Red Edison screw bulbs

[Lee]

Does anyone know if these are available *anywhere*?
I've tried one specialty lighting place and zip... Can easily get Bayonet fitting, but Edison screw - no.
Before I change the lamp holder in the fitting - does anyone know of the existence of them??

Another sign of the "all made in China" times......

[Terry B]

Try looking for a dark room safe light. The one I have is a Edison type but a dull green not red. Red certainly exists though.

[Lee]

Excellent idea! Will check it out....

[okiscopey]

Here they are:

http://www.fotoriesel.com.au/front.asp?pid=10&ProductID=3625

My contact in pro-photo supply tells me he's never seen a BC red safelight globe, only ES!

The ES ones stocked by Foto Riesel will I think be the proper ones with the black band between the globe and the base to stop white light leakage, not the cheap type used at parties!

They're quite expensive though ... probably over $20 each.

[Lee]

Funny that - Foto Riesel just told me theirs was bayonet..... I may as well just switch the fitting inside the light.... :shrug:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

How about buying standard white ES bulbs yourself and painting them?

I've recently done a LOT of experimenting with various paints and bulbs in preparation for a certain astro camp - best result I've got was a small bottle of glass paint I purchased at Spotlight for $7.50. I've now given 14 bulbs 2-3 coats each from one bottle and still have about a third of it left.

I don't have it with me at present to give you the brand name, but if you ask the staff they'll point you right to it I'm sure. It's a French brand I seem to recall. It's designed to be used on glass or ceramics and is designed to take the heat, in fact it's supposed to be baked on in an oven. I've found the heat of an incandescant bulb works just as well. Best thing is until it's set the brushes (and your hands) wash clean with just water.

One tip though : Don't get the colour called "Crimson", because it isn't! That one looks much more "mulberry" and is unsuitable for what we want.
I think I used "cherry" - look for the red colour through the bottle anyway, that's your best guide.

[Stevo69]

I had over a dozen of them 12 months ago, but threw them out. I know you didn't want to hear that, however! They were 'Osram' brand and were used for party lights. The important thing was they were "painted" or "colored" on the inside of the glass. Try a party supplies company or an electrical supplier, such as "Middendorps".

The problem you may face with incandescent light bulbs is heat and power use. Heat can be an issue if you try to paint them yourself, as well as a safety issue. The painted layer can retain the heat of the bulb. Remember an incandescent light bulb is effectively, a heat generator. And over time the paint can peel and blister off the glass.

Why not try this. It's worked for me in the past:

Purchase come compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's). They are readily available in Edison Screw, give off substantially less heat, and provide a "whiter" light. But some red paint and open the can, and dip the CFL in, covering all the glass. Then hang the bulb upside down over the paint tin, allowing the residule paint to drip off into the can. You will be left with a thin layer of paint on the glass you will need to do this 2-3 times, allowing the paint to dry between coats. The number of coats will depend of the brightness you are trying to achieve. Test the CFL between each coat. Enamel paint is best to use.

The drawbacks of CFL's are they are more expensive and the whole arguement of them being more "energy efficient" is a marketing con IMHO. They contain 4 times as much mercury as normal fluorescent tubes. They contain more embodied energy than standard incandescent bulb, i.e. they use more resources and energy to manufacture one compared to an incandescent bulb. But this is another argument for another time.

[Lee]

The heat from an incandescent bulb initially steered me away from painting them - but if there is "bake-on" paint, it should be fine.
Problem with CFL's is I want to be able to dim the bulb, which is why I went for incandescent in the first place....
If I can't easily pick up a bayonet fitting to swap into the light, I'll paint them and see how she goes!
Thanks for the input guys!

[Stevo69]

Ah, I didn't know that.. You can now get "dimmable" CFL's but I think they are pricey.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

The brand of paint I used is "pebeo".
The bake on glass paint you want is their "vitrea 160" range, it's designed to be baked at 160°C or 325°F, and the colour I ended up using was #32 Grenadine.

http://www.pebeo.com/asp/prod/fiche.asp?lang=us&id=17

I do seem to recall tossing up between that colour, Cherry, and something else. As I mentioned previously I tried "Crimson" because of it's name but it was far from red. You can safely choose which colour you get by it's appearance through the bottle.

I found the first coat goes on "thin" but it sticks to the glass ok, but successive coats then have something to stick to better. I've found for what I want 3 coats was about right.

Hope that helps!