Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Piano Lamp (Candelabra) Bulbs

Grotriman,

Sounds like you may have a lamp similar to this? I have one of these I sometimes use on the organ console at church. I can confirm your experience: no LED substitutes, only that one bulb will work, and they are expensive.

They also come loose quite easily and must be tightened often. But you have to do it before you turn it on because the bulbs get searingly hot within milliseconds. In fact, I suspect that is why they do not last long. I did find some bulbs locally, but they were not cheap. In fact, I think I paid considerably more than $15.99 for 4.

When shopping for a lamp for my piano at home, I bought a Koncept Z Bar. Not cheap, but at least it has LEDs.

Yup! That's the one. And yes - they come unscrewed spontaneously! I thought it was only when I played Chopin and the lamp wanted more romantic lighting (self dimming).

I'll end up re-wiring the thing for a different kind of bulb eventually. I'll let you know how that turns out. The 15W per bulb is very problematic as it is definitely too hot and I really don't need 60W total of light on my two pages of piano music (also casts a harsh shadow on the keyboard).

Oh--sorry that I wasn't clear Marty.
I fully admit to being obsessed; I was thinking that you were rude.

Update - I found a source for these bulbs, relatively inexpensive at $1.28 for 10 or more, and also in a 6W version rather than the 15W. I'm working on the theory that less heat will make them last longer. (stock # B708106)

Added side benefit is that they cast a dimmer more yellow light in the same manner as Chopin's candles would have provided. Thus adding some more realism to my playing.

I'll let you know how long they last.

Here's another thought-filaments in light bulbs are rated for a certain power level--in your case that would probably be 110-120 volts--but an increase in the power supply (not controllable by you, its your power company) will decrease the life of the filament drastically.(Bulb manufacturers acknowledge that a 10% increase can amount to a 50% shorter life --this info from having operated a lighting store and dealing with lamp manufacturers) Get someone (qualified) to measure how much power is being supplied from the socket (using a multimeter) and you can bet you'll be getting oversupplied. If you can't find lamps that are rated at a little higher tolerance, maybe try a British or European lamp at 220volts but at a higher wattage like 25 watts---it'll glow dimmer, but will last a lot longer because its filament is not being "pushed".
Good luck.

Maybe you can use a dimmer and reduce its intensity just a little. As yamahanut says, a little reduction in brightness will give you a huge gain in lifetime and temperature.
If temp is really the issue, maybe it is also possible to improve the ventilation?

I live in New York City where the power is 1) on and steady or 2) off. I haven't seen any issues with surges or variability (I do have a lot of equipment that needs a steady supply).

I think the lower wattage will decrease the heat and increase the life. Let's see.

The fact that they loosen themselves makes me think it may be the vibration from your playing that's killing off the bulbs off rather than the heat they generate. We've had a similar problem with chandelier bulbs in ceiling fan fixtures. We run our fans continuously. The bulbs seem to last a good bit longer in immobile fixtures.

I will switch to soft music for a year and see if they last longer. After I play for a year as I currently do to test the wattage. Then I should have enough saved up for the LED version!

Not practical, I know. Just FYI speculation.

OK by now the bulbs would have become loose, and yet they have not. I am therefore working under the theory that the excessive heat of 15W per bulb caused thermal expansion that caused the bulbs to back out of their sockets.

So there are now two benefits to using a lower wattage - longer life (still to be proven) and not coming loose!

Bumping to say still no blown bulbs and none of them loosening, none blowing. This is definitely the solution for those who have this type of lamp. Deal with a lower wattage and you are trouble free! (It is a yellower experience.)

Thanks for the update, Grotriman. So you are using the 6W lamps from the source you referred to earlier? I can deal with less brightness if I can get less heat.

Heat is the killer of incandescent bulbs. In the strongroom of my last workplace, we had an enclosed light fitting which would be on 10 hrs/day, and the bulb would blow every 6-12 weeks. I suggested to the maintenance man that we leave the cover off the enclosure - that bulb lasted for years.

Looks like an E-12, though you can check on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_screw

At LAMPS PLUS, , is http://www.lampsplus.com/products/ge-15-watt-exit-sign-indicator-light-bulb__91019.html - looks like the same size, but 145volt.

Ebay has a number of LEDs which fit an E-12, but they're all "fat". Not sure if you can modify it so they'll fit?

Correct! (Sorry for the delay I don't visit the forum often)

would you tell us where we can find those?

From a previous post: "Update - I found a source for these bulbs, relatively inexpensive at $1.28 for 10 or more, and also in a 6W version rather than the 15W. I'm working on the theory that less heat will make them last longer. (stock # B708106)

Added side benefit is that they cast a dimmer more yellow light in the same manner as Chopin's candles would have provided. Thus adding some more realism to my playing."

at Bulbs.com

http://www.bulbs.com/results.aspx?Ntt=B708106

That ad had the specifications, so I was able to track down information about an LED version here.

Bump to keep you up to date:

I see it is a year later, and I have only had one bulb go bad. Definitely the lower wattage was the trick for this lamp.