as long as I can and that's to hoard light bulbs.  Damn the inefficiency!  (Now you know what it's like to be a cantankerous old fart!)

It's *your* electric bill...

73 de Jim, N2EY

[WY3X]

RE: the "low flo" toilets, look at a model called a "power flush". I replaced the toilets in my home with them 6 years ago, and they give no trouble at all. Never have to double-flush either. I think Kohler makes them, and they're around $200.00 I think.

Using LEDs in my project 3-500Z night light is a possibility if I can find some orange ones. Or I may mix white and red together. Not a bad idea. I was hoping to make the thing put off enough light to see my way around a room at night, yet be dim enough to sleep near. LEDs may not cut the mustard, but I'll see. Only bad part is I'd have to install a transformer, which is what I was trying to get away from.

Thanks for the info on high-efficiency incandescents, i was unaware they were being made!

I hope to locate a dead large glass tube at Shelby this weekend. Wish me luck!

Thanks & 73, -WY3X

[K7GLM]

... Only bad part is I'd have to install a transformer, which is what I was trying to get away from.

I have at least five or six small "wall-wart" transformers stuffed into my junk box that would suffice for the power supply for mine. Half an amp at 3.5 to 5V would be more than plenty to drive a couple of LEDs. As it happens, I have some surplus LEDs from aircraft dash indicators and they range from almost red to a yellow-orange depending on how much current they get. I'm going to try those first. They may be too red at low-output levels. If so, I may try turning up the power and wrapping them in a couple of layers of polyester tape.

The trick on the wall wart is finding one that doesn't throw a bunch of RF.

It may come off looking like a cheesy Christmas light display, but I'm intrigued now and I just have to try.

Greg Mc

[K8AXW]

Thank you one and all for your response to my comments on the various government mandated "improvements" in my life.

Personally, I feel that a lot of it could be used to fertilize at least 40 acres of farmland.  But that's only my opinion.  OK?  It is indeed my electric bill.

Like in Illinois a few years ago.  It was announced that the supply of natural gas was being depleted and that conservation starting immediately was necessary or it was eventually going to be mandatory. 

So the good people of IL cut back on their gas usage.  Within a year the same gas companies filed for a rate increase to the PSC "because they're profits had declined to the point where an increase was necessary for them to stay in business!"

From that point on, I vowed to cut my fuel and energy consumption back "when the last turbine rotor spun to a halt and the last cubic foot of gas came out of the pipe!"

I realize this is a radical viewpoint..... and will be scorned....and I also realize this is a deviation of the forum....and because of this I'll shut up. 

I'm old and I'm tired!  I'm tired of these SOBs in Congress and the tree huggers making my life miserable and then going home in their gas guzzling big cars and airplanes!

I'm tired of them wasting my tax money for ..... I'm sorry.....I just realized that that list is simply too long for me to include here.  SK CL

[K7GLM]

Ok. So here's what my LED prototype looks like in the dark. It's actually not so bright in real life. The camera was trying to boost the light level.

http://www.mcconaughey.net/images/PDRM0179.JPG

There are six mini LEDs glued to the back of the tube, right up against the "belt line". It's plugged into the 12V power supply that's always on in my shack. I like that much of the light is actually bounced off of the back wall, rather than shining right in my eyes.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[WY3X]

Thanks for the photo! I'm going to attempt a mix of red and white LEDs to try to match the orange glow that plates give off. I realize the plate itself won't glow, but it should still look quite good anyhow. I appreciate your "proof-of-concept" exercise! Thanks! -WY3X

[KC2RLY]

Congrats! I have done the same thing many times using the same process except I use diamond bits on a Dremel on slow speed under running water as you do. I actually grind a circular hole in the bottom of bottles for lamps etc. Never had one break. I think a big part is using the water.

[K7GLM]

Congrats! I have done the same thing many times using the same process except I use diamond bits on a Dremel on slow speed under running water as you do. I actually grind a circular hole in the bottom of bottles for lamps etc. Never had one break. I think a big part is using the water.

Probably a good idea on the water. It keeps the diamond from plugging up and gets the heat out of the glass.

I tried to keep mine as non-invasive as possible. All of the tubes I have are still operable, and sticking the LEDs on the outside is easily reversible.

[W0FM]

Thanks for the photo! I'm going to attempt a mix of red and white LEDs to try to match the orange glow that plates give off. I realize the plate itself won't glow, but it should still look quite good anyhow. I appreciate your "proof-of-concept" exercise! Thanks! -WY3X

Use red and yellow LED's to get orange.  Normally, red and white will give you pink.

Terry, WØFM

(former finger-painter)