A fire station in Livermore contends that a bulb, granted it's only 4 watts, has been burning for way over a century. Even in a vacuum stuff gets hot, and should disintegrate over time. Besides, what if it's only painted so it appears to be on, with some type of reflecting paint. So, where are all the other bulbs? What, only ONE was made? Follow the bouncing ball here folks, why on earth, 3rd planet from the sun, wouldn't someone start making century bulbs again, I'll take a dozen.
2006-12-17 01:42:32 · 12 answers · asked by timbo44b 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Several of Thomas Edison's original bulbs are still working.
GE and Tungstram make light bulbs that *never* wear out... they are just sold in specialty catalogs.
You just make the filament extra strong.
2006-12-17 01:44:47 · answer #1 · answered by Sir J 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all, it does not make any commercial sense to build a light bulb that never needs to be replaced. This would reduce the business and revenues of many companies world-wide. It is however possible for a light-bulb to last for many years. This can be achieved by running a standard quality bulb at a lower power load (for example, if the bulb is rated at 220 V you can hook it up to a 127 V circuit, this yields less light but would increase its lifetime tenfold). You may also make sure that the bulb is receiving a good frequency and more importantly no voltage or current surges. This is is made possible by hooking it up to a UPS supply or a voltage regulator. Most bulbs burn out when you switch them on and off rapidly, this is due to the initial voltage surge that occurs from electrons too eager to make the jump when you throw the switch (hence you sometime see a spark when you push the switch). So in brief, hook up to a lower voltage rating that is controlled by a good quality voltage regulator.
2006-12-19 16:24:09 · answer #2 · answered by steve951 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The life of a bulb is dependent on two things, the number of times it's turned on and off, and the amount of power that is being run through it relative to the filament thickness.
If a bubl is NEVER turned off, as is the case with several of Edison's bulbs, then the bulbs will last a very long time.
Additionally, many of the older bulbs were run at lower temperatures, i.e., lower power, so the amount of filament that was evaporated was low, thereby extending the life. Modern bulb filaments can also be designed thicker, so that the vapor pressure of the tungsten is equilibrated while there's still plenty of filament remaining solid.
2006-12-17 11:32:40 · answer #3 · answered by arbiter007 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you want your bulbs to last longer, "soft-start" them (this involves rigging a capacitor and a resistor to dampen the starting current). Or, leave them on all the time.
Bulbs are optimized for purchase price, not life-cycle costs. People at Wal-mart won't pay $100 for a single light bulb that will last forever. They would rather pay $300 over the same time period for a bunch of lower quality bulbs. So - that's what drives what you see in Wal-mart.
This seems to be human nature.
If you are American, you could buy some bulbs in the UK made to run on 240V and bring them home and run them on 110V. These would last a long time, I am guessing.
2006-12-17 09:54:37 · answer #4 · answered by www.HaysEngineering.com 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As we all know, most products are designed with a safety factor. The usual safety factor takes into consideration the normal conditions the product would encounter and hence expected to have certain life span under those conditions.
'Fail safe' safety factor-- takes into consideration extreme conditions and then multiplies the so calculated factors with 2 or more- to enable it sustain un-calculable & un-fore-seen situations.
any product, be it a light bulb or whatever, designed with a FAIL SAFE factor is likely to last several human life spans
2006-12-17 09:52:38 · answer #5 · answered by kapilbansalagra 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lightbulbs in my house CERTAINLY don't last 100 yrs! It seems like they all go out at once!
Anyway, 100 yr bulbs woud be great!
2006-12-17 09:51:12 · answer #6 · answered by tdc923 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, but theyd be out of buisness in no time.. I once heard of a engine that got 100 or more miles to gallon,, it was back in the 70's so it wasn't a hybrid,
2006-12-17 09:46:46 · answer #7 · answered by bossman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The bulb is lying about it's age!!! NO THEY CAN HAD DIFFERENT FILAMENTS
2006-12-17 09:50:50 · answer #8 · answered by mary texas 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If we screw the bulb on your handsome head!
2006-12-17 09:44:45 · answer #9 · answered by markos m 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
thats one of a kind. if u want the normal ones to last as long, dont use it
2006-12-17 09:45:02 · answer #10 · answered by rajalu p 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋