6/28/09 Note: Ictorana's Graphs are now being presented in this other pinned thread.
8/14/09: Shoutout to Drewfus2101 for doing destructive testing of most of the potted Maglite bulbs in charts linked here.
I started testing bulbs after thinking about various ways to get some REAL bulb data, rather than everyone relying on AWR's Hotrater spreadsheet to predict overdriving Incandescent bulbs. I tried to control for as many variables as I can think of, and am showing photos of my setup. I have used two or more new bulbs for all tests listed below done on different nights to verify and correlate results. Complete testing method is listed below thumbnail images.

Setup for potted bulbs:
To eliminate resistance, I'll check it using a Magswitch bulb holder I just setup. Soldered 14AWG to parts as shown in these thumbnails:

Martek 4509Q (Par36) Bulb Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
WA Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
MagCharger Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaidomain Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carley Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
Philips Bulbs Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Westinghouse Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GE Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AW (Generic Chinese) Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROP Pelican Big-D 3853 & 3854 Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
Hikari Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
Osram Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Step One - I measure bulbs at increasing voltage steps, up to the point where they flash. Each voltage setting only stays long enough to get stable readings.
Step Two - I will compare these measurements to the AWR Hotrater Spreadsheet (based upon WA website's default & predicted overdrive values) for correlation with my results among all the tested bulbs. This may lead to some adjustments being made on a revised Hotrater Spreadsheet.
Step Three - I will pick what appears to be the two best predicted voltages that optimze lumens with bulb life in an 8-12 hr predicted range, and run the bulbs until they die. The brighter, lower life choice will be done first.
Test Platform: I mounted a bare KIU to a block of wood, with 4" wires soldered to 20" 14 AWG test leads, plugged into a Mastech HY3020-D Linear current/voltage adjustable power supply. New bulbs are inserted in KIU & cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol.
At the same height as the bulb, a black plastic (1" I.D. x 12" long) tube is placed in a horizontal vise position, aimed by looking from far end so bulb appears centered in tube. Inside of tube was abraded to avoid any spot reflections. At exactly 1 meter from bulb, Meterman LM631 light sensor is inserted in far end of tube that has a thin layer of black foam to seal around sensor and hold it in place.
For Step One, a Fluke 179 using a thermistor probe positioned 4mm from bottom of bulb envelope to get relative bulb temps. A black blanket is positioned behind the bulb, and along one side to eliminate reflected light. The idea behind this test platform is to consider an incan bulb as a "point light source," and take Lux measurements with the tube to get a narrow cone of lumen output from the side of the filament.
There is no way to use an Integrating Sphere on a practical basis for this many bulbs, and I am not using a reflector or measuring out the front of a bulb which may introduce hotspot variations. I am using the Amps displayed on the Mastech during this step which only displays 1 decimal.
This platform will not correlate with "bulb lumens" from a manufacturer, in part because I am only measuring a narrow cone of light, and from a distance of 1 meter. However this step will be useful in providing more realistic comparisons between bulbs as long as the same test platform is used. The 1 meter distance helps eliminate bulb artifacts.
Step Two will hopefully allow being able to revise a spreadsheet so it becomes an accurate tool. Right now, we know there are major errors that magnify as you get farther from the manufacturer default results. We may also be able to compare manufacturer claims against other bulbs to see if their default values give accurate Lux measurements when compared.
Step Three will not require the Lux measuring setup, but I will verify the same Lux reading as I got in Step One when starting. This is basically a run time verification of the projected life. I will only be doing this in steps of 1-3 hours at a time, so I verify the bulb failure time at what looks like the best two voltages. I will also use my Fluke to measure the actual Vbulb and current during this step.
I may also consider a Step Four of mounting Lux sensor on wall, and set it to record "Maximum" reading and shine bulb from a distance using a Maglight with adequate battery source and reflector to get a somewhat objective controlled "Torch" hot spot output between various lights. This would be ideal if I could supply regulated (and verified) Vbulb from best result of Step Three. It would very hard to control all the variations from light to light, but would still be some interesting data.
8/14/09: Shoutout to Drewfus2101 for doing destructive testing of most of the potted Maglite bulbs in charts linked here.
I started testing bulbs after thinking about various ways to get some REAL bulb data, rather than everyone relying on AWR's Hotrater spreadsheet to predict overdriving Incandescent bulbs. I tried to control for as many variables as I can think of, and am showing photos of my setup. I have used two or more new bulbs for all tests listed below done on different nights to verify and correlate results. Complete testing method is listed below thumbnail images.





Setup for potted bulbs:
To eliminate resistance, I'll check it using a Magswitch bulb holder I just setup. Soldered 14AWG to parts as shown in these thumbnails:



Martek 4509Q (Par36) Bulb Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
WA Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------MagCharger Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaidomain Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carley Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------- FM-1909 (11.4V 63W) Custom made for FiveMega
Philips Bulbs Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Westinghouse Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GE Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AW (Generic Chinese) Bulb Tested
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROP Pelican Big-D 3853 & 3854 Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------Hikari Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
- JC-5043 (12V 50W)
---------------------------------------------------------
- JC-5051 (12V 75W)
---------------------------------------------------------
- JC-5607 (6V 20W)
Osram Bulbs Tested
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
- 64656 (24V 275W)
Step One - I measure bulbs at increasing voltage steps, up to the point where they flash. Each voltage setting only stays long enough to get stable readings.
Step Two - I will compare these measurements to the AWR Hotrater Spreadsheet (based upon WA website's default & predicted overdrive values) for correlation with my results among all the tested bulbs. This may lead to some adjustments being made on a revised Hotrater Spreadsheet.
Step Three - I will pick what appears to be the two best predicted voltages that optimze lumens with bulb life in an 8-12 hr predicted range, and run the bulbs until they die. The brighter, lower life choice will be done first.
Test Platform: I mounted a bare KIU to a block of wood, with 4" wires soldered to 20" 14 AWG test leads, plugged into a Mastech HY3020-D Linear current/voltage adjustable power supply. New bulbs are inserted in KIU & cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol.
At the same height as the bulb, a black plastic (1" I.D. x 12" long) tube is placed in a horizontal vise position, aimed by looking from far end so bulb appears centered in tube. Inside of tube was abraded to avoid any spot reflections. At exactly 1 meter from bulb, Meterman LM631 light sensor is inserted in far end of tube that has a thin layer of black foam to seal around sensor and hold it in place.
For Step One, a Fluke 179 using a thermistor probe positioned 4mm from bottom of bulb envelope to get relative bulb temps. A black blanket is positioned behind the bulb, and along one side to eliminate reflected light. The idea behind this test platform is to consider an incan bulb as a "point light source," and take Lux measurements with the tube to get a narrow cone of lumen output from the side of the filament.
There is no way to use an Integrating Sphere on a practical basis for this many bulbs, and I am not using a reflector or measuring out the front of a bulb which may introduce hotspot variations. I am using the Amps displayed on the Mastech during this step which only displays 1 decimal.
This platform will not correlate with "bulb lumens" from a manufacturer, in part because I am only measuring a narrow cone of light, and from a distance of 1 meter. However this step will be useful in providing more realistic comparisons between bulbs as long as the same test platform is used. The 1 meter distance helps eliminate bulb artifacts.
Step Two will hopefully allow being able to revise a spreadsheet so it becomes an accurate tool. Right now, we know there are major errors that magnify as you get farther from the manufacturer default results. We may also be able to compare manufacturer claims against other bulbs to see if their default values give accurate Lux measurements when compared.
Step Three will not require the Lux measuring setup, but I will verify the same Lux reading as I got in Step One when starting. This is basically a run time verification of the projected life. I will only be doing this in steps of 1-3 hours at a time, so I verify the bulb failure time at what looks like the best two voltages. I will also use my Fluke to measure the actual Vbulb and current during this step.
I may also consider a Step Four of mounting Lux sensor on wall, and set it to record "Maximum" reading and shine bulb from a distance using a Maglight with adequate battery source and reflector to get a somewhat objective controlled "Torch" hot spot output between various lights. This would be ideal if I could supply regulated (and verified) Vbulb from best result of Step Three. It would very hard to control all the variations from light to light, but would still be some interesting data.
Last edited: