Hello,
I'm sure this has been discussed numerous times (please forgive me!) ... I did a forum search but couldn't locate anything, and what I did find was not available.
I am working on a project and found " Grain of wheet " light bulbs. Here is a LINK to the eBay listing.They are:
Blue, Amber, Clear color3 mm in diameterOperating Volts = 6.5 V and 12 VOperating Current = 68 mA
I am no electrician and never used these before...how do you wire them? How much heat do they give off - is it safe to use them if they are close to paper or cardboard? In the pictures I see each bulb comes with 2 wire prongs - can I just attach a wire to them and hook them up to my transformer?
What about rice bulbs? Are they easier to use?
Thanks in advance for any help!
For what purpose are you wanting to uae them? They would be good for building interiors or exterior lighting.
You can wire the 12 Volt bulbs in parallel to your transformer's variable DC output and they will be dimmable, but they will also draw power away from your track, so a separate transformer is best.
They will get hot and should not be close to paper or plastic.
Grain of rice bulbs are smaller than grain of wheat and use less current, but they too get hot enough to burn paper or melt plastic if too close.
Alright. It's easy to install them though? They're for an interior theater shadow-box style diorama for a project I am working on...I planned on using them throughout to resemble theater type lights (See picture below)Click HERE for an example of what I'm looking for - I was hoping to use them around the ceiling and throughout on the wall...but am worried about the heat and it being a fire hazard. (Although they will not be lit for hours on end...only maybe 5-10 mins at a time)Are there any other alternatives? suggestions?
That is a beautiful theater to replicate, but would be fearful of the heat, if you used incandescent bulbs of any kind, in that quantity. How about using LEDs, which give off far less heat. Have you considered using dozens of tiny mirrors, sequins,or aluminum foil, to reflect light from a single hidden bulb. Bob Hahn
You can get LEDs in many colors today, including Blue, White, Red, Green, Yellow, Pink, etc., and they use far less voltage than an incandescent grain of wheat or grain of rice bulb. Check sights such as http://www.moreleds.com or http://www.superbrightleds.com for examples.
Thanks for the info...but does anybody know how they are wired or connected?
That's a good idea HHPATH56 to use mirrors, sequins, or aluminum foil. I will have to explore that more when I get to that point.
There are two forms of wiring: Series and parallel. For series wiring, one wire goes from bulb to bulb in a row. With parallel wiring two wires are used with the bulbs connected between them
If you have such limited knowledge about electricity and electrical wiring you need to seek help from a source other than these forums because there is too much you need to learn for us to teach via this medium. Find an electrician who is willing to teach you some basics or draw you some simple diagrams and explain the principles involved, or go to your local home improvement store and purchase a book on basic household electrical wiring.
Electricity can be hazardous to your health; even fatal; if you don't know what you're doing.
12V bulbs - grain of wheat or rice - are what I generally use for locomotive headlights and building lights. They can get kinda hot but not too bad. Only issue I had was a building where I had aluminum foil on the interior of the roof to reflect more light down. The bulb heated up the metal enough to melt the plastic in one spot. I'd never seen that happen when it was just the bare plastic oddly enough.
For building lights, you want to wire them to a variable source of DC. At 12V they're unrealistically bright. If you turn it down to about 5-6 V it gives off a much more realistic light, and will last many times longer.