On Wed, 28 Jan 2015 02:55:18 -0600, wrote:

On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:48:26 -0800 (PST),
wrote:


You can't replace the filament because the glass is blown in place in/on
the base with the filament inside. You therefore can't remove the glass
from the base without fracturing it.

Incandescents cost about a quarter apiece before the environuts got
involved in lighting. No point in trying to repair something that cheap.

when I was a kid, I remember seeing a TV commercial about laser
beam incandescent lightbulb filament repair, but it was for very
large, very sports stadium bulbs. It may have been a General
Electric commercial, like the kind they air for their jet engines,
MRI machines -- you know, things that average families buy every day.

The solution would be to install a very small remote controlled welder
inside each incandescent light bulb. Then when the bulb burns out, the
owner could use his remote, turn on the welder, and weld the filament
back together, without ever having to open the glass enclosure. The
remote would need a joystick control, so the operator could position the
welding rods precisely at the filament break.

Robotic welding with a very small incision in the glass. You could blow
a fan over the opening, like they do at supermarket doors, so the vacuum
wouldn't leak out.

Or refill after welding with ArNe, which is a better gas than vacuum gas
anyhow.