adam2

Update to this, metal filament lamps are still being sold on fleabay as "carbon filament" but numbers have been reduced from hundreds to dozens. Possibly because I have been reporting incorrect listings.

I was similarly disappointed with some "Megaman" branded replacements.I'm not sure if there's enough of a market to justify development of any better solutions, most people will simply replace security floods with new models and as someone mentioned above many of them are rusting away to nothing anyway. One advantage of the linear halogen bulbs is that they're relatively inexpensive, so you could buy up enough stock to keep your Codas for quite a while yet. I wonder what sort of shelf life the bulbs themselves have? I suspect that these very popular 500 watt linear halogen lamps will be around long after the ban. Note for example the number of 100 watt GLS lamps that are still on sale, many years after these were banned. It would however be prudent to buy a large stock for just in case. I would expect the shelf life to be almost infinite, centuries at least, if kept in clean dry conditions.

Ballasts might become a problem, but they tend to last longer than lamps, and often are still working when a fitting is discarded, and are therefore available for re-use. They are smaller to store, and less easily broken in storage than are lamps. I would however suggest that anyone scrapping a fluorescent light fitting should consider saving the ballast, it takes moments to remove it and you may want it one day. Might even be valuable one day. Electronic ballasts have a limited shelf life as the capacitors degrade. Coper/iron ballasts should keep forever. Think twice about disposing of any surplus fluorescent lamps, someone else may be glad of them, either as a favour or for a price. BTW, I am old enough to remember many now virtually extinct types of fluorescent lamp and control gear including, Five foot 80 watt, with bayonet caps. Coloured lamps that were a different colour each end. 2 foot 40 watt lamps. Lamps with a SINGLE pin each end. Odd voltage tungsten lamps for operation in series with a fluorescent tube, instead of a ballast. 4 pin lamp starters, thermal, not glow. "double glow" starters, two glow starters in the same 4 pin can. Special rotary switches for fluorescent lamps on DC mains, these reversed the supply polarity each time the lamp was turned on, to avoid the mercury migrating to one end. Special ballasts for 400 cycle supplies. Ballasts with tapings for different mains voltages. Chokes with a separate starting transformer. Desk lamps with a manual starting switch, built into the on/off switch. And others.

I also fear for the longer term availability of "blacklight" and other special types of fluorescent lamp. It would seem reasonable to exempt these special types from the coming ban, but that does not tell the whole story. If production of the common types of fluorescent tube is banned, then I rather doubt that keeping open the factory to make small numbers of specials will be viable. Special types of fluorescent include. UV blacklight popular for effects in the entertainment industry. UV insect killer lamps. Cosmetic sun tanning lamps. Deep yellow "safe" lights used in photochemical processes. Also sometimes for outdoor use to avoid attracting insects. Actinic blue lamps for printing. Clear glass germicidal lamps, for air and water treatment. Other coloured lamps. Most of these are made in volumes of a few hundred at most, as a "sideline" in works that produce millions of the popular types.

This announcement by the lighting industry makes the position clearer. My link As I suspected, lamps already in stock may be still be sold. And not all halogen lamps are to be banned. Self ballasted CFLs ARE to be banned. HMG really ought to proof read their own press releases.

Does anyone know WHICH lamp types are to be banned ? The government press release looks to have been written by a p0litician rather than by an engineer and gives no details. It also implies that SALES will be banned from September, whereas previous "bans" related only to manufacture or import, with existing stocks allowed to be sold lawfully.

The ban on certain types of lamp is to be extended to many types of halogen lamp, according to news reports. BBC news As with previous bans I presume that manufacture or import is to be prohibited, and that existing stocks may be sold and used without concerns. Does anyone have a link to a list of types to be banned ? Mainly the smaller ones used d0m3stically I suspect, though do be aware that production of other types may cease.

Also, all common types of hand winch have a safety mechanism to prevent it running backwards when the operator lets go the handle. Commonly a device known as a "pawl" that engages with a cog wheel and prevents unintended rotation. An older slang term in some places is a "dog" See here for example wikipedia link

An interesting link in the previous post, but please be aware that the product reviewed in that link is almost certainly different to the products offered at present on fleabay and elsewhere.

I suspect that MOST LED filaments contain series connected LEDs, but not perhaps all types. For a mains voltage LED lamp, a driver circuit that gives 20ma at 150 volts is probably cheaper and simpler than one for 1 amp at 3 volts. For lamps with a 12 volt input, then a driver circuit for 3 volts might be cheaper than a voltage boosting circuit with a 150 volt output. I have some 3 volt, 3 watt, E27 LED filament lamps that I suspect contain no control circuitry whatsoever, they work fine directly from a couple of D cells, or three in series with a dropper resistance from 12 volts DC.

Most of us are probably familiar with LED "filament" lamps, glass bulbs that contain or more long strips of tiny LEDs that somewhat resemble an incandescent filament. A wide variety are available including mains voltage, other voltages, in various colours. The driver circuitry is in the cap of the lamp. A relatively new product, is the bare LED strips, not mounted in a bulb, and without any driver circuitry. This sort of thing, ebay link No specific recommendation is made regarding that particular product or that particular seller, link provided to illustrate the TYPE of product to which I refer. Very little technical information is provided, and a little experiment may be called for. Some types are listed as being "3 volts" which I would presume to mean that they need connection to either a constant current driver circuit, or to a higher DC voltage via a dropper resistance. Other listings don't even give the voltage. Please be very careful in experimenting. The voltages involved are almost certainly harmless but enough wattage and enough current to start a fire are required. The longer lengths may require several amps, enough to start a fire if a fault occurs. Might be useful for special effects ? Battery operation would be possible. ISTR that BigClive did a technical review on youtube of this or a similar product a couple of years ago. Might be worth a look ? Though be aware that the specification may have changed since then. Longer lengths and a choice of colours are now available.

Yes it will be an interesting risk assessment ! but I am not involved in that part of the production. MOST of the filming will be in an historic building, but the fire scene will be in a set built in the grounds, proper precautions will be taken both to ensure that the fire starts when it should, and that no one is endangered thereby. The Amazon link provided above is for a replacement glass for the type of candle holder to which I refer, but what is desired is the complete article. Good ones were made of real silver and therefore expensive, cheap ones of brass or tin plated steel. Used to be common.

Can anyone suggest a supplier for a hand held candle holder that is draught resistant. Not an enclosed lantern, but a simple candle stick with a glass cylinder surrounding the flame to protect against draughts. For a real wax candle, not an electric fake. Not for actual theatre use, but for filming in an old house. The sort of thing used for walking around a darkened house before electric torches. Must be cheap NOT A VALUABLE old one, as it is to be dropped and a fire started thereby. An ACTUAL fire is to be started, but that bit will of course be done in a expendable set.

A DC to DC converter adds an extra point of failure, and also adds losses and increases the total power demand slightly. Some types may also add interference noise as they are a type of switched mode power supply. A lot depends on how much power is required. A single 7AH battery will be cheaper than a pair of 3,5 AH batteries. A pair of 60 AH batteries or a single 120 AH battery will cost about the same. Actual prices vary a lot. What have you got already ? What will be most useful for other purposes ? In particular note that 12 volt 7 AH batteries are hugely popular and often much cheaper per AH than other sizes. A pair of 7 AH batteries will usually be a lot cheaper than a single 17 AH battery.

A steam loco at rest should emit very little steam. The safety valves located atop the boiler will open when the steam pressure becomes excessive. A good fireman will reduce the rate of stoking, so as to avoid this which wastes considerable fuel and water. If, on the other hand, the fire be low and in need of urging, then the blower is turned on, this uses steam jets to draw more air through the fire. Use is minimised to save water and fuel. Before starting of, the cylinder drain are opened, this produces clouds of steam at low level, but only when starting. Most locomotives can supply steam to the train for heating, some leaks are likely from the connection between rear of tender and the first coach. It is well worth viewing youtube for steam engines.

I agree. The risk is low, but Iwould be uneasy selling it without a UK colour code flex "just in cases" Most people would realise that green was earth, and the other two dont in fact much matter in this particuar case, but if someone connected green to live, and if a life was lost, you might be held liable.

My understanding is that appliances FOR SALE must have a flex in the new UK colours. I think that there might be an exemption that permits of old UK colours on vintage equipment, but the American colours never were approved in the UK. Enforcement is patchy, there is loads of imported tat with non standard colour codes for sale on line. Polarity is not required with B15D lamp holders. If you sold the lamp with a non approved flex, then I doubt that anyone would notice or care, but that does not make it strictly correct. UK type mains leads are effectively free if you only need a short one, think of all those IEC leads that come with IT stuff. Test even a new lead before re-use, beware of fakes.

If the appliance is to be sold, then I believe that the flex should be replaced by one that is CE marked in and in UK colours. If however it is for your own use, or friends and family, then the original flex should be fine. Sleeving the conductors at the plug end and verifying polarity at any E27 lamp holder would be good practice as already suggested. If the light was intended for a high wattage halogen bulb, and has previously been used thus, then it might be prudent to check for any heat damage at the lamp holder end of the flex. Ideally you should check that the flex is rated for 240 volts, but in practice almost all "mains" flex is rated at 300 volts, or 500 volts, or at 300/500 volts, even in 120 volt countries. The only other caveat to consider is will 120 volt operation be required in the future ? or is the change to 240 volts to be permanent ? If you need to change it back to 120 volts then you probably can not put the original plug back as they are commonly moulded on. For a reversible change, either remove the original flex complete with moulded on 120 volt plug and store this for re-use, or obtain a new USA mains cord with moulded on 3 pin 120 volt plug. (these sometimes come packed with IT equipment)

This is the sort of thing that I wear for most work or indeed leisure activities that innvolve risk of fire. flame retardent warehouse coat No specific recomendation is made regarding that seller or that brand of product, link provided to show the TYPE of garment to which I refer.

Indeed, cameras can give misleading results, the two main differences IME are. 1) Colour differences that look modest to the eye are often exagerated by a camera, as an example a slightly "warm" wash may look orange. Any fluorescent work lights tend to look green. 2) A bright enough light of any colour may look white. It is in my view far preferable for a control booth to have a direct view of the stage. Consider not just normal operations, but also emergencies. In case of power failure, crowd disorder, medical energency, or fire, a direct view is far preferable to reliance on cameras, power supplies, and data links.

The best results may be obtained by hanging on the inside of the window a white diffusing screen, products are sold for this purpose, but white bed sheets work well. Light the inside of the white screen as evenly as possible with whatever light source you have. Directing lights directly at the windows from the inside works to an extent but not that well. Most stained glass is transparent, not translucent. As a result, internal lights directed upwards towards the windows waste much of the light skywards. Light at head height or above will be very glaring to persons outside and in the path of the beam, and not very effective at other viewing angles.

Yes plumbers do still use soldered joints, though less than in the past. Soldered joints in copper pipes can be made with much reduced fire risk by use of the "antex pipemaster" or similar tool that heats the joint with electrically heated tongs rather than a blow lamp. This product was invented by a relative of mine ! who sold the patent to Antex. AFAIK the patent has now expired and similar tools can be made by anyone.

I must admit that I still use proper lead solder and find that this produces far better results than lead free. If problems are experienced with old leaded solder of perhaps unknown origins, then it might be plumbers solder that contains no flux. Plumbers solder is intended to be used with flux that is applied seperatly. Electrical solder contains one or more flux cores within the solder. Electrical solder also contains about 60% tin and 40% lead. Plumbers solder is about 60% lead and 40% tin. Various other alloys exist for special purposes. Lead free solder contains a large proportion of silver. Leaded electrical solder is still sold by RS components, and also on fleabay. Keep a supply of modern lead free solder for repairing modern equipment that was made with lead free solder, but for old equipment, or for new work, leaded is best. Avoid mixing the two types.

Better to tear the issued overall coat than your own clothes, and MUCH better to tear the issued overal than to tear a hole in yourself ? Whilst modern workwear is in general better than that issued decades ago, it is much less worn with many employees in many workplaces wearing their own clothes these days. Many employers attach great importance to "company branding" and require the wearing of a branded polo shirt that advertises the employer but gives no significant protection against anything. For most types of heavy work a one piece coverall/boilersuit is the proper thing to wear, seldom relevant to the entertainment world. For most types of light work in a workshop, an overall coat, also known as a dust coat or warehouse coat is the proper thing to wear. Set building, painting, minor maintenance and repair works in general. Preferably with loose fitting work trousers that allow freedom of movement, NOT tight jeans. Usually blue or grey. If handling or preparing food other than at home, a similar garment but in white is good practice.

I can not recomend use of LED tape as is described. It will be vulnerable to overheating with many sections in close proximity. LED tape is intended for use in single runs with plenty of cooling. Paper lanterns are well worth considering, preferably from a reputable supplier that offers written confirmation of being flame retardent. Use of 12 volts effectively eliminates risk of dangerous electric shock, but does NOT reduce fire risk. What sort of light output is required ? And how well does it have to dim ? How important is colour temperature ?