Re: Interesting dimmable CFL

Victor Roberts <xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I haven't seen this in CFLs in the US, but there is a company that has
sold a small disc with internal solid state circuitry that can be placed
in an incandescent socket to provide similar features - but only for
incandescent lamps - or perhaps phase-cut dimmable CFLs. I believe
the company was called Beacon Light Products, but their web site
www.beacon-light.com is seems to have disappeared.

I've got a couple of lamps here that have this. I bought them a few
years ago on close-out; I don't remember where but it was probably at
one of the "big box" home centers. The box says "Abco 'Smart Alert(tm)'
Emergency Signal Flashing Bulb". 60 W, 780 lumens. I _think_ there was
a similar dimming lamp, but I don't have any of those.

The packaging is a bit unusual. It's a paperboard box, about 2.75" square
by 5" high (7 cm x 7 cm x 13 cm), with a hang-tab on the top rear. The
box is big enough for the lamp to be packaged entirely within the box, but
instead it is packaged with the base sticking out of the top of the box,
presumably to show off the chip.

On the top flap, around the lamp base, it says "There's a micro-computer
in every base - One year guarantee". On the back, it explains how to
activate the flashing mode, and talks about what is probably zero-
crossing switching:

"There's a small computer in each bulb's base:
- The computer contains circuitry called Soft Start(R).
- Soft Start(R) controls the initial power surge to the bulb.
- The bulb filament receives less electric shock.
- This causes Smart Bulb(R) to last two times longer than standard
bulbs."

(Electric shock, eh?)

On one side of the package, the legal notices are:

"Smart Alert(TM) is a trademark of Angelo Brothers Company. Soft
Start(R), Beacon Technology(TM) and Beacon Symbol are trademarks of
Beacon Light Products, Inc. for its brand of computerized light
controller components inside this product, US Patent; 5,030,890."

There is also a "Beacon Technology Inside" logo, and a 1995 copyright
date. The "Domestic Code" is 60ST/17/CL/SF .

The bulb is not a standard "A" shape bulb. I'm not sure what the
official designation is, as it doesn't match any of the standard shapes
I find with a quick Google. From the base, it tapers out quickly to
about a 2" (5 cm) maximum diameter in 0.75" (2 cm) of height. Then it
slowly tapers to about a 1.5" (3.8 cm) diameter in the next 2.5" (6.3 cm)
of height, before finishing in a hemisphere of about 1.5" diameter.
Etched/painted on the bulb near the base is "Abco Smart(R) 60W 65
Flasher". Stamped in the base is "120V. CHINA".

The outside thread of the base is a fairly normal-looking piece of
brass (?). At the base, there is a short black plastic insulating ring,
and then the magic chip. The chip is about 3/8" diameter by 1/4" thick
(1 cm dia x 7 mm thick). The visible brass? base contact has "EF Beacon
SB" inked on it.

One interesting thing I discovered while playing with these bulbs when I
first got them: apparently, the "chip" is simply pressed into place! I
was picking at the chip on one lamp and it simply fell out of the base
of the lamp. The other contact for the chip is a brass rivet through
the plastic insulator. As far as I can tell, the chip doesn't have a
connection to the outer shell. I can't find the chip now, but I may
have it around somewhere - IIRC, at the time, I pressed it back into its
place and the lamp still worked. The missing chip didn't let the air
in - you can see through the rivet to the sealed evacuation tube a
little higher up in the base. I wonder if "chip falling out" was a
possible reason that these weren't too successful?

The latest version of beacon-light.com that http://web.archive.org/ has
is from September 2004. (Note that the archive.org servers can be
pretty busy, especially during North American 'prime time' - the pages
may take a while to load.) That site shows the discs that were sold to
'retrofit' standard lamps under the "Bulb Boss" name, which somewhat
rings a bell.

Matt Roberds

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Interesting dimmable CFL
    ... I thought the chip was mounted inside the base. ... all glass with metal power leads sealed into the ends of the lamp. ... bulb extended all the way down into the base. ... failure of a newer style automotive tail light bulb. ...
    (sci.engr.lighting)
  • Re: LED light results -- short
    ... It's a spiral tube lamp. ... I don't know where one could get this exact bulb but there is a flood ... quartz halogen with only 13 watts' draw (this includes the 10 watts to ...
    (rec.outdoors.rv-travel)
  • Re: Compulsory low-energy light-bulbs
    ... that normal incandescent lights produce a marked stroboscopic effect ... The effect would be more marked if the bulb was an extremely low ... my turntable sits next to a table lamp with a 60 watt ... Fluoresent lighting is considered by the HSE to make rotating machinery ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Why to multiple bulbs in series ALL die?
    ... bulb dies and replacing that bulb is all I need to do. ... Another similar case is a dimmer for a floor lamp that has a fuse. ... It's called a cascading failure mode, when the failure of one section ... which, when located in parallel with low voltage lamps, will tend to ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Only use 60 watt bulbs?
    ... about 100 watts of light after warmup]. ... for others choosing fixtures you'll want up to 400 watts worth of light ... For reading, in a lamp that has a harp that will accept this bulb, 55W of electricity, 3600 lumens of light, about same as 240W bulb 4.45 inches in diameter, 8.39 inches long $15.xx, 8000 hours lamp life. ...
    (alt.home.repair)
Loading