Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Globe display bulb wattage

Hi,

I'm building a display for my new globe. It's an NOS globe in a capco body. What wattage bulb is recommended for this globe? I don't want to risk any heat damage, even over a very long period of time. I'm worried about discoloration of the white body, and damage to the lenses. It really doesn't need to be all that bright. Would 20 watts be acceptible or would that be too hot? There is no provision for ventilation in these capco globe bodies.

Thanks,
Wes

I WOULDN'T USE ANYTHING BETTER THAN A 40W SOFT WHITE BULB. THEY DO MAKE 11-15W COMPACT FLOURESCENT BULBS PUTTING OUT 60-75W ACTUAL LIGHT FOR LESS MONEY AND LONGER LIFE....SAVES MONEY AND TIME CHANGING BULBS! 5-7X LONGER LIFE WITH THOSE BABIES! INSIDE FROST (IF) BULBS ARE TOO YELLOW WITHOUT BEING ACTUALLY YELLOW...OKAY IF YOU WANT THAT OLD TIME LOOK.

DOC @ TAG.WEST

Some globe collectors won't use anything higher than 15 watts and even go as low as 7 1/2 watts. I tried that and thought they weren't bright enough. I use 26 or 41 watt bulbs in my globes. Never had any heat damage.

I use 25 watt appliance bulbs in my globes; plenty of light, very little heat.

I'm thinking the 11 or 15 watt fluorescent sounds like the ticket, because I don't want excessive brightness or heat.

I've got my display built now. It only took a couple hours. I mounted an aluminum globe base ring to a 9x12 wooden plaque I bought at the trophy shop. I then put a lamp nipple and socket on a 4" crossbar and attached it to the plaque. I milled a channel in the bottom of the plaque for the cord. I then used thumb screws to secure the globe. Look for pictures in showcases and stories tomorrow evening, after I get a bulb.

Thanks guys,
Wes

I put 15 watt in the globes in the garage on a reg. on and off switch. In the basement i have 40 watt and use a programable switch so they fade on half bright or all the way then can fade off or just dimm them. The globes look much better with 40 than 15 but i am the same way... don't want to damage one.

PS: Don't no one reply to my last comment. LOL

LOL

I was thinking about you the whole time I was carrying the globe through the swap meet, and half the time while driving it home

Wes

I really wonder if this is an issue. Let me first say that I use a 25 watt frosted incandescent on my original Cleveland Premium globe I have on the shelf indoors. The pump I have outdoors (a 96c)I wanted to act as a porch light and I wanted some decent output from it. Since I was using a repop globe it would be no great loss if I fried the thing. I started with fluorescents but couldn't get them to work reliability in Ohio's cold winters. I ended up with halogen bulbs, the ones in the heavy glass globes. These things gotta produce as much heat as an arc light! After four years of constant dusk to midnight use,in weather from 90 degrees to minus 10, I can't see any fading of the repop lens or discoloration of the white copco. As an added bonus these bulbs sure melt the snow off the pump in a hurry! Now I'm certainly not recommending their use BUT I think the heat from any bulb is not a major factor in globe fadeing or weathering. Sunlight and airborne pollutents (specially the fumes from the very product these things advertised!)are the big reasons these things age and weather.

I ma sure the globes will stand the heat as some have noted and they were designed to take a decent size wattage as they were to be seen from a distance. When displaying a number of globes in one place wattage is an issue. I have used the X-mas candlesticks with 7 watt bulbs to illuminate over 80 one one circuit. Individually not real bright but impressive as a whole.

Seems to me that fluorescent bulbs produce UV rays, which will degrade just about anything given enough time, especially plastic. I use a regular 25 watt bulb for plastic/hull/metal body globes, and a 40 watt for glass body or one-piece globes, where the glass is thicker.

I've seen George's light show and it is awesome.

Not to mention the collection itself!!!!

ooops! I better lower my wattage. Good info. Thanks, ~Jason

I KNOW IF ANYONE DOESN'T HAVE MANY ORIGINAL GLOBES IT'S ME! BUT FOR THE 2 THAT I HAVE AND THE MANY REPOP'S I HAVE AROUND ON PUMPS OR BASES I USE STRICTLY 15W FLOURESCENTS....SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY LAST MANY YEARS BEING USED ON A REGULAR BASIS. I HAVE ONE IN A PUMP @ TAG.EAST THAT'S BEEN IN USE SINCE 2001 ON A TIMER FOR AN AVERAGE OF 6 HOURS A NIGHT. SO IF THE THOUGHT OF CHANGING BULBS IN GLOBES HAS YOU CRAWLING....ESP YOU GUYS HAVING LARGE COLLECTIONS. REGULAR INCANDESCENT BULBS HAVE A LIFE OF ROUGHLY 600-750 HOURS, HALOGEN BULBS BURN BRIGHT WHITE AND LAST 2000 HOURS. 15W FLOURESCENTS LAST 7 YEARS SO THEY SAY (ANY BULB WILL LAST FOREVER ESP IF YOU DON'T TURN IT ON - AS MY MOM WOULD SAY!)

IN THE END, EVERYBODY HAS THERE OWN OPINION ON GLOBE LIGHTING USAGE. ON LONG ISLAND HERE ELECTRIC AIN'T CHEAP. THE L.I. POWER AUTHORITY PROMOTES THE USE OF THESE 15W STYLE BULBS FOR HOME USE AND OFFERS REBATES ETC.

I PERSONALLY WRITE AN INSTALLATION DATE ON ANY BULB I INSTALL JUST TO KNOW HOW LONG IT LASTED. THE BULBS IN THE PACKAGE PICTURED BELOW WERE ROUGHLY $10 @ HOME DEPOT AND SOMETIMES OFFER A REBATE PROMOTION AS WELL.

JUST KEEP IN MIND THAT HALOGEN BULBS BURN PRETTY HOT. I ALWAYS DRILLED HOLES IN THE TOP OF A REPOP PLASTIC CAPCO HOLDER TO LET ANY HEAT ESCAPE AND NOT BUILD UP.....6 -3/16" HOLES - 3 ON EACH SIDE ON THE SCREW MOUNT CREVIS.

A 60W INCANDESCENT BULB WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED ABOUT 8-10X
OVER THE LIFE OF ONE 15W FLUORESCENT BULB ALSO = TO 60W.



I'LL GO WITH WHAT I KNOW....KEEP MY COSTS DOWN AND L.I.P.A. MONEY IN MY POCKET.



IF YA LIK'EM BRIGHT ENOUGH TO LIGHT UP A DARK CORNER OF A ROOM OR YOUR OFFICE THIS IS THE WAY TO GO.



LET THERE BE LIGHT SAID THE BIG MAN UPSTAIRS!
--------------------------------------------------------
DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES

I use Westinghouse frosted 7 watt nite-lite bulbs from Farm and Fleet at 99 cents a pop and have good luck with them. They are bright and cool enough that you can wrap your hand around them and not even feel the heat from the bulb.

Be careful with the Christmas candle stick nite decorations from Wal-Mart. The ones in use in this country the last few years have been coming out of China and are junk. They weren't meeting USL code and are known to catch on fire. We have had three or four house fires locally the last few years just from these things alone..........

I was in a coffeeshop downtown and heard a noise. Turned around and a pot light had come out of its socket, a squiggly flourescent!

Now it did not go straight down, went sideways a few feet, would not have been good on a rare globe hanging swag style!

The base part which I think is a transformer was quite hot you could not touch it, another thing to keep in mind. There was no one sitting at the table it landed on luckily but the tube broke and peices were spread around..