Today I've been working on the latest three street lanterns in my collection; getting them clean and ready to work again. :)
Not a lot so far, it's still morning (what the [insert expletive of choice] am I doing up..? ::) )
Later on though we'll be making up a board with 4 E27 sockets on it all wired in series, so we can run several of the Philips spectral lamps in series. Got the idea from Photon, so I know it'll work, but what it'll look like is a mystery at the moment..!
Pictures to follow, of course..!
It's going to look wonderful of course.! 8) :-*
We can but hope :P
Rescued 2 400w PSMH ballasts today, they were taking down some old lights at a local grocery store. The crew there let me take a couple home as it was all going to be junked. I need to disconnect the igniters and test them with a 400w MV lamp tonight. One of these ballasts will be going to another collector, its nice to save some considering how fast they are disappearing from circulation.
Another round of lamp box Tetris to find the box of 2D lamps and ballasts. :P
I've now put the 2D lampses in the cupboard where we have the other lampses that go into daily service. :)
Had a look through all of the crates in the 'beer' cupboard to try and find a particular fixture without any luck.
Today I've replaced the Simplex Aries lantern in my garden and fitted a Thorn Beta 5 as a replacement.
Replaced a couple of ballasts in a 4 lamp F40T12 fixture for a friend last week. Had to go electronic since magnetic ballasts are only available NOS now but it beats converting it to a certain solid state light source.
It certainly does.! :love: :a_fluor:
We took delivery of the packs of bubble tubes I had ordered.! 8)
We have been looking for them for years, so they must be like buses, you wait ages for one, then three come along at once... :lol:
Today I secured the go ahead to rescue a pair of abandoned Revo Horizon lanterns on an industrial estate. They're battered and bruised, but I don't care. I think they're beautiful lanterns! ;D (image is for reference, not the actual lantern)
Keep up the good work of preserving these lanterns.! :love:
Update, I have both of them safe with me now! ;D
Well done that man.! 8) :bulbman:
Thank you :D
Selling off my duplicates on eBay...have way to much and I'm not getting any younger. :(
I know the feeling, need to sort out some of our duplicates as well.
Anyway, the place is a bit quiet lately, no gallery posts or comments for over a week, get posting, Eric ;D
Take care,
Us :love:
Yesterday I Unboxed a package of stuff which came from a fellow collector, inside were 2 rapid start 1 lamp F40T12 ballasts. After testing them they both have weak caps, with one being slightly weak and the other pretty badly under powered. The plan for them is to take them apart and take measurements on how they are constructed, and possibly swap in a new set of caps. Those 1980s era advance ballasts are known for having dry film caps that go bad quite often. I also lit up the second pair of F40T12 green lamps I got from Lumex when we met up at my college about a month ago. 8)
We have litted Ted (https://trad-lighting.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastcom&cat=0&pid=675&msg_id=1852&page=1#comment1852) for the third time and have cracked what we've got to do, he's now coming up to the four hour mark, at the start Ria gave the pump fifty strokes and another twenty after 2ΒΌ hours. :oil-ltn: 8)
Now that I'm back in circulation, I'll be unpacking my new Tilley Lamp and firing him up. 8)
It's taken a few days, and a bit of fettling, but he's now been running for a good few hours. :oil-ltn: 8)
It's been a couple weeks since I did this but over spring break I acquired 21 F40T12 ballasts and 2 135w/180w LPS ballasts. Tested all the FL ballasts and 20 work, I shall be using them for research and some light fixture building in the future. I also now find myself in need of a 135w or 180w SOX lamp. :mrg: :lps:
I've been running up my new Tilley table lamp. 8)
Quote from: Bulbman256 on 27/03/2025 00:18:28It's been a couple weeks since I did this but over spring break I acquired 21 F40T12 ballasts and 2 135w/180w LPS ballasts. Tested all the FL ballasts and 20 work, I shall be using them for research and some light fixture building in the future. I also now find myself in need of a 135w or 180w SOX lamp. :mrg: :lps:
I might be able to help out with a 180w SOX !
Help with that would be very much appreciated. 8) :lps:
It's been a couple of days since I last had John (https://trad-lighting.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=30&pid=714#top_display_media) litted, but I pumped him up to full pressure, according to the built in gauge, and got four hours light, without any signs of 'pulsing', and there was still plenty of pressure in the tank when I unscrewed the pump to release what was there. 8)
Ted was litted at 13:15 with a full tank, I poured out what was in the bottom of the tank, which was about a quarter of a pint before refilling and he's been pumped up to full pressure. (https://classicpressurelamps.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/dance.gif)
I'll note down when he needs to be pumped up again, and how long I get out of a tank. (https://classicpressurelamps.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/think.gif)
I'll repeat the experiment with my other lampses and see how they compare. (https://classicpressurelamps.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/think.gif)
Not today but yesterday , I met up with member Bulbman . We BS'd , checked out each others cars and he got some lamps and a streetlight from me . (It only took 3 YEARS ! ) :mrg: It was fun ! I needed to get away for a little bit !
You managed it then.! :love:
What did he give you.? :wndr:
I'll let him give you all of the details !
Again, this happened yesterday, (perhaps we should change the title of the thread.?) :wndr:
I have been in touch with a bloke in Edinburgh, and I'm getting another X246B stormlight for no cost to me at all.! 8)
We'll be collecting it on the way home from our trip south. :oil-ltn:
A couple days ago now but as Tim said I met up with him over the weekend to buy lamps. He cut me a good deal on a Unidoor 250, 180w SOX lamp, and a few other goodies for a reasonable price. Took me forever to collect on the deal as I had the slight issue of living about 700 miles away, but with me doing college in Indiana it became a reasonable trip. Overall I had a fun time and enjoyed being away from college for the day. The Unidoor is in my dorm room and is waiting to be fitted with a clear mercury lamp I saw but didn't buy at the Plymouth Indiana restore and a power cord. 8) :mvcobrahd: :lps:
Are you going to hook it up as your room light... :wndr: :mrg:
Maybe, the light over the mirror and over the desk are a little too dim for my tastes... ;D
I bought 8 NOS 175w GE merc lamps from the late 90s-mid 00s from a restore today. Most of them will be going to another collector friend of mine, however I will be keeping one clear and one DX one for my Unidoor 250. A couple days ago I bought a PC and power cord for that light, it works well however the current lamp in it is pretty well used. Gonna test the lamps I got tonight and clean off all the storage room dust from them. 8) :mv:
You're Welcome Max ! Enjoy ! Road trips can be a nice escape from the everyday .
@ Sammi : Nice !!!
Last night I lit up the 180w LPS lamp that Tim gave me, holy cow those things are BRIGHT! I had sunglasses on and even still it felt a little too intense to stare at. I made the mistake of opening my bedroom window and I lit up the side of the neighbor's house with it. :mrg: Pictures of it coming soon, I gotta figure out a good way to make a collage again. 8) :lps:
What ballast did you use..? :lps:
For collages I tend to use LibreOffice Draw, but there's another program I use sometimes called PhotoCollage. It's ok but doesn't let you re-size the images once they're in the program, so can be a bit of a pain. Draw takes more time, but I think it gives you better results.
I used a US spec 135w/180w LPS HX ballast, ran just fine. 8) First HX ballast that I've seen with PF correction added on. :lps:
I'll look into those programs, thank you Ria. 8) I also have all my other lights that deserve new photos. Over the summer I plan on doing a lamp census so I can figure out how much I have. (lots is the answer) :mrg:
I got some spares for my Tilley lamps through the post today. 8)
One of the spares that I got was a brass control valve assembly, and in trying to take the knob off the stem, to replace a seal I buggered it.! :cry: :curse:
I have ordered a couple more valve assemblies, and they've already got new seals fitted.! 8)
I did manage to fettle Sam's old pump so that it's now fully working, I've just got to restore the plunger handle as the aluminium is a bit corroded. :wndr:
Today , I tested some of the new arrivals to the collection . Photos soon ! @ Bulbman : Glad you got it lit !
I've just fettled the pump leathers on all four of my Tilley lamps, I just pulled the plunger out and swilled them round in 3 in 1 oil before replacing them. (https://classicpressurelamps.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/dance.gif)
I did have to replace the washer in one of the NRVs as that was pulling paraffin back into the pump. (https://classicpressurelamps.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/naughty.gif)
But everything is fixed and working now, ready to be litted on Sunday when we have our soakses in the bath. (https://classicpressurelamps.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/thumbup.gif)