Westinghouse 2000w bulb

Hi.

I have just got my hands on a fairly massive lightbulb and wondered if anyone could suggest what use it was likely designed for.



G48 globe (6 inch diameter)
G38 bi-pin mogul base

Markings:

3200 ° K
Westinghouse
2000w
125v


Ideally I' like to hook it up at some vastly reduced power for a bit of mood lighting. Is it sensible doing this using a resistive dimmer? what about a triac dimmer? Local supply here is 230v.

According to my fairly nasty multimeter the beast has a resistance of about 0.7 ohms.


In any case, it certainly looks very cool!

several possible uses are; Light House bulb, Antenna Beacon bulb, Airport Beacon bulb, Projector bulb, or maybe a Large Flood Light for a building maybe?
as far as running it thru a Triac dimmer.... good luck, most dimmers of that type won't handle that kinda draw (2kW).... a resistive dimmer may work, but would need to be massive.... as far as running it on 230v... well, i'd make sure the dimmer never goes to high!
keep in mind, even at low power, that thing will kick off massive heat.... not to mention running your bill into the stratosphere!!!

make sure you keep us updated as to what you do with it!!!!!!! :naughty:

The 3200k marking suggests that it is intended for stage, film or TV lighting. I've run across lamps similar to this in 2k stage fixtures over the years. It does look very cool. And it gets incredibly hot when running at full tilt.

**Update** Found some related information at DonsBulbs.

Gotta get FM to make a bipin adapter for this!

Thanks for the suggestions and I will definitely keep you updated

I found it at a flea market here in Paris. The fact it was marked for 125v when mains here is 230v made me wonder.

I suppose the fact it has colour temp marked does suggest some kind of screen/stage use.

I saw a dimmer that might do the trick:

DV-NS2003 - Phase-control 230VAC Dimmer for Resistive Loads (Heaters, Lights, etc.)
http://www.bbplight.nl/contents/en-us/d70_fg_elektronik_dimmers.html



Is this a sensible route to go down? Are there issues running a 125v bulb on this? (aside from cranking the knob too far round )

I don't really feel like forking out 100EUR so I had thought about running it off a transformer with significantly lower output voltage.. since ultimately I want it dimly growling at me from the corner of the apartment

Anyway, right now I'm just having fun staring at it!

well, i'd check the wattage or amperage handling of it, if it can handle +2000 watts then i'd say it should work, just never go over about 1/2 way with it, after that, you'll be overdriving the bulb.... and possibly blinding yourself, finding yourself needing new paint in the room, ect... lol

My concern is that (from what little I understand of a triac dimmer):

When you start dimming "up", the peak voltage of the chopped waveform will quickly rise above the 125v RMS rating of the bulb. i.e. at 50% dimmed, you will have a peak corresponding to the 230v RMS of the mains supply.

I'm sure I'm not explaining this well, but does this seem like it could be an issue?

I suppose otherwise I could get my hands on a stepping transformer 240 -> 115 and then worry about dimming, or get a variac but I suspect these will both end up being expensive options.

(But I *would* love a variac to play with )

It is certainly possible to run a 120/125 volt lamp from a higher voltage supply by means of a dimmer, but there are two potential problems.
Firstly you will need a very large dimmer ! This needs to be designed for a greater wattage than that of the lamp.
For example the 125 volt 2,000 watt lamp will use about 16 amps, you will need a dimmer suitable for 16 amps, and preferably more to allow a safety margin.
A 230/240 volt dimmer designed for about 16 amps, or 4,000 watts would serve.

I do not believe that a 240 volt , 2,000 watt dimmer would be suitable as it is only intended for about 8 amps, not for 16 amps.

16 amp dimmers certainly exist, but are not common.

Secondly, great care must be taken never to turn up the dimmer too high as this will instantly destroy the lamp.
Some large dimmers have an internal preset that could be set, and cant be altered by mistake.

If you only want to try the lamp briefly, then connect it in series with a 230 volt electric heater of about 2.5KW or 3.0KW, that should light the large lamp very dimly.
If it is too dim, then connect one or more lamps in paralel with the heater.

Whilst in principle a variac could be used, one for 16 amps will be very expensive and very heavy.

Have just seen a 4000w dimmer at a sensible price which could probably do the job but I don't ultimately like the idea of risking destroying the lamp through carelessness. I suspect it would be all too easy to do.

Here's the dimmer:



and datasheet: http://fadisel.com/docs/I-017_Ang.pdf


I wonder if this could be modded to limit the range?

Seek said:

Hi.
Ideally I' like to hook it up at some vastly reduced power for a bit of mood lighting. Is it sensible doing this using a resistive dimmer? what about a triac dimmer? Local supply here is 230v.

Click to expand...

If I just wanted to make it glow, I'd look for a 230-to-24V step down transformer. Whereas your lamp would draw 17A at its rated 120V, at 24V, it'd draw about 8 amps.

Curves here to help you figure the current it'd draw at other voltages:

http://alumni.imsa.edu/~ejohnson/light/

brickbat said:

If I just wanted to make it glow, I'd look for a 230-to-24V step down transformer

Click to expand...

Thanks brickbat, I'll probably try something like that.

ElectronGuru said:

Gotta get FM to make a bipin adapter for this!

Click to expand...

Actually, I need a mount / socket for this. Who's FM?

These mounts seem to be damned rare.