bulb from old copier.

[Paidbychrist0825]

hey guys, i was taking apart an old copier( i was after the electric motor) and i found a really thin clear light bulb. it says toshiba on one end, and on the other, it says 120v600wh. im trying to figure a way to mount the bulb on a board, and see if i can DIY a vicios strong light. i know its not metal halide, but do you think its worth the effort, even just to see if it works? i knida hope to save myslef a few hundred( more like 500) dollars, and am hoping this will be a good solution, even if only a temporary one.

[Paidbychrist0825]

i looked on toshiba's web site, but they dont have anything on those bulbs. ill try to get a good pic of the bulb, ill be back in about 20 minutes with a pic, if i can get a decent one

[Paidbychrist0825]

ok, here is the site i had to put up real quick to get the pics so you could see them.
http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/tank_marine/pics2.html

[Paidbychrist0825]

I have tested the bulb, it starts out glowing a yellow, then goes to a whiter colr, but still a bit of yellow. it throws a lot of heat(enough to pull some sap from a pine 2X4), and you can feel the heat that is made by the light hitting your skin for about 5 feet.

[MikeS]

I wonder if it is some sort of sodium lamp....

warm at 5 feet? Hmmm...even if it is a good spectrum, that could create heat problems in the tank....

Mike

[tangwang]

From the looks of the bulb, I'd say it is a Halogen or Tungsten bulb. Wouldn't be a pretty sight over a reef tank, an not to mention the heat a Halogen puts out. It may be ok over a fuge.....


MAtt

[Puffy]

god, i wouldn't use it my friend

[Paidbychrist0825]

yea, i decided that after i accidentally almost melted the little flouro hood i had next to it, kinda to see if it would look right with actinic acents, it would, but it was way hot.

[Paidbychrist0825]

its good for heeating up water to get it off yor concrete floor:) our water heater rusted out, and the bulb( with the help of a fan) nuked the water pretty good:)

[MikeS]

aside from the spectrum issues, I doubt that the bulb (being from a copier) is designed to be run at 12 hours straight at a time.....

Mike

[ubasst]

if the bulb is able to be on for 12 hours a day and your happy with it hang it from the ceiling and have it 4 feet from the top of the tank it wont be as hot but your going to have to build a fixture that will house a fan on it ,....you know what just buy a metal halide fixture :D

[Paidbychrist0825]

i intend to just get a MH fixture. i shattered the bulb while cleaning my room( my dumb water heater rusted out, room flooded, carpet is just now drying, had to hang it outside, and o llok at this, it starts raing) and it wasnt even the satisfying loud pop you get from a normal light bulb, it just kinda went"pip" wasnt even a pop, and quite boring... i was hoping for a nice loud one...how dissapointing.