Don't try putting this light bulb in a normal socket

Light bulbs that look ordinary, but run on only 12 volts.

[@niteflash06]

DON'T TRY PUTTING THIS LIGHT BULB IN A NORMAL SOCKET - AT 3 AM - IN THE HOOD - COPS CALLED

[@mrmagnetoscope]

GONE WRONG CHARLIE CHARLIE CHALLENGE

[@user-gt7jk3lt4t]

johnny johnny yes papa exposed starving to drugs plus dad has a relationship with elsa, cheated on mom, grandpa murdered grandma

[@Hunter-bl7cr]

niteflash06 *gone sexual*

[@Andy-413]

ALMOST DIED

[@lordkelvin100thompson8]

Ten in series: no problem.

[@microsoftafu]

24v bulbs are pretty common in Poland, in older buildings (mainly flats) from the 70's they are used in the basements (with a transformer in the main breaker box) because of incidents of stealing free energy.

[@BavarianM]

Just use a Inverter on 12 or 24v and there you go free energy

[@MrOpenGL]

@@BavarianM You don't even need an inverter, since these supplies are usually AC. Just use a transformer in reverse.

[@mattikaki]

MrOpenGL I believe that those lines were quite low amperage ones and if you tried to steal energy, it either blowed fuse or dimmed the lights because of current limitation. It’s easy to build a transformer with ”automatic current limiter” like in old car battery chargers. Also one reason to use other than mains voltage bulbs in cellars was perhaps that mains voltage bulbs were stolen if they were hard to find as I believe.

[@JanKowalski-ic6np]

Builidings built in 1960's, 70's, and 80's are 90% of buildings and flats in poland

[@mateuszzimon8216]

@@JanKowalski-ic6np Even now 12V was popular in poland because PELV

[@Bisqwit]

Why would they even use the standard mains-voltage E27 socket for those?

[@MrWolfSnack]

These were made for RV's and travel trailers which when camping can run off a 12v battery system. the trailer electrics for the parking lights and such all run on a 12v pigtail from the tow vehicle (switchable) also some motor parks only have 12v hookup for pop ups

[@cherrysdiy5005]

@@MrWolfSnack Very true! I wish they would've used bayonet or another type of base to prevent confusion. Most people are unaware of what the numbers on electrical things mean. For example I saw a little halogen lamp installed on a lamp head meant for a High Intensity Discharge bulb. I can only say it probably wasn't a pretty scene when they tried that instead of a HID bulb (i.e. high pressure sodium, mercury vapor, et cetera).

[@MrWolfSnack]

@@cherrysdiy5005 Yeah, the companies do not have any foresight as to what happens when said products trickle down 15, 20, 30 years later out of the retail market and into thrift stores where they can be bought by people who are outside of that market range and have no idea what they are. They do say "LOW VOLTAGE" on the box in this instance but I have seen some that do not when at the little camping store in Jellystone Park where I had a trailer lot at. Also I just found out boats and watercraft use lights like this too, same general electrical system setup.

[@BG101UK]

I remember seeing these in Halfords in the 1980s. They too had E27 caps but at the time this made sense in the UK since back then E27 lampholders were relatively uncommon here. It wouldn't be effective these days though since E27 is now common (and has probably overtaken B22d in all but pendant fittings). There seem to be more screw-base lamps on sale than bayonet, whereas back in the 1980s they were a niche product, E27 being mainly used for reflector lamps (spotlights, floods).

[@CrashCarson14]

None of these comments answer WHY they would use that socket.

[@Marfprojects]

We actually used those bulbs at school. For learning to able wiring wall sockets, light bulbs in house, instead of using the full voltage 230volt, they used a safer voltage like 12 volt.

[@danielpena2726]

At least it didn't explode. I thought glass would be flying all over the place!

[@GreenAppelPie]

I wouldn’t expect it would explode, but rather just burn out the filament.

[@shanester366]

Yea ive seen people hook up 120v lights to 277v circuits in commercial a few times and seen them burn out real fast, never explode though.

[@BilisNegra]

I see no reason to even expect that happening. It's all about filament burning only.

[@brianleeper5737]

@@shanester366 A 1500w metal-halide ballast WILL make them explode, but only after the bulb is arcing over internally for several seconds.

[@shanester366]

@Brian Leeper I ment ive just seen guys hook up incandescent lights to 277 on accident and turn it on and poof!

[@Elmantukas]

When i was a kid i put a 12v bulb in 220v socket, got a way better result than you did, bulb exploded almost hiting my face 😃 it was a soviet bulb tho

[@andhieyusuf7008]

In Sovyet Russia, lamp turn off you

[@potatogamer401]

It’s now ourlamp

[@foco5657]

It didnt explode in your face. It exploded in OUR face

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

Felt something out interesting words I had a bunch of used low voltage bulbs and a bunch of spares the same I don't remember what they were racially used 4 but I continuously get these a lot in the end I wound up salvaging the trunks of the equipment they were in they were the screw in once miniature screw base I suspect they were used indicators but cannot remember all what was going on with this but I know that they were frequently replaced and groups then quite often possibly because of reliability. As well as I knew a lot of people that work fall sorts of things and imperious Industries so it always gets tough it was pretty fun just see what came next sort of thing. Anyways breakfast bulbs if I remember correctly they were three V possibly six maybe even less than 3 V can't remember. I go loved ones are clearly had a lot of hours on them some did not have as many hours of obviously and nose would have much longer useful life for my purposes but the ones that clearly didn't have much life left all by the way I got these in bulk they're basically just boxed up Ziplocs impact won't have to keep them from too many of them from being destroyed which usually did pretty well often like wind-up bags just to cushion things sometimes pack better but oh well. It's not like they were transported for everything but it was worth just easy to store in the boxes. I also got a lot of other types of specialty bulbs and other equipment and oftentimes we just wind up the boxes of Oddball bulbs of different times but you still useful but definitely is full for things I was doing . Oddball meeting just odd assortments of them overall from multiple sources. The thing was I was wanting to do some tree ornaments essentially Christmas balls little miniature ones I knew that if you applied enough voltage do a low voltage bulb you could essentially silver the inside of the bulb got the idea from Christmas lights that have been basically on them so long that most of the bulbs had failed of course each one shutting out obviously mini lights in series like they usually are you know before we started UCL ladies for Christmas lights or even LED lights for a thing for the most part. If anyone's ever seen a set that had been in use so long sometimes even continuously you know how people string up the strings of Lights for example just as low-level biting me saying is that what you meant just for decorative and just leave them there for years and years not sure if sometimes even if they were switched off or not eventually each bulb would fail intern and the voltage gets higher and higher that is as a shunt out. Eventually get discus to the point that the voltage is so high the filament basically just gives up the ghost pretty rapidly or even just about instantly in some cases and you'll see some bulbs that basically are completely almost a mirror and some that are literally a perfect mirror or most if not all the inside the bulb. Lot of doing this deliberately into some of the bulbs that were basically just about to blow that were had the most hours on the man clearly wouldn't last long for my applications I'm using them for the used ones as in a miniature screw base bulbs and after this process wood solder a ring to the very end of the bulb base and use the proper thread with the metallic colored string that use for Christmas ornaments made some rather unique Christmas ornaments are these

[@jacksontrannguyen8424]

@@potatogamer401 REVOLUTION FOR LIFE OUR COMMUNIST BROTHER

[@martinlumber]

True story. I bought a stack of these at Menards for a low voltage project, and had the stack in the garage. The traditional light bulb above the door burnt out one day, and I didn’t bother going to the basement to get a spare. At some point during the day, my brother discovered this burnt out bulb. I come home, and he mentioned to me that all of my bulbs in the garage that I had just bought must have all been bad, as they all burned out when he tried replacing them. Moron.

[@sudofox]

Nooooo! 😂

[@thephilpott2194]

Reminds me of an office incident years ago Martin. We had desktop sockets for charging laptops and phones, which had an integral fuse pocket holding a quick-blow 3.15A fuse. The cleaners would come in after hours and vacuum the carpet using these sockets, blowing one fuse after another. They were too thick to learn that something was amiss, or to use the floor sockets rated at 13 amps. The equally stupid facilities manager kept denying this was happening, saying the vacuum cleaners had round-pin plugs on them, and couldn't be plugged into the UK square-pin sockets on the desktops. Which was bollox, obviously. After i caught her deliberately lying about something else later on she got sacked. Happy days...!

[@bryceforsyth8521]

somehow I noticed the '12V' before the *'LOW VOLTAGE'*

[@AVINIDE]

Same, also it immediately spoiled the entire video

[@pfitz9346]

It was in the thumbnail and I was just like "well duh"

[@akeiai]

Me too.

[@budude2]

Power calculations are actually Watt's Law, not Ohm's law although they're commonly shown/explained together...

[@radon360]

Really more a hybridization of Joule's law (P=I^2*R) and Ohm's law (V=IR). James Watt, while having the SI unit of power named for him, received this honor for power in mechanical (kinetic) form, mainly from the development of a practical steam engine, not electrical.

[@Spyd77]

Something like 25 years ago I worked on an isolated house, the nearest village was about 10Km away. There wasn't electricity, but they had a generator that gave the standard 220V (now its 240V, but then was 220V), and also had some solar panels and a set of truck batteries to store the electricity generated by the panels. While the outlets worked with the generator output, all the lights worked with the "solar/battery" circuit, and it was 12V. They had incandescent bulbs like the ones in this video, and also fluorescent tubes that also worked with 12V input. Never have seen this type of installation again.

[@LakeNipissing]

Another use for these bulbs was for the auto service / trouble lights which had clamps to connect directly to the car battery instead of needing a 120 VAC connection.

[@billmyke746]

For a brief time houses were being built with what was called an LVL system- low voltage lighting systems. The standard 220 single phase service was converted in the breaker panel down to 12 / 24 volts and branched out to cover all the lighting circuits of the house the remaining circuits were standard voltage. (US)

[@pierreghazarian6087]

That would be relevant again with LEDs only needing low voltage for a lot of light and small currents.

[@AMD1]

@@pierreghazarian6087 Low voltage led lighting is already available for commercial buildings. The lights are powered, and controlled by Ethernet POE

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

Hey I ran across something interesting in the past I don't remember when or how long ago or where it was but it seems like every place had something like this or otherwise something similar or to the same effect apparently we're over that was there was often a lot of power failures or even short power interruptions so essentially almost every place for their commercial even residential would have something like this as I'm trying to describe below. I think in this case it was mostly kind of like emergency lighting because of frequent power failures but some of this was actually on all the time as well and would use bulb similar to the one that's talked about in the video although sometimes automotive and some more time for you is just well sometimes in combination with the others as well. When I first ran across this the couple places they said they had just moved in but there's a lot of lights they could not get to work it didn't seem to be switches for them anywhere and I'm like there's no way this could be all on one switch or why would this be on separate circuit where is the switch for this I thought maybe it was just waiting for convenience it was just damn door otherwise possibly somebody reduce voltage just for like night light. However I noticed the word was quite heavy compared to what Molly would be used for mobile applications what you got me scratching my head. But then they happen unscrew one of the bulbs and noticed it was rated for only 12 volts. And was looking around went down to the basement sure enough there was a box essentially either had Warren going to get approval batteries bunch of them in parallel sort of in what sort of shelf like things obviously is this was some sort of backup oftentimes the systems are very similar it's not the same components at least in terms of the charging and all although some of the globe or homemade essentially there was a charger that also Incorporated relays and a low voltage power distribution system not sure how many of the lamps were on each circuit but there were fuses in some cases circuit breakers not sure how many of the bulb switch fixtures with me on the circuit but sometimes are all home run to the same location. Often these fixtures were either Joey jar fixtures or the old style bathroom light fixtures that would have the sometimes octagonal Globes around the bulb you do the old fancier ones like you might have above an old sink or in the bathroom and sometimes even the once with the slope sides almost like what used to be used for old exit lights verifacts smoothie buildings would have the exit wife's like this that had that printing on them also sometimes there would be a second fixture near another one would almost sometimes be identical but one would have a normal 120 volt bulb in it and the other what's the low voltage even sometimes something more intriguing would be a relay system that if the room light switch on that emergency light would be active if it was off it would not be active possibly extending the runtime of the battery supply although it might have just been so that if the lights are not on Amazon needed it would not wake someone up or just wasting power or even perhaps so that if the lights weren't needed and when they were would only on the switch was on what complicated way to do things but in the circuitry to do this was rather complex I don't remember how it was set up but it was intriguing than the less. Also when I was in that area one-time the power did go out and the lights did flick on and off like every couple minutes and that person told me that that was indication that the batteries are running low basically warning you to find another source of light if needed interesting clever as well. Even a few of the yard lights are connected to this system as well here in there again it seemed like most places in that area had this And no there was no regulations requiring this or anything like that or any consensus of this but the problem was doing it since power was not reliable and who knows how far back does had been installed it looked like it was probably done originally when the places were built but looks of it and the thing is that you'd see flashlights in just about every room I was anywhere you went as well even some things that look like the old better when friends and also people often had those railroad type of lanterns that used 4.5 volt seal beam bulbs apparently you could get all the stuff to maintain everything at most local stores including the supplies for these lanterns apparently even sometimes people were using lights with the number 9 dryer sounds even even do that day because of how often things were need I never seen a landform like this before then but lot of people had them I think it used to do non-price else as well as almost everyone had the sexual involvement lanterns with the Florida batteries

[@BedfordLevelExperiment]

I'm amazed that you didn't say "AC" or "DC" a single time in this video!

[@thewilleymusic]

I'll just assume it's AC he's talking about throughout the video xD

[@wellivea1]

Well, the battery would most definitely be supplying DC.@@thewilleymusic

[@TheRailroad99]

Well, for a lamp this doesn't matter, because it's a pure resistive load.

[@wellivea1]

@@TheRailroad99 Well, incandescent bulbs still do have a slight flicker on AC but it is imperceptible due to the residual heat between cycles.

[@jeepman1244]

When I used 12volt bulbs for back wood camping back in the 80s I used DC 12volts from my Jeep, worked great back then no LEDs lighting back then like now!

[@wmalden]

I use these bulbs in a post lamp in my yard that is wired to a low voltage yard light transformer. The bulb lasts for years!

[@ricardomontalban6004]

Robots in disguise

[@Sparky-ww5re]

I've seen these before, probably about 10 or 15 years ago in the RV and camping section of Walmart and some sporting goods stores, but never had the use for them. Unrelated to low volt incandescents, i once was installing two F32T8 fluorescent tubes in a strip light in a janitors closet of a large office building, after confirming from the head maintenance worker that these were the correct tubes. When power was turned back on both lamps exploded at one end and fell from the fixture. Come to find out, the fixture had been converted to run single end wiring type B LED tubes, 277 volts run to one lampholder of each tube, and due to lack of communication between maintenance workers and failing to update facility records, the head maintenance man was unaware of the fixture having been converted, since a good percentage of the fixtures in the building were still running fluorescents, while LED tubes were gradually being retrofitted.

[@dictare]

12V bulbs were also used in cabooses. They had a generator driven by the wheels tocharge a battery bank.

[@61Benster]

I miss cabooses

[@QuadMochaMatti]

@@61Benster while the acronym is friendly enough, FREDs just don't come anywhere close to having the charm of a big ol' caboose.

[@ricardomontalban6004]

Arse

[@BlackEpyon]

Having grown up watching Red vs. Blue, I always think of something different when I hear "Caboose."

[@stonyrerootkit8922]

What is a "Caboose" ??

[@Nexfero]

Those blue disposable photo-flash bulbs that are filled with magnesium and oxygen, are fantastic for pulling pranks on your mates.

[@ChrisSPCs]

Nice techmoan reference, two objects that have absolutely no practical relation but the hipsters on the internet think is correct usage.

[@bryceforsyth8521]

well, there is labeling.

[@AestheticFunk]

DO NOT directly write on CDs with sharpies. The chemicals in sharpie/marker ink will eat into a disc, eventually get into the part of the disc that has the data burned into it, and it'll ruin your disc. There are specially made pens for labeling CDs but they're hard to come by.

[@TheGamerWithMore]

@@AestheticFunk I've used sharpies on CD-Rs and my data is fine.

[@8bits59]

@@nooneinpart it's not the acid. Sharpie ink is ethanol-based, which dissolves a tiny fraction of the polycarbonate. It's not really much to worry about though.

[@JonnyInfinite]

エステティック Funk I have CD-Rs I made five years ago that have Sharpie pen labels and they're fine

[@fixman88]

I've seen those bulbs before, but only very rarely; the main reason being is that every RV I have ever seen with a 12 volt electrical system used 1156 tail-light bulbs that cars use. Those work at 12 volts and you can get them anywhere, plus you can get (and newer RVs come with) LED light replacements for them.

[@EdgarsLS]

these were used in basements where I live, and not only 12v, there are also 24v, and 36v, probably 48v ones too but I haven't seen ones like that. I guess because 240V would be much more dangerous in a wet basement.

[@mjmcomputers]

I’ve seen those in the store before in the RV section but never actually seen an RV that uses them.

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

Older trailers and RV's used them, especially up into the early 70's until 12V powered fluorescent lighting became cheaper.

[@appealingpit]

My camper has both. house voltage and 12 volt.

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

I've seen people have truck camper shells and and have the standard full size as in light sockets in them and absolutely no Provisions for connecting a 120 volt Supply and would be connected into the vehicle electrical system in some Manor I asked do you have a power Inlet it says oh yeah that's for low-voltage bulbs but he said ridgeley when he got the camper show there was a cable that had a connector for low-voltage and one end and a female plug on the other however he ditched the power Inlet connectors in the was never used in strictly was running it from 12 volts the interesting thing is the camper shell had the power Atwood on the interior right at the very back where the tailgate was it was more of a utility camper shell it's actually more of a cover than anything to return the back into the clothes truck he had put a toggle switch in place of the original Power Inlet in a standard jbox cover and not sure what type of connector it was between the vehicle and that it was installed in the corner of the truck bed area I know it was not a cigarette lighter connector it was like something twist-lock had a strange plug Sadie was a twist-lock possibly two or three prong Oddball one possibly old obsolete connector or something very specific for somebody else not intended for 120 volts

[@Lagib28]

I tried that CD trick many years ago and noticed no difference in sound quality.

[@BrianG61UK]

Obviously.

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

It doesn’t mater what they do, they’ll never match the nice warm glow from a incandescent filament bulb.

[@jjhack3r]

WRONG.

[@Qui-9]

Incandescent is best quality of light spectrum, just it can't do bright or daylight white without a filter (GE Reveal...). The CFL and LED ones have their own unique spectrums, but not as nice. They may look the proper color, but their cast on the surroundings is sometimes a bit odd. Some brands have versions with better phosphors.

[@rogersowers9837]

I have the LED with battery back up....60 watts out put, WARM LIGHT 6000K....impossible to tell the difference now.

[@Qui-9]

6000K isn't known as "warm", despite the temperature number, which clashes with the terminology. It's daylight. Warm usually means less blue and more orange-ish, like a sunset or candle. A cultural nomenclature I guess.

[@ricardomontalban6004]

Whadaboudaweedbulb?

[@CullenCraft]

Yes! They're for boats! And yes you can get standard edison base 12v LED bulbs. They're a little hard to track down, but they do the job just fine when you do.

[@maineboy1979]

"Doing things you're not supposed to, just to see what happens" = basically my entire childhood.

[@golfman9290]

I used to use those bulbs in my car inspection light, there pretty tough and can take the knocks and bangs that a domestic bulb can't, although not used every year now, but I think the bulb in my inspection light is probably getting on for 28 years old.

[@andygozzo72]

yep, the thicker filament makes them more resilient

[@BilisNegra]

Wow! I don't know whether that's so great, tho' ... We're talking about a fucking bulb lasting more than your whole youth and a large part of your middle-aged person days... I'd feel depressed at the thought of it.

[@ricardomontalban6004]

I would fill the bath and jump in with it.

[@aaronbrandenburg2441]

Was about to say before they're often used mobile this trouble light switch are a real thing in some applications as well not just for automotive use or where there is battery power available such as this were other 12-volt vehicles no matter fact I actually had made an adapter to have plugged in essentially an extension cord into a cigarette lighter socket and also had the alligator clip to female as well and used a standard trouble wide and that I found that actually specifically had it switched it was raining for both AC and DC and rather beefy cord I'm feeling it may have even been originally designed for this and had come with some sort of adapter and there was some mention somewhere on a label of 12 volts or 120 volts what's up with long at lunch but was so worn out when I even got it in terms of labeling it was hard to read but likely that's what this was intended for

[@rmccombs66]

They have some 12 volt florescence bulbs in a standard base that are 15 watt and are supposed to be the equivalent to 60 watts incandescent. That would come in hand during a power failure.

[@uxwbill]

I am a little surprised the bulb didn't explode, or have a hole blown in the glass. Harbor Freight bundles with their 100 watt solar panel kit a set of 12 volt LED light bulbs. They have conventional screw-type bases and would fit perfectly into a socket wired for line voltage. I haven't been brave enough to try it...and probably never will be, since I'm actually using them.

[@brianleeper5737]

I don't think it would explode and the reason why is this: A bulb can trip a breaker if the filament opens and an arc develops. Usually they have a fuse (regular 120V bulbs) which opens up before the breaker trips. I have actually had a bulb (7W night-lite type) arc over and trip the breaker. It did NOT explode. In case you are wondering what happens when an arc forms and the fuse doesn't open and the breaker doesn't trip, yes, it explodes. But not right away--it takes a few seconds. You can make this happen with a 1500 watt metal-halide ballast. More effective bulb-poppage is obtained when using the 208V tap on 240V and not using the capacitor in series with the bulb. So, based on that, for a bulb to explode requires the formation of an arc, and if there is no ballast to limit the current, it's going to trip a breaker or blow a fuse, and do so long before the arc has generated enough pressure to make it explode. (If the fuse has been bypassed with a penny or the breaker is some Federal Pacific Electric or Zinsco junk, the bulb may well explode).

[@brianleeper5737]

@dgpx84 Seems the gas (argon) inside the bulb is conducive to forming an arc when the filament breaks. So a piece of fuse wire is put just above the base of the bulb, where it's surrounded by air, not argon, and won't arc when it breaks open (except when powering the bulb through a 1500W metal-halide ballast, that is...and actually I don't think the ballast allows enough current to blow that fuse).

[@brianleeper5737]

@UCpJR752BM2Hm0bCUD_rEn6g Wikipedia says that an arc in argon will glow "Violet to pale lavender blue" which matches the color of the glow I saw from the bulbs I connected to the ballast moments before they went kablooey.

[@carstuff4u942]

Love uxwbill comments. I miss him saying "smoke test!"

[@mattikaki]

The volume in the bulb is guite large and underpressurized and even if the filament breaking caused arc, the gas volume inside wouldn’t grow up much. In small halogen bulb there is different situation as the volume is small and it is pressurized. The arc can cause so large gas pressure that the glass breaks. The GU10 halogen bulbs may be dangerous as they are 230-240 V and the arc can be of very strong. I have seen blown and melted GU10 bulbs in Finnish Safety Agency.

[@germaineliew2012]

What's that WinCleaner drive in the background there?

[@PINKBOY1006]

this explains it in hilarious as seen on tv fashion kzbin.info/www/bejne/majJeWablrCXg5o

[@DjAle1]

A scam 😉

[@stonent]

About a year ago they were $1 at Dollar Tree. It just had an .EXE file that you ran under windows and the thumb drive was read-only. The .EXE forced you to download and install something from their website.. I didn't bother to do it.

[@TheLonerD]

It's like FixMeStick but WinCleaner.

[@psirvent8]

It's a scam for ignorant people who don't know about CCleaner

[@FIXERx05]

I use one of those about 10 years ago before LEDs got so popular, I hooked up a drop light under the hood of my truck , it worked great I just hooked up a receptacle under the hood with 12 volts

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

You can use those 50 watt light bulbs as a 50 watt resistor for 12 volts :-)

[@pianokeyjoe]

Hi Vwestlife, yes they do make LED A19 base 12VDC bulbs for boat/rv use. I was looking for them for my UPS back up power system in my house up here in coooold wintery PA and they cost $23 each so very high cost. I did find 12AC/DC WALMART branded MR16 LED 500 lumens bulbs that cost only $9 and change for 3 of them! That would work for my low voltage battery back lighting in case of power outages in the snow. The 50watt 12VAC/DC bulbs use the same power as a 120v 50watt version, just the volts are different. The amps would be higher for the 12V bulb so you would not be able to power it bright as you wanted or expected,with a 1Amp 12V power supply, you would need 3A to 5A 12VDC/AC power supply for a stinkin bulb lol! LED is best ;-)

[@ethanpoole3443]

pianokeyjoe You can find cheaper 8W 12V LED bulbs (equivalent to a 50-60W incandescent) with the common Edison 26/27mm base (same as featured in this video) for a good deal less. I use them to convert traditional desk light fixtures to 12VDC as everything associated with my amateur radio station is designed around 12VDC power including my dual 27” monitors (using a 19V DC-DC boost converter) and low power PC because my station is powered from a bank of golf cart batteries so that I can remain on the air for extended periods during power outages or emergencies without needing to run the generator continuously. However, I do chop off the wall plug and replace it with an Anderson PowerPole plug instead so that there is no chance of accidentally plugging the light fixture into 120VAC.

[@pianokeyjoe]

@@ethanpoole3443 WOW! You are the man I need to speak to in more detail! pianokeyjoe to the Gee to the Male Punto Com! I collect outlets from around the world and for my 12VDC plug in system I am using the AUSTRALIAN power socket system. It is originally the old non-nema US crowfoot socket pattern but much more moderninzed to have switches and flat brass and stainless steel faceplates. The Aussies have done it right with that socket! 10A/15A 250V/125V AC rating lets me use 12VDC at a max of 10A on these so it works out and I can use MR16 and GU10 fixtures for the lighting. WALMART recently sells MR16 12VDC/AC 50watt equiv led halogen type bulbs so I am going to try those FIRST. Where can I buy the edison versions you speak of?? $22 each bulb is too high for me indeed!

[@ethanpoole3443]

pianokeyjoe On the US Amazon site searches such as “12V LED Bulb” or “12V Edison LED Bulb”, etc., and similar (like “E26/E27” in place of “Edison”) ,are terms that turn up a number of options. “ChiChinLighting” seems to be a big name in my searches and I have used some of their bulbs and they faired adequately (though wattage does tend to be below published at 13.8VDC). I do suggest buying a few first and test them to make sure they produce the light output you expect as, like most Chinese goods, real wattage ratings can differ anywhere from slightly to greatly from what was claimed. I have 5W bulbs that do 2W, but then I also have 10W bulbs that come in much closer at 8W. But once you find a make and model that meets your nerd then stock up. I know eBay vendors also carry these bulbs but Amazon is just more convenient for me and the prices are inline once shipping is figured in. Remember to look out for the color temperature if you prefer warm white or cold white, I tend to prefer warm white as they better approximate incandescent lamps. You will still see prices in the $20 range, but it will typically be for between 2-6 bulbs rather than a single bulb. Good luck!

[@srfurley]

Low Voltage bulbs with standard screw or bayonet caps were widely used at one time for lighting on machine tools. Here in the UK the transformer was typically 415 V primary connected across two phases and 12 or 24 V secondary.

[@ondra30]

The DMM is a source for additional line resistance, not just the battery. But in this case, the battery was indeed the major factor in the voltage drop. BTW, getting 2nd DMM has its benefits ;)

[@traxonwax]

I wonder how far you could go with a dimmer knob with slow increases in voltage. Where would the breaking point he. Great video.

[@haweater1555]

If you had 10 of these bulbs just hook them in series together. The old streetcars (trams) used standard interior bulbs but wired series in groups of five connected directly to the 600VDC power supply. Of course the bulbs had to be the same wattage for this to work. If one of the bulbs had a lower wattage (higher resistance), it would go overvolt and burn out, and thus darken the other bulbs.

[@randacnam7321]

Those weren't standard lamps. They were either vacuum or nitrogen internal atmosphere to prevent catastrophic arcing upon failure. They were also made in oddball power ratings of 23W, 36W, 56W, 94W (for headlights), 101W, 151W, 201W and 301W to distinguish them from GLS lamps.

[@haweater1555]

​​@@randacnam7321I see. Same wattage standard bulbs in series would work "in theory" , but in practice if one filament opened up the full 600 volts appears at the socket making quite a bang and likely shattering the glass, all over the tram passenger's heads. Also instant karma to anyone wanting to unscrew and steal the bulb for home use.

[@gabotron94]

I have two of those from my grandpa! He had a hanging shop light that he would clip onto the car battery. Now I sometimes use them as loads

[@sethhorst6158]

That burnout can perfectly portray how I feel when I try to think of ideas for a artwork or video, but I instantly reject the idea.

[@chachavessel]

Your battery should not have dropped to ~9vdc under load, it may have been "bad" It should be able to handle the ~4amps and still remain at ~12vdc, and the bulb a bit brighter.

[@JohnAudioTech]

I have seen E26 base 12v LED and spiral CFL bulbs. Since argon filled bulbs arc over upon burnout, they have a fuse link as one of the leads in the base. These often open when the bulb burns out due to the high arc current. The 12v bulbs usually don't have these because of the low voltage. Makes me wonder if those 12v bulbs were the vacuum type since there wasn't a more dramatic burn out.

[@xaenon]

Yeah, they're built just like a regular bulb, just with a filament for 12V.

[@alynicholls3230]

if you had ten of these in a chain wired a particular way they would work fine, since a bulb does not care if its ac or dc.

[@billyline3558]

If they were wired in series. Wiring in parallel would still just burn the bulb.

[@Enigma758]

My son brought home some surplus bulbs and when I tried one, it died in a bright flash. I hadn't noticed the 12v marking on the packaging, so this hits home. And yes, they do make 12v LED bulbs with the A-19 socket (I checked 🙂 ).

[@TimothyONeill_84.]

Never thought a video about lightbulbs would be so fascinating, this is not hyperbole, it’s true. I watched two of your videos on lightbulbs and really enjoyed them, either that, I’ve completely lost my mind and now they can take me to a nice quiet padded room for a long, long time.

[@davarosmith1334]

I remember while doing an electronics course , popping torch bulbs connected to a multi voltage output box. The guy incharge let us do it ! All I can remember is the bulb went brighter with each turn of the voltage knob until it burnt out!

[@marzsit9833]

you are correct in that these bulbs were intended for use in old boats and rv's, they were very common on old wooden classic yachts but there is an even stranger version that operates on 32 volts because 32vdc was a very common voltage used on old boats for things like anchor winches and 8-volt lead-acid batteries were common back then.

[@kevinpreid]

I've managed to get a 120V bulb glowing a little bit with a 30V power supply. 24V might do. (Of course, it'll vary depending on the wattage and whether it's one of the newer energy-efficient halogen-capsule-in-regular-glass-bulb type, and if it's clear you can see the dim filament better.)

[@brianleeper5737]

Pretty sure the 100W 120V bulbs will glow a dull red on 12V

[@mortheogronhert6006]

I think there was nothing wrong with bulb: just battery was not able to give strong enough current because of its internal resistance. If you wish to see any glowing in higher voltage bulb use ones with higher power (100W or more).

[@deelan_]

This happened to me once with a 36 volt LED lamp with a standart Edison 14 socket. I didn't notice it being rated for 36 volts, and we have 230 volts here in germany. End of story: The lamps inverter circuit completely blew up

[@alec4672]

They do make 12v led bulbs with an e19 base specifically to retrofit fixtures that use these bulbs. You have to get pretty specific in your search on Amazon to find them.

[@robertheinkel6225]

Those are used for emergency exit lights. Our emergency lights in our building are the 12 volt bulbs. They are powered by a car battery during power outages. They look like regular bulbs and fit in the same style sockets. They are only 50 watts because they are only used to produce enough light to get out in an emergency. You dont need super bright emergency lights.

[@igfoobar]

My family owned a boat that used these, back in the 1970's. Regular lamps wired into the 12 volt system. That style didn't last long, and soon boats were built with fixtures that took automotive bulbs.

[@haweater1555]

Just be glad that the 12V bulb screw base was likely manufactured to the same insulation standard as a 120V (because they are so uncommon it's not worth it to make a different one) with equivalent insulation as to not make this test dangerous.

[@MattIsTheCat]

I once bought a win cleaner in a Bed Bath and Beyond. I lost the packaging and so the license key needed, but I am glad to know that I am not missing out, I still have the usb win cleaner stick though.

[@stonent]

I think I remember as a kid seeing a drop light made for working on cars that was a standard looking light, but it had clamps to connect to the car battery terminals. So it would have used a 12v bulb but in the standard socket.

[@haweater1555]

I have one of those in the garage. Obviously substituting an LED would be better to minimize drain on the battery. As VW suggests it might be possible to buy a 12V LED with standard screw base but they would be so specialized as to be expensive, and risk blowing out if accidentally screwed into AC socket. Cheaper just to get a Chinese 12V clip-on light made just for that purpose.

[@pauljs75]

It's odd that they used the same Edison socket threads as a regular light instead of some odd-size or something more different like a bayonet socket more commonly found in vehicle applications. (I'm sure it's convenient in allowing use of more common parts, but could easily cause problems for anyone not paying attention to the label.)

[@Ni5ei]

If only they'd decided way back then to use 12V DC for in-home lighting. Would've been safer and imagine the enormous amount of savings to manufacture LED lighting. Now every single lamp has to have circuitry inside and dimming is way too complicated.

[@vwestlife]

During the energy crisis in the '70s I believe there was a push to use 12 volts DC for home lighting because that way you could also power them from a windmill generator and battery backup system.

[@justingalasso1850]

I have a few of those. I used to use them in a trouble light that hooks to a car battery.

[@ralphaelalfaro6023]

These bulbs are for use with 12v trouble lights for working on vehicles where 120v hookups aren't available, not for building use. I still have 2 12v trouble lamps(1 which I carry in my trunk), and wish these bulbs were still available. I also have led flashlights in my car but batteries tend to die at the most inopertune times😢.

[@xaenon]

They're mostly so you can use a standard auto-garage shop light on 12V power, like if you're working on your car away from mains voltage. I used to work for a auto-parts store that sold them; nobody ever paid attention to the very prominent markings and yes, even bright yellow stickers on the boxes. So many people mad at us because we wouldn't refund their money. I mean, seriously. It's not a defect if you can't read the damned box and plug it into the wrong power. RVs can use them, too, but you don't want too many of these running at once. 50W at 12V means >4A each.

[@themaritimegirl]

I have a 12V 25W unit - its box advertises it for an automotive trouble light that was sold by the same company.

[@matthewschmitz8817]

Currently watching this in 2024 and yes I’ve already watched this once before. If you need a sign to keep making the lightbulb videos this is it!!!!!

[@lordwolffurry582]

when there's something strange, and it blows up your bulb who ya gonna call? Vwestlife!

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

I hadn't heard of greening discs, but I actually did have a use for a marker with CDs. When using EAC, you need to configure it for your optical drive, and part of that includes testing features like error-correction. One way to do that is to use a scratched disc, but an easier and less destructive way is to simply make a small circular mark on the disc, then you can wipe it off after the test.

[@jaybrooks1098]

Led variants are available... main usage.. RV,marine and solar powered lighting. These are put in portajohns sometimes in camp grounds.

[@timramich]

Yeah, 250v is still a "class" of voltages in the US, even though the line voltage is 120v or 240v. If you look at things like NEMA plugs and receptacles, and switches and lamp sockets, they all say either 125v or 250v. I know the NEMA twist connectors at work, no matter that brand we get, all say either 125v or 250v (or 480v if dealing with 277v per line).

[@drasco61084]

Haha my dad replaced the light bulb in a ceiling fan once and he INSISTED on trying these bulbs we had put away even though they said "low voltage" on the package. The fan uses a candelabra bulb instead of a standard lightbulb and we didn't have any of those. It burned so fast and hot that it shot a hole out the tip of the bulb. Good thing neither of us were on the ladder! Always a good idea to do ceiling fixture maintenance with a buddy. I went out and bought a pack of the LED ones.

[@LightTheUnicorn]

I'm glad you tried it, that looked fun! (For science, of course!) Pretty neat they do such bulbs down to 12v.

[@SquishyZoran]

One random thing I notice is that a lot of ace stuff seems to have really old trademark years despite it not being old. I honestly find it hard to believe that socket is 20 years old!

[@HarleyBadger]

Interesting. I have seen those bulbs (indeed in an RV supply store,) but never in use.

[@lincoln3x7]

I like the bit of filament that drops off and burns out on the bottom of the bulb. Only cost 50 cents to see.

[@cringemaki]

For some reason, I was expecting to get the bulb tested with a bench power supply, but oh well, a man can only dream

[@elvinhaak]

a: get thicker wires b: get a better battery for this (relative) high load And you will get a much brighter light out of it If you'd measure the voltage at the lightbulb , with this thin wires and poorly overrun Pb-battery you'll get a much lower voltage then it is aimed for. (for example 10,5 volt)... By the way, yes there are LED-lights for this lighting for example in campers or ships and even PL-lights. (I have these)

[@kentkirkpatrick7953]

My camper uses those in all the light's. They have to be swapped with 120v when plugged into shore power. The truck has a standard house plug that is 12v to plug the "120" camper cord into lol

[@curtchase3730]

Good video. Ya, I played w/those 12v bulbs years ago myself. Super old skool now and very wasteful. My suggestion these days is to buy a cheap 12vdc-120vac inverter 200+ watt out. Then can use a bunch of standard big box store LED bulbs. I've done it. they work fine.

[@killerdeamonking]

No need they have 12v led bulbs now.

[@curtchase3730]

@@killerdeamonking LOL. Yes, I found them on Amazon about a year ago! Funny, but I guess there is a market for them still. I bet a lot of them die a horrible death when someone confuses them with the 120v models and screws a 12v model into a 120v socket!

[@killerdeamonking]

@@curtchase3730 haha indeed i would hate to see what the LED ones to when they get blown lol . Fire cracker anyone????

[@killerdeamonking]

@@curtchase3730 Some countries actually use low voltage bulbs instead of ac. Also yes alot of RVs and campers use them as well even to this day. I found that alot of offgrid homes use them too of installed. I will be building a DC system myself using these as emergency systems as power is not relyable where im at.

[@The_Future_isnt_so_Bright]

You can run 12v AC current. I ran car lights in house. In fact, you ought to test this. Turn signal bulbs with dc current then Ac current. There is a difference in brightness and heat.

[@joshb.guptill5127]

The bulb transformed into a very low current fuse. Very nice!!

[@Poop-nu1so]

Use them all the time in automotive repair. There are trouble lights that connect directly to the car battery via long cables and alligator clips.

[@williama29]

Vwestlife I am stunned to see you not get injured and the low voltage bulbs are rare I have standard LED bulbs and I know how to be safe in electrical safety how is it designed to accept 12 volts than 120 volts

[@haweater1555]

When powering a 120V bulb on 12V, you might have better luck at using a higher wattage (not lower) for the lower resistance thus more current.

[@Joe-KN4IFI]

Yes they were popular in RV's. My Winnie Minnie RV uses them in the range hood and in the Bathroom.

[@isettech]

Not included in the calculations is the resistance and voltage drop of your meter and test leads when measuring current. Insert resistance, reduce current. Try again with a current shunt and charged battery. I have some of those bulbs and they work fine at 12 volts. For more light and less heat and power draw, replace them with LEDs.

[@albear972]

Ha! you made a single use old timey flash bulb 😉

[@joseislanio8910]

1:19 they do, I have a few. Great for camping, you can hook it up to your car battery and have a good source of light

[@travis4798]

This is actually for a specific application. Trailer houses. Especially older ones that all the lighting runs off an convertor/ battery feed. Sounds odd since they have normal bulb holders but that's the way they are. Really shouldn't be a thing in the first place because you could easily burn up the convertor running 120v bulbs in it if someone didn't know better. Nowadays they have ether dedicated 12 volt lighting with automotive bulbs or 120v standard sockets.

[@noobulon4334]

Why would putting 120v bulbs on 12v burn up the converter? A 50w 120v bulb is going to have a 10 times higher impedance than a 50w 12v bulb

[@travis4798]

​@@noobulon4334 With a 12 volt bulb impedance will raise as the filament heats up. 120v bulb won't lite from not having enough voltage, even though it's a higher impedance when off the 12 volt one will surpass the impedance of the 120 volt bulb because the 120v bulb won't lite. The light won't come on or have the faintest glow but will draw more power. Otherwise if the inverter is more powerful it shouldn't strain, just draw a lot of current.

[@thephilpott2194]

Thankyou, you brightened my day by rounding up with 'That was a pretty pointless experiment'. (PS You might want to upgrade your multimeters!!)

[@umageddon]

voltage drop in those thin wires probably the reason for smaller pull on battery

[@ethanpoole3443]

umageddon Not really, gel cell batteries don’t especially like heavy loads and that battery is operating at close to 1C (it looks to be a 4.5 to 6 amp-hour battery), which is a heavy load for that battery. It is also not anywhere near fully charged as fully charged it will put out around 12.8-13VDC rather than 12.3V, so that isn’t helping either (it may also be partially sulfated if it has spent too much time at less than about 75% state of charge). A 4A load is not too great for the jumper leads as they are typically around 20 gauge copper wire and usually around 16-20 inches in length, so the power drop to the bulb would have been well within reason had the battery been able to hold up its end. That said, these bulbs, despite being labeled as 12V, are typically designed for 12V automotive power systems so they only deliver their full rated power output at around 13.8VDC as that is the typical float voltage for a lead acid battery.

[@roachtoasties]

Unfortunately, people who find stuff like this in thrift stores may not read the packaging. They'll stick the bulbs in a 120v socket, and think they bought defective bulbs when they blow in a fraction of a second.

[@Stco23]

6:31 Bulbrite turns into Bulburst!

[@varikvalefor]

Ha. That's actually kind of clever.

[@QuadMochaMatti]

Or bulb powder, but not of the sort you would use in a garden.

[@wilkes85]

I've never seen a 12V light bulb that fit in a normal socket before. At that voltage, imagine how many decades that bulb would last! It probably is for boats and trailers; older trailers had a gas light as a backup so you could still have light even if you can't plug the trailer in. I guess newer ones just leech power off the vehicle that's towing it instead of having gas lighting.

[@Sys-Edit0r-1995]

I'm pretty sure that steam locomotive bulbs are 32v (there's a steam dynamo produces power for cab, marker and headlamps) and diesels, at least the modern ones use 72v.

[@shanester366]

I used to have one of those corded work lights but instead of having a regular plug in the end, it had a cigarette lighter plug on it and it used these type of bulbs

[@Awesomefied]

Nice og MacBook in the background👍

[@JISJ1964]

In some public transport vehicles they use 12 volts "standard" bulbs.

[@markenetube]

One use for these were for inspection lamps for car. They were in a protected holder & connected with croc clips to the battery

[@DjPhaseFour]

Ahhh the green marker and CD trick, I had people try to tell me that it made their CDs sound better way back when.

[@I430VX]

I remember a long time ago taking what must have been a Christmas light bulb and screwing it into a night light fixture... the bulb physically blew up in my hand, but somehow the glass didn't get in my hand.

[@rompn4x]

Back out of high school I worked at Orchard Supply Hardware. I would take one of the 12v light bulbs and hide a 9v battery in my palm. It would trip parents' kids out when I would pretend to screw the bulb into my hand then touch the base to the 9v bulb.

[@stoopidhaters]

Everybody gangsta until the Bulb explode.

[@rvstuff5]

Wow nearly 3 amps! I wouldn't put those in my RV. Most people replace the little incandescent with LEDs nowadays. Most of the RV fuses are only rated for about 20 amps each in the power center.

[@thelovertunisia]

This is ideal for car outside power. And yes there are 12v E27 bulbs but sometimes like in an oven you need incandescent.