Revitalizing old series bulbs with 20W/12V halogen lamps and PS-25 and PS-35 bulbs
TODAY'S OUTDOOR SHOWMANSHIP
Having a fairly good sized yard, my exhibition area is supplemented by about a dozen vintage and desirable incandescent and mercury fixtures that are fully functional. Among these are 100-watt clear mercury lamps; others are 10 and 20-watt 12-volt pea-sized halogen capsules cleverly inserted into cut-open mogul base bulbs that simulate series incandescents. Within these are wire stems configured just like the series ones that lead to the halogen capsules where the filament ordinarily would be. The outer bulbs that utilize this invention are clear PS-25 and PS-35s and even look like the real thing during the day. At night their concise, white and bright illumination looks very much like that emitted by the good old series lights. These homemade incandescents are mounted in four or five porcelain head, series radial wave reflector fixtures around the yard. My other incandescent is a real McCoy 1000 lumen series lamp, also in a radial wave fixture, that operates off a 12 volt transformer and like most of my other low voltage incandescents, burns all night.
Revitalizing old series bulbs with 20W/12V halogen lamps and PS-25 and PS-35 bulbs
12 volt, 20 watt halogen in PS-25 bulb enclosure in Wheeler fixture
Span wire w/ 20 watt homemade halogen lit at night
RE-INVENTING THE MERCURY LAMP!
Among my operating outdoor fixtures are a few open mercury variants outfitted with cut-open home-made phosphor coated/clear-ended BT lamps that I retrofitted with special cool-bluish color, 13 watt quad-tube compact fluorescent lamps. The output color of these is very similar to that of a "daylight" phosphor standard fluorescent, approximately 6500 degrees Kelvin color temperature. When viewed at night, these lamps appear very similar to that of a classic phosphor mercury lamp that has delivered many years of service. These are constructed by carefully cutting the lamp open slightly above its screw base and pulling out the arc tube frame and separating it from the outer bulb. After removing the arc tube and properly disposing of it, I rewire the lamp with the quad tube compact fluorescent in place where the mercury arc tube was. Then, I slip the outer bulb back over the arc tube frame and seal the base where the glass was cut with silicone adhesive. No vacuum is necessary, like the homemade incandescents. When inserted into their open mercury style fixtures these "mercury" lamps can hardly be distinguished from the original during the day. Most of these are made from BT-28 (175 and 250 watt) bulbs and a few are of the 400-watt (BT-37) size. I use these to reduce electrical consumption and where a lot of light is not needed. Hand-making the "series incandescent" halogen and "mercury" compact fluorescent lamps takes quite a bit of time, trial and error and patience. It is similar to performing brain surgery! Supplementing my outdoor incandescents are several I have in my house that I use for room lighting mounted in classic porcelain head fixtures suspended by an eyelet from the ceiling. All of the 12 volt lamps have their transformers mounted either within or separate from the fixture; the same is true for my homemade compact fluorescent mercs which have their core and coil ballast somewhere inconspicuous in the fixture or mounted remotely in a watertight metal enclosure.
Evolution of process making 6500 deg. K compact fluorescent 13 watt "mercury" lamps
Completed compact fluorescent 13-watt BT-37 bulb "mercury" lamp.
13 watt compact fluorescent in GE Form 400 fixture
Open Wheeler fixture w/ 13-watt 6500 deg. K compact fluorescent inserted in mercury bulb enclosure
INDOOR FIXTURES AND ACCESSORIES
The balance of my street lighting collection exists in my "museum room" where my rarest and most sentimental fixtures reside. Among these are a few 1950s mercury lights with their original Fisher Pierce glass covered, tube powered photocontrols. Others are of differing mercury and incandescent designs of either personal significance or high level of rarity. Accompanying my fixtures are displays of photocontrols and street lighting lamps.