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How Hot is a Light Bulb?

Discussion in 'Safety valve' started by nelswick, Dec 29, 2005.

  1. nelswick

    nelswick Regular member

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    Hey does anybody know how hot 50, 60, and 75 watt incandescent light bulbs get? I know this information is in "Kirk's Fire Investigation (4th Edition)" on page 123 but unfortunately I don't own this book and my library doesn't have it either.
     
  2. SeanZ0r

    SeanZ0r Regular member

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    google.com
     
  3. xboxdvl2

    xboxdvl2 Regular member

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    i dontr know about a light bulb but i do know the lit end or a cigarrette would get to over 300degrees Celcius and a bong being smoked gets to over 430degrees celcius.never tryed on a lightbulb but i know it can ignite paper and melt plastic i think it was a 40watt that melted the plastic.
     
  4. gear79

    gear79 Guest

    no, but i can tell you what a clogged up catalytic convertor CAN get.

    did you stay at a holiday inn express or something?
     
  5. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Question
    How hot does a 100 watt light bulb get?

    Answer
    good question. probably at least 111 deg f because it will burn you if you touch it and it's been on a while. i assume you're referring to an incandescent light bulb. they are notoriously inefficient alot of the energy goes into heat and not generation of light.

    it has to do with the position of the bulb in the fixture
    but the hottest it can get is:

    477 deg F (247 deg C)

    The tungsten gets to a temperature of about 4,500 degrees Fareinheit. This causes it to get white hot. It glows, and glows quite brightly. Tungsten is used because it has a very high melting point.
     
  6. gear79

    gear79 Guest

    i did not know that !!
    but ireland, can you answer my catalytic convertor piece?
     
  7. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    gear i do not know if this is the answer ye want..

    When catalytic converters fail they normally clog up with debris and block the flow of exhaust gas from getting out of the system. this causes extreme performance problems. In the extreme cases it will even prevent the car from starting at all. Most of the time it acts like a governor and limits the engine RPM to a fast idle. So how do you check a catalytic converter without removing it from the car??

    You can do a vacuum check at idle and then at 1500 RPM. If the vacuum is say 21 inches at idle and like 15 inches at 1500 then the cat is likely clogged. In a carbureted car you can remove the air cleaner and have someone hold a strong light near the intake of the carb. Then look across the top of the carb into the light and rev it up. If you see a cloud of fuel vapor pumping up and down sort of hovering over the carb then the cat is likely plugged.

    Next, remove the oxygen sensor and start it up. The hole where the oxygen sensor was will relieve the back pressure and it should run a tad better. If so, then disconnect the exhaust pipe at the exhaust manifold and try it again. If it is a clogged cat it will scream like a banchee and rev up to its normal 4000 rpm.
     
  8. gear79

    gear79 Guest

    well, while informative, it did not answer my quiz !!
    since i am in that feild, i'll let you in on the scoop !!
    i have an infared thermoter (2 actually) one for light work, the other for heavy work.
    there is actually no right answer, as there are variables. size of cat, engine size, cylinders, more really, but i wount go into detail there.
    anyway, my first gun reads up to 999 degrees f. and the second, the big gun, reads up to 3000 degrees f.
    i had this car in the shop the other day, a dodge shadow, V6. he had bad fuel injectors, they were dripping fuel, well the unburned fuel goes straight to the catalytic convertor and heats it up quickly. so much, that it will glow cherry red.
    i measured the temp with the little gun, it pegged out, i broke out the big gun, measured it, it showed 2366 degrees. thats pretty hot.
    but some cars vary in temp, so there is no set temp that they can get. that must have been an old article that you found, cuz they say the carb..

    most cars now are fuel injected and the tests they ran are primative.
    but i wont go there either.
     
  9. nelswick

    nelswick Regular member

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    Well thanks for the help. I need to find out which one is closest to 200 degrees celcius. If anyone knows the answer it would be great if you could tell me. Thanks.
     
  10. ashroy01

    ashroy01 Regular member

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    that's 392 fahrenheit... I left a paperback book over the top of a lamp shade and it started to burn a hole through - paper burns at 451 fahrenheit, or so we've been told. It was either 75 or 60. This is no help at all.
     
  11. nelswick

    nelswick Regular member

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    Haha. That actually helps alot. That must have been a 60 watt and that is exactly 200 degrees celcius. Thanks.
     
  12. ashroy01

    ashroy01 Regular member

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    Wait, no, I was just saying 200 celcius is 392 fahrenheit. If the light bulb could burn through paper, it means it got at least 451 degrees fahrenheit, but that doesn't do much help, though.

    I'd try to find someone with that book. Maybe you can ask somebody who's selling it on Ebay (it's a shot). Google Answers answers questions for a fee, but since your's is so specific, it might be $15-20.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2006
  13. nelswick

    nelswick Regular member

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    Oh Haha I misunderstood you. Yeah there is a library about a half hour away that has it. I suppose I'll take a ride over there tomorrow. Thanks.
     
  14. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    @ nelswick, your sig going from side to side is REALLY annoying! It is impossible to read anything on a page where your sig is!

    Can you slow it down a bit, you are not supposed to have fast scrolling sigs now!
     
  15. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    JUST THINK i get $15.00 dollars for each post,on the second tuesday of each week to answer posts like this..


    Q: How many members of the U.S.S. Enterprise does it take to change a light bulb? A: 7. Scotty will report to Captain Kirk that the light bulb in the Engineering Section is burnt out, to which Kirk will send Bones to pronounce the bulb dead. Scotty, after checking around, notices that they have no more new light bulbs, and complains that he can't see in the dark to tend to his engines. Kirk must make an emergency stop at the next uncharted planet, Alpha Regula IV, to procure a light bulb from the natives. Kirk, Spock, Bones, Sulu, and 3 red shirt security officers beam down. The 3 security officers are promply killed by the natives, and the rest of the landing party is captured. Meanwhile, back in orbit, Scotty notices a Klingon ship approaching and must warp out of orbit to escape detection. Bones cures the native king who is suffering from the flu, and as a reward the landing party is set free and given all of the light bulbs they can carry. Scotty cripples the Klingon ship and warps back to the planet just in time to beam up Kirk et. al. The new bulb is inserted, and the Enterprise continues with its five year mission.

     
  16. ecknight

    ecknight Regular member

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    ok i found this website that does conversions

    http://www.onlineconversion.com/

    and if u do watt/hours to celsius heat unit but i dont know if a celsius heat unit is like a degree celsius or not but a 105.5watt light bulb is 199.989 since they are rated on how many watts they use per hour and a 110watt is 208.519 hope this helps cause i cant remember the origional question
     
  17. nelswick

    nelswick Regular member

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    Haha sorry about that. I'll change it.

    Thanks ecknight but I think I'm just gonna try and find a copy of that book.
     
  18. pulsar

    pulsar Active member

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    Rinky dink Panther! Nice one, I can recover from those seizures now.
     
  19. gear79

    gear79 Guest

    and the nightmares !!
     
  20. SypherTek

    SypherTek Guest

    i recently, inadvertantly found out. they are hot, especially if the filament goes and you try and manhandle it right away.
     

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