On 2 Sep 2003 20:44:40 GMT, nobody wrote:

In wrote:

But in 1978 I wired the 2 bulbs in the each of the EXIT
lights in the church in series.

Congratulations, you probably bypassed a safety feature. If they're in
parallel, if one burns out the other keeps going. In series, if one
goes they're both out, and the exit sign is no longer visible.

And what if both burn out in parallel, which they eventually will -
and eventually is measured in months or, at best a low number of
years.
With the series string, if one blows it will likely be a decade or 2
or 3.

In article , Stepan
Novotill wrote:

A diode, ballast, or capacitor in series with each lamp would be

That would have been the proper solution. There are these little
buttons you stick to the tip of the screw-base of the bulb.

You then screw this entire thing into the socket. It's called a "bulb
saver" and is essentially a tiny diode in series that chops the
voltage across the bulb in half.

I assume the bulb bases for these exit lights are much smaller than
Edison based household bulbs (intermediate base perhaps?) and the
bulb savers I've seen are only for Edison sockets.

I think some EXIT lamp manufacturers were also selling LED retrofit
kits for some of these lights.

Also, door slamming and vibration could have been a partial reason for
premature lamp failure.

But now we're getting WAAYYYYYY off topic here.

--
Sven Weil
New York City, U.S.A.

In article , Stepan
Novotill wrote:

A diode, ballast, or capacitor in series with each lamp would be

That would have been the proper solution. There are these little
buttons you stick to the tip of the screw-base of the bulb.

You then screw this entire thing into the socket. It's called a "bulb
saver" and is essentially a tiny diode in series that chops the
voltage across the bulb in half.

I assume the bulb bases for these exit lights are much smaller than
Edison based household bulbs (intermediate base perhaps?) and the
bulb savers I've seen are only for Edison sockets.

I think some EXIT lamp manufacturers were also selling LED retrofit
kits for some of these lights.

Also, door slamming and vibration could have been a partial reason for
premature lamp failure.

But now we're getting WAAYYYYYY off topic here.

--
Sven Weil
New York City, U.S.A.

nobody wrote:

In wrote:

But in 1978 I wired the 2 bulbs in the each of the EXIT
lights in the church in series.

Congratulations, you probably bypassed a safety feature. If they're in
parallel, if one burns out the other keeps going. In series, if one
goes they're both out, and the exit sign is no longer visible.

Thanks for the congratulations! Regarding safety: there are 6 exit
lights, which had to be re-lamped 3 - 4 times per year. So the new
wiring saved 25 (years) x 6 (lights) x 3.5 (relampings per year)
or 525 trips up and down the ladder. It also kept hands and fingers
out of electrically hot fixtures 525 times. Those fixtures are
required to be on 24x7 - the only way to turn them off is at the
breaker. So it saved 525 flips of the breaker - or more likely, it
saved 525 instances of fingers inside a fixture that was electrically
hot, human nature being what it is. The need for re-painting has
also been reduced (more ladder climbing), but I cannot quantify
that. With the old wiring, the wall and ceiling above the exit
signs used to get dirty a lot sooner than it does now.

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

nobody wrote:

In wrote:

But in 1978 I wired the 2 bulbs in the each of the EXIT
lights in the church in series.

Congratulations, you probably bypassed a safety feature. If they're in
parallel, if one burns out the other keeps going. In series, if one
goes they're both out, and the exit sign is no longer visible.

Thanks for the congratulations! Regarding safety: there are 6 exit
lights, which had to be re-lamped 3 - 4 times per year. So the new
wiring saved 25 (years) x 6 (lights) x 3.5 (relampings per year)
or 525 trips up and down the ladder. It also kept hands and fingers
out of electrically hot fixtures 525 times. Those fixtures are
required to be on 24x7 - the only way to turn them off is at the
breaker. So it saved 525 flips of the breaker - or more likely, it
saved 525 instances of fingers inside a fixture that was electrically
hot, human nature being what it is. The need for re-painting has
also been reduced (more ladder climbing), but I cannot quantify
that. With the old wiring, the wall and ceiling above the exit
signs used to get dirty a lot sooner than it does now.

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

wrote:
[ snip ]

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

That's the same logic that dictates about how much money the
school board can save by NOT installing fire sprinklers in a
school building.

Jeff

--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"

wrote:
[ snip ]

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

That's the same logic that dictates about how much money the
school board can save by NOT installing fire sprinklers in a
school building.

Jeff

--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"

Putting the bulbs in series seems to qualify as an improvement.
Perhaps that would not hold up in court, but we all know the law is an
ass.

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 03:37:43 GMT, Jeffrey D Angus
wrote:



wrote:
[ snip ]

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

That's the same logic that dictates about how much money the
school board can save by NOT installing fire sprinklers in a
school building.

Jeff

Putting the bulbs in series seems to qualify as an improvement.
Perhaps that would not hold up in court, but we all know the law is an
ass.

On Wed, 03 Sep 2003 03:37:43 GMT, Jeffrey D Angus
wrote:



wrote:
[ snip ]

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

That's the same logic that dictates about how much money the
school board can save by NOT installing fire sprinklers in a
school building.

Jeff

that would be nice ,let the shcools burn down.

The way education is going its better to BBQ....


"Jeffrey D Angus" wrote in message
.. .


wrote:
[ snip ]

Now with the above facts in mind, which do you think is safer?

That's the same logic that dictates about how much money the
school board can save by NOT installing fire sprinklers in a
school building.

Jeff

--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
Tara Morice as Fran, from the movie "Strictly Ballroom"