On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:55:09 -0500, micky
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:35:48 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:29:45 -0500, micky
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:17:03 -0500, Norminn
wrote:

On 12/21/2011 12:04 PM, micky wrote:
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:10:47 -0500,
wrote:


OP, go to a toy store or doll house forum and ask about replacement
bulbs.

Craft stores might be even better than toy stores learning about
building and refurbishing doll houses. At least some of them.

Michaels probably carried some basic miniature lighting gear, but there
are loads of online sources with all manner of transformers, wiring,
sockets, fixtures, etc. Don't need to be an electrician to install it.

If it was doable, refurbishing an old dollhouse, I would update it with
more modern trans. and wiring...for safety as well as aethetic.

What is the safety issue? The little bulbs don't get very hot.

I have radios going back to the 1930's and their transformers, cords,
and internal wiring are in excellent shape. The only thing that
wears out is the capacitors, which a doll house won't have.

Aesthetic is a matter of taste, of coures, but I would like to keep it
original, and also no one I know uses LEDs for lighting.


Well, you don't know me,

Not very well, but you still count. So I know one person who does.

but I just installed 7 9 watt CREE LED
replacement lamps in my office track-lights - 110 volt GU10 base
"reflector floods" The 9 watt units are brighter than the 50 watt
Halogens they replaced.

I'm looking at replacing ALL of the crappy CFL bulbs with LEDs in the
house in the near future

Aren't they still expensive?

Depends what you call expensive and where you buy them. The loacal
HomeDespot wants $23 each for them. I imported mine directly from Hong
Kong for $11.80 each, delivered to the door, Quantity 10. And that is
the "dimmable" 85-240 volt model, The straight 110 volt non-dimmables
can be had for about $9.00 each. Priced 50 watt GU10s lately??

Also look he
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronic...ders/_/N-5g6p/ and the
links there.
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronic...amps/_/N-5g6r/
has a way to search by base, size, etc.

I don't think any of these are small enough
http://www.radioshack.com/search/ind...ture+lamp&sr=1

On Dec 21, 9:11*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:55:09 -0500, micky
wrote:





On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:35:48 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:29:45 -0500, micky
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:17:03 -0500, Norminn
wrote:

On 12/21/2011 12:04 PM, micky wrote:
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:10:47 -0500,
wrote:

OP, go to a toy store or doll house forum and ask about replacement
bulbs.

Craft stores might be even better than toy stores learning about
building and refurbishing doll houses. * At least some of them.

Michaels probably carried some basic miniature lighting gear, but there
are loads of online sources with all manner of transformers, wiring,
sockets, fixtures, etc. *Don't need to be an electrician to install it.

If it was doable, refurbishing an old dollhouse, I would update it with
more modern trans. and wiring...for safety as well as aethetic.

What is the safety issue? * The little bulbs don't get very hot.

I have radios going back to the 1930's and their transformers, cords,
and internal wiring are in excellent shape. * The only thing that
wears out is the capacitors, which a doll house won't have.

Aesthetic is a matter of taste, of coures, but I would like to keep it
original, and also no one I know uses LEDs for lighting.

Well, you don't know me,

Not very well, but you still count. * So I know one person who does.

but I just installed 7 9 watt CREE LED
replacement lamps in my office track-lights - 110 volt GU10 base
"reflector floods" The 9 watt units are brighter than the 50 watt
Halogens they replaced.

I'm looking at replacing ALL of the crappy CFL bulbs with LEDs in the
house in the near future

Aren't they still expensive?

Depends what you call expensive and where you buy them. The loacal
HomeDespot wants $23 each for them. I imported mine directly from Hong
Kong for *$11.80 each, delivered to the door, Quantity 10. And that is
the "dimmable" 85-240 volt model, *The straight 110 volt non-dimmables
can be had for about $9.00 each. *Priced 50 watt *GU10s lately??





Also look he
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronic.../_/N-5g6p/*and the
links there.
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronic...amps/_/N-5g6r/
has a way to search by base, size, etc.

I don't think any of these are small enough
http://www.radioshack.com/search/ind...ature%20la...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm looking for 100 W equivalent LED A19 style bulbs with decent color
rendition that are dimmable for a dining room chandelier. Oh, yes, I
shouldn't have to cash in my 401 to pay for them.

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:34:53 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

On Dec 21, 9:11Â*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:55:09 -0500, micky
wrote:





On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:35:48 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:29:45 -0500, micky
wrote:

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:17:03 -0500, Norminn
wrote:

On 12/21/2011 12:04 PM, micky wrote:
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:10:47 -0500,
wrote:

OP, go to a toy store or doll house forum and ask about replacement
bulbs.

Craft stores might be even better than toy stores learning about
building and refurbishing doll houses. Â* At least some of them.

Michaels probably carried some basic miniature lighting gear, but there
are loads of online sources with all manner of transformers, wiring,
sockets, fixtures, etc. Â*Don't need to be an electrician to install it.

If it was doable, refurbishing an old dollhouse, I would update it with
more modern trans. and wiring...for safety as well as aethetic.

What is the safety issue? Â* The little bulbs don't get very hot.

I have radios going back to the 1930's and their transformers, cords,
and internal wiring are in excellent shape. Â* The only thing that
wears out is the capacitors, which a doll house won't have.

Aesthetic is a matter of taste, of coures, but I would like to keep it
original, and also no one I know uses LEDs for lighting.

Well, you don't know me,

Not very well, but you still count. Â* So I know one person who does.

but I just installed 7 9 watt CREE LED
replacement lamps in my office track-lights - 110 volt GU10 base
"reflector floods" The 9 watt units are brighter than the 50 watt
Halogens they replaced.

I'm looking at replacing ALL of the crappy CFL bulbs with LEDs in the
house in the near future

Aren't they still expensive?

Depends what you call expensive and where you buy them. The loacal
HomeDespot wants $23 each for them. I imported mine directly from Hong
Kong for Â*$11.80 each, delivered to the door, Quantity 10. And that is
the "dimmable" 85-240 volt model, Â*The straight 110 volt non-dimmables
can be had for about $9.00 each. Â*Priced 50 watt Â*GU10s lately??





Also look he
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronic..._/N-5g6p/Â*and the
links there.
http://www.mouser.com/Optoelectronic...amps/_/N-5g6r/
has a way to search by base, size, etc.

I don't think any of these are small enough
http://www.radioshack.com/search/ind...ature%20la...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm looking for 100 W equivalent LED A19 style bulbs with decent color
rendition that are dimmable for a dining room chandelier. Oh, yes, I
shouldn't have to cash in my 401 to pay for them.
You need 12-14 watt LED
60 watt equivalen(7 watt)t is about $20 at american Home Depot stores.
About 50% more in Canada.
Wholesaled.com has 9watt for $32
Or check EBAY and order direct from China.

"Jennifer Murphy" wrote in message
wrote:
"Jennifer Murphy" wrote in message

My multimeter arrived today. I cannot get to the wiring underneath the
dollhouse because there is paint and glue drying. ;-)

Welcome to the wonderful world of electrical troubleshooting. I have
about
20 meters (maybe 30) because they are indispensable for electronics work.
Some hook to PC's for recording work, some are small and lighted that I
keep
in my car. I keep one in my camera bag, one connected to the battery
powered sump pump and even have a AA-A battery charger that reads the
voltage of each cell as it charges. My wife says it's a sickness but I
believe you can never have enough multimeters, flashlights or
rechargeable
batteries. (-:

I tried to get a voltage reading at the light sockets inside the doll
house. I could not get a consistent reading. The space is very cramped
and the sockets very small (3/8").

For testing like that I might make up a test prod from a dowel about the
size of the bulb with a screw in the center to simulate a bulb, but
that's
probably a bit much for you just starting out.

I don't have the tools for that ;-(

That's too bad, but understandable. After thinking about, I would break one
of the dead bulbs, cut a small jumper wire in half and solder the bare wire
ends to the bulb's contacts. Jumper wires have alligator clips on each.
Cutting one in half leaves a bare end and an end with a metal clip that you
can clip to your meter probes. I could fabricate such a "tester" in less
time than it took to type this message but I have the tools. I'm aware that
you don't. I'd be happy to make up a socket tester for you gratis but it
wouldn't happen until well after Christmas. I can't imagine testing the
sockets any other way. It's hard to hold the probes correctly even with the
socket on the benchtop. But when mounted upside in a the tiny rooms of a
dollhouse? Sounds like torture from the Spanish Inquistion! And nobody
expects the Spanish Inquistion (if I didn't say it, at least 5 Monty Python
fans would have).

It takes a delicate hand to
read a micro-socket when it's on a test bench. Mounted in a doll house
might be much harder and close to impossible without the right probes.
One
the backside of the socket there are often screw terminals. That would
be a
good place to check the socket voltage.

I can't get to the back side. The sockets are mounted in the ceiling. On
the first floor, it's about 1/2" thick and completely finished. On the
second floor, there is an attic, but it's sealed. I don't want to start
taking it apart.

I don't blame you. Once upon a time when I first started rebuilding Brit
sportscars, I came across this humorous comment in a "how to" book:
"Carburetor" is a French word that means "leave it alone." The same could
be said of your antique dollhouse's electrical wiring.

I seemed to get a better reading on
DC than AC. The DC readings jumped all over the place, but it looked
like between 0.9 and 1.1 v. The AC readings jumped around even more.
The
most consistent reading was 6v at one socket.

Is there a way using this meter to tell if the current is AC or DC?

That's a good question. Measuring an AC voltage using a high quality,
accurate voltmeter, that set to measure DC volts, should, by definition
result in a reading of zero volts. The reason you read a small residual
DC
voltage when measuring an AC voltage might be because of small
inaccuracies
in your meter. Any true AC voltage has absolutely no DC component. I
would
test it using a diode - even an LED would work - that will pass current
in
only one direction. But that's little advanced. I suppose you could test
the circuit by reversing the probes. If it's DC, the + and - signs
should
reverse themselves when you switch the probes. With AC, it shouldn't
have
any effect.

I thought I got a +/- change one time, but it's so difficult to get at
the sockets, that I can;t be sure I'm getting good contact and not
shorting the probes.

I totally understand. It's a job for a specially made test probe.

Next, I did a continuity test of the bulbs themselves. Of the 12 bulbs
I
removed from the house, only one passed the continuity test.

Excellent work! With an old dollhouse and the possibility that the bulbs
are getting more voltage than designed for, it's very likely the only
problem is burned out lightbulbs.

I ordered a bunch of 2.5v #14 bulbs. They should be here tomorrow.

That's where the rubber meets the road. I suspect you'll get more than a
few working. Who knows? If you clean the sockets and cycle the switches,
they might all work.

I then tried a resistance test on the bulbs. The one that passed the
continuity test showed 11 ohms of resistence. The rest showed infinite
resistance.

That sounds right. Infinite resistance means the filament is broken and
the
bulb is dead. You should be able to confirm that with a magnifying
glass.
If they were run at double their rating, the filament damage should be
very
obvious and might include blackening of the bulb's interior.

The filaments all look OK. A couple are somewhat blackened.

I then took the good bulb and tried it in several sockets. After
fiddling with the button switches, I was able to get it to light in
several sockets. It was very dim.

You may also be experiencing problems with dirty switch contacts and
dirty
or corroded bulb sockets. The center button connector of the socket
should
be nice and shiny in each socket. I bet they're not.

The switches are definitely at least a little suspect. They are the
push-button type. They are a little loose in the housing and if I jiggle
them, the lights flicker. I can't see into the sockets, but the house
has been stored in garages on the east coast (humid) for many years. I
might go get a mirror on a stick and see if I can see into the sockets.
But if they are corroded, there ma not be much I ca do without taking
the while thing apart, which is too much for this Christmas.

You can use the rubber eraser end of a small pencil inside the socket to
clean off the oxidation. Make sure to blow out the rubber particles with
canned air or a little makeup brush.

When everything dries, I will try to get under the house and see if I
can get better readings.

I don't think you have to do a complete rewire - if it were 110VAC
passing
through those wires you would have seen the bulb go supernova and
possibly
pop. There's got to be a transformer somewhere.

Yes, I'm quite certain that it's not 110 and probably not AC.

I would guess that the AC line cord goes into a small transformer that
outputs from 2 to 5 VAC. Lightbulbs don't care whether they run on AC or DC
so I don't see any reason for the designer to have a rectifier in the house
that converts AC to DC. It would be an extra and unnecessary step for the
builder and I'm guessing if he omitted strain relief on the line cord, he
was on a real budget.

By getting the bulb to
light in several sockets you've conclusively proved they can not be wired
in
series (in a chain like old Christmas lights where if one bulb went dead,
they all died). That's important to know.

Yep, I was glad to discover that.

That's what leads me to believe there's a small AC transformer at the end of
the line cord. It should be heavy enough to be detectable in some way. It
might even put out a hum that's detectable by a close-by AM radio.

Trace where the AC wires comes into the dollhouse and find the
transformer
(apologies if you've already done this - I just started reading this
thread.). If it's well wired to the cord and the cord's in good shape, I
wouldn't rewire the unit. Switches can often be "decrudded" by operating
them a few dozen times to scrape off the oxidation.

The AC cord is one of those really old fabric-covered types. The place
where it goes into the base of the house is just a hole in the wood with
no fitting or stress relief. There is no obvious wear that I can see,
but it all seems a little unsafe to me.

You're right. I would replace the cord with a more modern one and add
strain relief if it's not too hard to access the point of entry. If it is.
I would probably use some low-temp hot melt glue to create one. Not pretty,
but it's held when I've had to do it. You could cut the cord a few inches
from the hole and slide protective tubing of some sort to protect the wire's
insulation. Then either solder a newer line cord, the old line cord or an
in-line power switch to the bit left sticking out. You could also wrap the
cord that sticks out of the hole with a enough layers of black electrical
tape and then push that bulge into the hole to create strain relief of
sorts. Old cloth covered wire without a strain relief bothers me. I've
rebuilt items with similar cords that looked intact but that crumbled in
short order when they were flexed just a little bit. On the other hand,
most of the original wiring in the my house is cloth covered. I've since
added new circuits with 12/2 romex to take most of the load off the old
wires where I could. But I digress . . .

I think the next step is to clean the sockets, cycle the switches,
install
the replacement bulbs and take it from there.

I managed to get under the house. The whole bottom is covered and glued
shut. I'm starting to think that this wasn't that well made. I'm tempted
to cut the cord and go without lights for now. If the little girl really
gets into it (right now she's more into Buzz Lightyear), I'll consider
taking it apart and installing LEDs and a battery pack.

That sounds like serious deconstruction of the house would be involved. I'd
wait and see how it goes over first. Rebuilding using LED's and batteries
or a small wall wart (the plug in transformer-rectifier that are used for
chargers and such) It might be a perfect teaching opportunity to involve the
youngster with. You could even buy some cheap solar garden lights and turn
it into a solar powered doll house. (-:

Anyway, thanks for the thoughtful and patient help.

That's why we're here. Well most of us. A few seem to think it's open mike
night at their local comedy club, but that's Usenet.

--
Bobby G. - It's 58F degrees at night in December in DC. Maybe global
warming theorists are right!

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:02:00 -0800, Jennifer Murphy
wrote:


That sounds right. Infinite resistance means the filament is broken and
the
bulb is dead. You should be able to confirm that with a magnifying
glass.
If they were run at double their rating, the filament damage should be
very
obvious and might include blackening of the bulb's interior.

The filaments all look OK. A couple are somewhat blackened.

I like to flick the bulb with my finger. Often a filament is broken
but the gap is so small, I can't tell until I do that, but after that,
the filament vibrates for a couple seconds. If it vibrates, it's
broken.

Gawd. It's late at night and my vision's blurry so I first read that as "I
like to lick the bulb" thinking to myself: "Is Micky CRAZY?!" (-: Anyway,
yes, that's a good way to find a broken filament. I think Jennifer's
continuity tests are probably accurate even if she can't see the filament
break.

Are you living in Balto now? We've got enough posters in the Baltowash area
that we should have a get-together. If we've got enough people, maybe we
can convince HD or Lowe's to cater a lunch where they can make a sales pitch
while we eat free food. (-: There's one of each in Laurel, which should be
accessible from DC and Baltimore.

--
Bobby G.

"mike" wrote in message
...
Jennifer Murphy wrote:

stuff snipped

Any comments or suggestions?

First problem is that you ignored advice and bought an autoranging meter.
TURN OFF THE AUTORANGING.
Dig around in the manual and look for range hold or range lock or
something similar. Set it to the 20V range (maybe 40V depending on the
meter) and leave it there while measuring voltage. You'll have to lock
it again if you change modes.

Considering future uses as well as the current one, I think she did fine
with an autoranger. I think it's far more useful to a novice than a
dedicated range meter and probably less expensive, too. The problem is
obviously getting the probes in place to read the voltage.

You've given few details, but some assumptions can be made.
There are always exceptions, but usually...

Where does the power come from?
If it's a battery, it's DC.
If it's a transformer, it's AC.

What if it's a transformer with a rectifier? (-: (But I don't think so in
this old a device.)

How are they connected?
If you can get one light to work in a socket, it's parallel.

That's been established. They're parallel.

2.5 vac 0.3a #14 flashlight bulbs x 12 = 3.6 amps.

11 ohms cold seems about 5x too high for that bulb. You sure you've
got #14 bulbs?

Damn you Micky, now I have to get up from my nice warm bed to grab some
bulbs and my ohm meter.

[time passes]

I got a reading of 1.1 ohms for my bulbs so you're right. I suspect an
autoranging decimal error of some sort or skin contact interfering with the
reading. Several of my bulbs in storage had substantial corrosion on the
button contact that affected the readings as well.

Short the meter leads and measure resistance of the leads. It's never
zero and sometimes a lot more if the probes are defective or just cheap
or connections are corroded. Subtract that number from your bulb
measurement.

I don't think it matters much as dead bulbs are an "either/or" proposition.
Dead or not. Some small resistance or none at all. If she has an audio
continuity function, a beep is good, none is dead.

#14 MINIATURE BULB E10 BASE - 2.47 Volt 0.30 Amp Miniature Screw (E10)
Base 0.50 MSCP, C-2R Filament Design, 15 Average Rated Hours, 0.94"
Maximum Overall Length #14 Miniature Bulb

NOTE that it's rated for 15 hours average life. Might wanna change
to a different bulb. Then you'll need a different transformer, but
12V bulbs on a 12V surplus laptop power supply works well. Cheap
non-regulated wall warts have small transformers and have serious
regulation problems as noted below.

That is pretty rotten life expectancy but is completely in line with almost
all the bulbs being burned out. Have you come across many 12VDC laptop
supplies? Everything I've got runs from 15 to 18VDC. Maybe times have
changed. The key word in finding a power supply for this app, as you've
noted, is "Regulated." Unfortunately not all regulated power supplies are
marked thusly but a simple check with a voltmeter usually tell you. All the
unregulated power supplies I've tested run several volts above rated voltage
without load. .

If it's a battery, it won't last long. If it's AC, the transformer
should be as big as your fist. If it's much smaller, it's gonna have
a lot of secondary impedance. What that means is that it's sized
for max load. Designed properly, the lamps will work fine. Problem
is that one burns out reducing the load and the voltage goes up increasing
the stress on the others. Like dominoes, they start failing at
an increasing rate. That's why you've got one left that works.
There's another more subtle problem. About 70 years ago, the line
voltage increased from 110 to 120V. The life of a bulb goes down
MUCH faster than the voltage goes up. That can be a problem
for a bulb with a design life (at proper voltage) of 15 hours.

I would have expected someone to know enough back then to use a lower than
rated voltage to increase the life expectancy of the bulbs. I agree with
your reasoning about why only one bulb is still lit. However, I think
instead of yanking the transformer out or rewiring that she look into
finding the same size bulb but with a much higher voltage. Won't be as
bright but won't burn out as often.

Your problem is likely bad connections in the circuit.
This can be corroded connections at the socket or corrosion
inside the socket where the lamp contacts it or corrosion on the
bulb itself. Sometimes, people just twist wires together to
make connections.

GACK!!!!! I know it, I've seen it and just don't believe people do it. I
got an electric wheelchair for a steal for my Dad because someone had simply
twisted (WITHOUT TAPE!) the connections to the two 12V 60A batteries
together and the chair lurched as it moved. The seller made me sign a
receipt that said "runs smoothly" because it managed not to burp during my
test ride. I took the risk on a brand new $3,000 heavy-duty chair for $150.
Fixed it for 50 cents worth of heavy duty wirenuts. FWIW, the wires that
were twisted together were between the main fuse and the battery. Those big
60A SLA batteries could have made quite a mess of things if they touched.

After 70 years, corrosion causes the connection
to fail. You might measure unloaded voltage at the end of the lamp
string, but a bulb won't light in that socket.

You should have two wires leaving whatever powers it running together
in parallel throughout the house with each bulb tapped into the pair.
If you can tell where the wire runs, you should be able to tell, from
which sockets work and which don't, where the break is.

You can measure the resistance of the wiring, but it's
sensitive to contact corrosion at the probe point and it's easy to infer
a break where none exists.
Remember to short the probes in ohms mode and lock the range
so you won't see all the autoranging artifacts.

Dude, even I don't know what you're referring to here, I'm betting Jennifer
won't either! (-"

If you put the lamp in the far end of the wire, you can
measure the voltage at each socket. But if access is limited
you risk shorting the connection and smoking something.

From the symptoms, I'd guess that you have corroded connections AND the
wrong bulb type.

What's the voltage at the supply end of the circuit with the one-good
bulb burning?

Are we having fun yet?

I'm betting about now the intended recipient and the giver might get a
bigger kick out of throwing the house in a wood-chipper that rewiring it.
Testing all those sockets without some sort of socket adapter probably is
never going to happen, although it's what a thorough electrogeek would do.
I just found a couple of dead bulbs (in the good bulb drawer!) by testing
for resistance so I'm betting I could solder up a "socket probe" pretty
quickly. It's much easier to do on 110VAC sockets by using a screw in
socket adapter.

--
Bobby G.

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:55:07 -0800, mike wrote:

stuff snipped

First thing we need to know is what the voltage is at the secondary
of the transformer (which WILL be AC) and if there is anything between
the transformer and the switches (like a rectifier). It is UNLIKELY
there is a rectifier because there is no advantage to using DC on the
bulbs. The #14 bulb is rated at 15 hours at 2.5 volts, and if the
voltage is only 1.5 volts the lights will be dimmer (but the light is
only for "realism" so it does not need to be full brightness) and the
lifespan will be in the hundreds of hours.. This was commonly done in
doll houses and scenery for train sets etc.

From what Jennifer has said, I don't expect we'll be seeing those readings
any time soon. It's really hard to get to those sockets without an adapter
of some sort. The best we can hope for (and it's a pretty good indicator)
is that we can assume the voltage is not too much above 3 volts because the
bulb would glow very dimly if underpowered and very brightly if overpowered.
From what Jen said, it looks about right, if not a little dim. I suspect
the original builder knew that the bulbs needed slight underpowering to last
a longer time.

Generally speeking the operating resistance of a tungsten bulb is
ABOUT10-12 times it's cold resistance - and measuring the cold
resistance of a #14 bulb, other than to determine if it is open or
not, is rather futile.

God, the perfect straight line! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! (-:

I'm surprised you guys even got her to buy a meter since it's probably not
going to be very helpful. I can imagine how hard it is to position the
probes for this application. That's OK, though. Everyone should own a
meter and know how to use it. I hope she got an audio continuity meter that
beeps when there's continuity. That's all that matters in this case -
knowing that the bulbs have broken filaments. No sense in glazing over a
neophyte's eyes with technotalk. I've done so much tech support I can
"hear" people's eyes glaze over when I am on the phone with them. (-: It's
an art.

It is a nominal .75 watt bulb, with a HOT resistance of roughly 8
ohms, so the cold resistance is closer to 1 ohm than 11 - which is
why measuring the resistance is futile.

Yet another reason to not even try, especially if a consignment of
replacement bulbs is on the way. The wrong ones will burn out very quickly.
I'm betting that since the last bulb she has lights in a few sockets, she
knows all she needs to know about the transformer, especially if it's sealed
in tight (bad design without an access panel).

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:30:41 -0500, wrote:


Are we having fun yet?
First thing we need to know is what the voltage is at the secondary
of the transformer (which WILL be AC) and if there is anything between
the transformer and the switches (like a rectifier). It is UNLIKELY
there is a rectifier because there is no advantage to using DC on the
bulbs. The #14 bulb is rated at 15 hours at 2.5 volts, and if the
voltage is only 1.5 volts the lights will be dimmer (but the light is
only for "realism" so it does not need to be full brightness)

Dim light is okay if they are dancing or watching tv, but if they are
doing homework or reading, a brighter light is much better.

Anyone ever see one of the few one hour TwiZone eps with Robert Duvall (with
hair!) called, IIRC, "The Dollhouse?"

--
Bobby G.

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message

stuff snipped

To make the long story short, a new box had half the fuses bad as
I started checking them before I installed them. This is not the only time
this as hapened. I had repaired the equipment the first time, but the new
,
bad, fuses caused me to spend a lot of wasted time.

Bulbs, batteries and fuses all get tested before installation. Especially
batteries. Must have been 10 times that I've been fooled by "dead in the
package" batteries. I discovered two bad bulbs tonight, allegedly new in
the package, when testing for resistance.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 10 times, I'm getting out my meter!

--
Bobby G.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
.. .
I've broken those bulbs when I was a kid. I'd much rather just read the
socket. The sockets are inside the doll house, and not easy to get at the
sockets. Your idea needs more thought.

Agreed. The best thing to do would be to take a short piece of dowel rod,
use a brass screw at the center of one end attached to insulated wire to act
as the bulb center contact, wrap some bare wire around the outside of the
dowel to server as the socket wall contact and hook those leads to the
meter's probes with alligator clips. That would take about 10 minutes in
the shop and has a big advantage over any screw-in method of not having the
wires twist as you screw it in. The dowel tested should be "push and read."

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message

stuff snipped

I don't throw away bad parts until I have everything working.

I don't throw away bad parts. Period. (-: Unless there's absolutely
nothing I can cannibalize or jury rig later.

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message

stuff snipped

Now dangerous are 6 or 12 volts light bulbs, or the wires supplying
them? You can't even feel the current with your hands, only if you
put the leads on your tongue. (OTOH, 110 volts on your tongue are
very very bad.)

Lethal. One of the very first stories I reported on when I became a police
reporter was one of a little 3 year old kid who was on the kitchen counter
and kissed his reflection in the toaster. DOA. It turned out that the
insides of the toaster had been mangled by repeated attempts to remove stuck
items with metal forks. He apparently made contact with the sink rim with
his foot.

I'm thinking there's probably an old model train transformer in that house -
they had multiple taps and short-circuit protection that made a funny
"tick-boom" sort of sound when activated.

--
Bobby G.

wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

You need to flex those old ords and listen for "rusling" ir sounds
like moving something in sand. If you hear that, DON"T PLUG IT IN. If
it is quiet and flexible it SHOULD be OK. It LIKELY has a knot tied in
it inside the base of the house as a strain relief (was common
practice in the fifties / sixties)

Good point. And not just any knot, but an Underwriter's knot:

http://electrical.about.com/od/wirin...writerknot.htm

--
Bobby G.

"bob haller" wrote in message
news:28267e64-ef7f-4a02-8f25-

stuff snipped

most older radios have NON POLARIZED PLUGS and hot chassis. along with
no ground

a real hazard......

these sort of issues are why a wiring upgrade may be a good idea

Good advice, but for radios. I doubt there's very much metal in the unit
anywhere so there's nothing really to ground. As Micky pointed out, the
only potentially dangerous part is the line cord. I don't think polarized
plugs are much of an issue, either, because of the transformer and what
sounds to be all wood construction. The OP can tell us if there's metal
used that could become a shock hazard. The easiest solution to all of that
is to install a GFCI plug.

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:23:32 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Well, you KNOW, the DOLL house might be a HOT CHASSIS,

I'll bet 10,000 dollars that thks doll house has no chassis at all,
let alone a hot one. Shake?

I agree. Highly unlikely, but anything's possible. Install a GFCI plug
like the one that came with my air conditioner and polarization and
grounding aren't much of a issue anymore.

--
Bobby G.

Sorry, Mitt, I am not one to gamble. You shouldn't either, being a Mormon
and all.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...eys-10000-bet/

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:23:32 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Well, you KNOW, the DOLL house might be a HOT CHASSIS,

I'll bet 10,000 dollars that thks doll house has no chassis at all,
let alone a hot one. Shake?

I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for "I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:21:02 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I've broken those bulbs when I was a kid. I'd much rather just read the
socket. The sockets are inside the doll house, and not easy to get at the
sockets. Your idea needs more thought.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

wrote in message
.. .


You COULD always smash one of the dead bulbs, and connect the leads to
both filament supports to measure the voltage. You DO need to be
carefull installing and removing the "bulb" though - - - .

remember I said "You COULD" and "You DO need to be carefull " - - -
-

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for "I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

I agree. I think to do it right you'd at least need to clip or solder lead
out wires to the filament posts. I also think that's beyond the OP's skill
set (no offense - it might even be beyond mind because I don't solder small
things very well. I don't solder big things very well, either, come to
think of it. You might make something out of a Bic stick pen tube that
would work - the BIC tube has solved many a home engineering project.

--
Bobby G.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
Sorry, Mitt, I am not one to gamble. You shouldn't either, being a Mormon
and all.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...eys-10000-bet/

I don't know whether these bets are really the kind of gambling that's
prohibited, but I guess it's gambling. Way back when Atlantic City first
opened its casinos, my magazine sent me to write an article and staked me
$200. It lasted five days doing nothing but playing very conservative
roulette and the poker machines late at night. I even got a royal flush (on
a 25 cent bet) which paid not very much. But in the end I lost every cent
of that $200 and all that's left are a couple of souvenir chips from the
Playboy Club. The bottom line is that they grind you down, inexorably.
I've not felt the urge to gamble or buy a lottery ticket (except for a dream
that had a six-digit number in it - I lost) since. Yes, you can count cards
and win at blackjack until they take your DNA, your picture, your
fingerprints and ban you for life in all the casinos that cooperate.

--
Bobby G.

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:34:53 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "

stuff snipped

You need 12-14 watt LED
60 watt equivalen(7 watt)t is about $20 at american Home Depot stores.
About 50% more in Canada.
Wholesaled.com has 9watt for $32
Or check EBAY and order direct from China.

My problem with these bulbs is that they were likely designed very recently
so lifespan estimates are just pie in the sky. No one will really know how
long ten year LED bulbs bought today will last until ten years from now. (-"

--
Bobby G.

You missed my point, again. I'm done.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Robert Green" wrote in message
...
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for "I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

I agree. I think to do it right you'd at least need to clip or solder lead
out wires to the filament posts. I also think that's beyond the OP's skill
set (no offense - it might even be beyond mind because I don't solder small
things very well. I don't solder big things very well, either, come to
think of it. You might make something out of a Bic stick pen tube that
would work - the BIC tube has solved many a home engineering project.

--
Bobby G.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:05:23 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"micky" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:30:41 -0500, wrote:


Are we having fun yet?
First thing we need to know is what the voltage is at the secondary
of the transformer (which WILL be AC) and if there is anything between
the transformer and the switches (like a rectifier). It is UNLIKELY
there is a rectifier because there is no advantage to using DC on the
bulbs. The #14 bulb is rated at 15 hours at 2.5 volts, and if the
voltage is only 1.5 volts the lights will be dimmer (but the light is
only for "realism" so it does not need to be full brightness)

Dim light is okay if they are dancing or watching tv, but if they are
doing homework or reading, a brighter light is much better.

Anyone ever see one of the few one hour TwiZone eps with Robert Duvall (with
hair!) called, IIRC, "The Dollhouse?"

Maybe. I think I have a vague recollection.

I might have grown up there.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:28:38 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for "I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

--

With your annoying top posting, and your triply annoying - in the
ilne above, people replying to you by just clicking reply delete
everything needed to know what "your idea" is. If you're not willing
to stop top-posting, get rid of the - line.

The rest of my reply is where it should be.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:21:02 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I've broken those bulbs when I was a kid. I'd much rather just read the
socket. The sockets are inside the doll house, and not easy to get at the
sockets. Your idea needs more thought.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

wrote in message
. ..


You COULD always smash one of the dead bulbs, and connect the leads to
both filament supports to measure the voltage. You DO need to be
carefull installing and removing the "bulb" though - - - .

remember I said "You COULD" and "You DO need to be carefull " - - -

What one could do is remove the bulb, break the glass gently with
pliers, and use the wires with alligator clips to connect to each
filament end support. The radio shack alligator clips are mostly
covered in vinyle and a piece of tape around one of them will help to
prevent shorting. Then put the bulb back in.

If that doesn't work solder a wire to each end support, bend the wires
away from each other , or put some tape or better yet glue of the
right sort in between them. and then put the bubl back in. .

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:50:01 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
. ..
I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for "I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

I agree. I think to do it right you'd at least need to clip or solder lead
out wires to the filament posts. I also think that's beyond the OP's skill
set (no offense - it might even be beyond mind because I don't solder small
things very well. I don't solder big things very well, either, come to
think of it. You might make something out of a Bic stick pen tube that
would work - the BIC tube has solved many a home engineering project.

Do you save used pens? I have a hard time explaining to people why I
save so many things that don't work.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:20:25 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"micky" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:02:00 -0800, Jennifer Murphy
wrote:


That sounds right. Infinite resistance means the filament is broken and
the
bulb is dead. You should be able to confirm that with a magnifying
glass.
If they were run at double their rating, the filament damage should be
very
obvious and might include blackening of the bulb's interior.

The filaments all look OK. A couple are somewhat blackened.

I like to flick the bulb with my finger. Often a filament is broken
but the gap is so small, I can't tell until I do that, but after that,
the filament vibrates for a couple seconds. If it vibrates, it's
broken.

P&M

Gawd. It's late at night and my vision's blurry so I first read that as "I
like to lick the bulb" thinking to myself: "Is Micky CRAZY?!" (-: Anyway,

LOL

yes, that's a good way to find a broken filament. I think Jennifer's
continuity tests are probably accurate even if she can't see the filament
break.

Yes, you're right, and I might be wrong in that flicking and licking
probably doesn't work well for really small bulbs. I do that mostly
with 60 watt bulbs, or automobile turn signal bulbs (the big ones,
made for American cars and real men.) and maybe one size smaller.

Are you living in Balto now? We've got enough posters in the Baltowash area
that we should have a get-together.

Yes, I'm in Balltimore. A get-together would be great. I read
another group and we had one and it was a lot of fun.

If we've got enough people, maybe we
can convince HD or Lowe's to cater a lunch where they can make a sales pitch
while we eat free food. (-: There's one of each in Laurel, which should be
accessible from DC and Baltimore.

Laurel is fine.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:11:18 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:


Bobby G. - It's 58F degrees at night in December in DC. Maybe global
warming theorists are right!

I heard on the radio that it was 55 at 6 in the morning, in Baltimore.
That struck me as strange.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:49:17 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .

stuff snipped

You need to flex those old ords and listen for "rusling" ir sounds
like moving something in sand. If you hear that, DON"T PLUG IT IN. If
it is quiet and flexible it SHOULD be OK. It LIKELY has a knot tied in
it inside the base of the house as a strain relief (was common
practice in the fifties / sixties)

Good point. And not just any knot, but an Underwriter's knot:

http://electrical.about.com/od/wirin...writerknot.htm

Hmmm. I''ll have to study this. I spent a lot of time in high school
trying to tie one of these things, with a model right in front of me.
They never came out symmetric.

On Dec 22, 11:20*am, micky wrote:
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:11:18 -0500, "Robert Green"

wrote:

Bobby G. *- It's 58F degrees at night in December in DC. *Maybe global
warming theorists are right!

I heard on the radio that it was 55 at 6 in the morning, in Baltimore.
That struck me as strange.

yabbut, it was legitimately cold last week (NoVA) so it all evens
out. Ish.

nate

On 2011-12-22, micky wrote:

http://electrical.about.com/od/wirin...writerknot.htm

Hmmm. I''ll have to study this. I spent a lot of time in high school
trying to tie one of these things, with a model right in front of me.

Lordy! You must be dumber'n a bag o' hammers. (kidding!)

Sounds like the cause may be a learning disorder. Are you perhaps
dyslexic? That might explain it.

nb

--
eschew obfuscation

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:57:10 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
.. .
Sorry, Mitt, I am not one to gamble. You shouldn't either, being a Mormon
and all.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...eys-10000-bet/

It's true, IMO, that the bet offer tends to make Romney look rich, and
it's probably the result of being rich.

But the comparisons with what the average Iowan makes seem not too
relevant to me. He wasn't offerent to bet an average Iowan**. Romney
should have said, Well, Rick [Perry] has a lot more money than the
average Iowan.

**I don't know how Perry's statement that he lacked indoor plumbing
until he was 6 squares with wikip "His father, a Democrat, was a
long-time Haskell County commissioner and school board member."
Sounds like a guy with indoor plumbing to me.


And the last person to complain aobut this should have been Newt.
Remember in his first campaign, earlier this year, it turned out he
had a $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany's and his reply was "That's
just the way people do business." as if the reporter and the rest of
us were stupid for not knowing that. I woudl bet that as few
people can afford to be t10,000 dollars, about the same number could
get a 500G line of credit, but a lot fewer think that is "the way
people do business". If I were in that situation, I'd think, That's
the way *rich* people do business, but I woudln't say it.

I don't know whether these bets are really the kind of gambling that's
prohibited, but I guess it's gambling. Way back when Atlantic City first
opened its casinos, my magazine sent me to write an article and staked me
$200. It lasted five days doing nothing but playing very conservative
roulette and the poker machines late at night. I even got a royal flush (on
a 25 cent bet) which paid not very much. But in the end I lost every cent
of that $200 and all that's left are a couple of souvenir chips from the
Playboy Club. The bottom line is that they grind you down, inexorably.
I've not felt the urge to gamble or buy a lottery ticket (except for a dream
that had a six-digit number in it - I lost) since. Yes, you can count cards
and win at blackjack until they take your DNA, your picture, your
fingerprints and ban you for life in all the casinos that cooperate.

In college I knew a guy from San Diego, who said he made money by
using the sytsem in Beat the Dealer, and I still believe he did.
When he drove home in June, I went with him as far as Las Vegas and
tried the system too. I could remember the number of tens dealt, and
the number of non-10's, I could divide them in my head and get an
answer. I could remember the 10x10 array of numbers and look up the
number in the table, in my head, based on the two cards that the
dealer had showing, but I couldnt' do the last step: When I got that
number from the table, and my number from dividing, I couldn't keep
track of which one was higher or what to do based on which was higher,
whether I should draw another card or not.

I was there a week and lost 40 dollars.

This story has more very interesting twists, if anyone is interested.

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:11:18 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:


Bobby G. - It's 58F degrees at night in December in DC. Maybe global
warming theorists are right!

I heard on the radio that it was 55 at 6 in the morning, in Baltimore.
That struck me as strange.

It's been like that for a while. My heating bill is half of what it was for
the same period last year. I don't mind that. I just hope we don't see a
string of 100+ F degree days in the summer. I dislike the heat a lot more
than the cold.

--
Bobby G.

"N8N" wrote in message
...
On Dec 22, 11:20 am, micky wrote:
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:11:18 -0500, "Robert Green"

wrote:

Bobby G. - It's 58F degrees at night in December in DC. Maybe global
warming theorists are right!

I heard on the radio that it was 55 at 6 in the morning, in Baltimore.
That struck me as strange.

yabbut, it was legitimately cold last week (NoVA) so it all evensout.
Ish.

nate

You gotta admit it's been weirdly warm for the last couple of months. I can
remember some God-awful cold at this time of year. We've had major and
serious snowstorms happen on Nov. 11 and killer frosts in October. When I
first moved in the temp dropped to 6F and the furnace overloaded it cycled
so fast. It's almost Christmas and it's 61F here. That's not right! (-:

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:05:23 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"micky" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:30:41 -0500, wrote:


Are we having fun yet?
First thing we need to know is what the voltage is at the secondary
of the transformer (which WILL be AC) and if there is anything between
the transformer and the switches (like a rectifier). It is UNLIKELY
there is a rectifier because there is no advantage to using DC on the
bulbs. The #14 bulb is rated at 15 hours at 2.5 volts, and if the
voltage is only 1.5 volts the lights will be dimmer (but the light is
only for "realism" so it does not need to be full brightness)

Dim light is okay if they are dancing or watching tv, but if they are
doing homework or reading, a brighter light is much better.

Anyone ever see one of the few one hour TwiZone eps with Robert Duvall
(with
hair!) called, IIRC, "The Dollhouse?"

Maybe. I think I have a vague recollection.

I might have grown up there.

Memory lapse! It's called "Minature" - searching on Dollhouse got me all
sorts of Russian girlie sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniatu..._Twilight_Zone)

Charley Parkes thinks he sees a figure in a museum dollhouse that comes
alive. Charley returns to the museum
numerous times and gazes into the dollhouse . . . sees the doll in the house
come alive.

Charley falls in love with the figure, a woman, but is institutionalized
because of his belief that the figure of the woman (as well as a housekeeper
and a man) is alive. He eventually is "rehabilitated" and is returned to the
care of his mother.

You'll have to go to the link to read how it ends. You're close.

--
Bobby G.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
news:IaIIq.216

You missed my point, again. I'm done.

Oh, poor you. Life is SO hard. You just try and try and no one understands
you. Did you give up this easily during your two year Mormon mission.
Seems you give up pretty easily. On the other hand, if someone doesn't get
what I am saying, I regroup and try again.

If you really had a point maybe a bigger hat will cover it up and no one
will notice. (-:

I'm glad that you're done - now you have to call somebody to wipe you. g

If you want to be a prick, I can accommodate you. (-: If you just want to
be a scold, I can help you there, too. If you want to be a very bad stand
up comedian, I'll gladly heckle you. Name your poison.

I've found, as someone who once made a living writing, if you readers don't
get your points, you probably didn't make them as well as you thought you
did. Should we start over and try to remember that we are supposed to be
helping someone with their dollhouse problem? Or do you want to continue
playing canis muy macho?

You obviously disapprove of the currently proposed solution and I agreed. I
suggested an alternative and even offered to fabricate such a tester for the
OP. Do you have better solution or a better offer? How is the OP supposed
to measure the voltage present in the very small bulb sockets stuck in a
teeny, cramped dollhouse?

--
Bobby G.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Previous and interwined top and bottom posted message fragments below this
line:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

"Robert Green" wrote in message
...
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for
"I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

I agree. I think to do it right you'd at least need to clip or solder
lead
out wires to the filament posts. I also think that's beyond the OP's
skill
set (no offense - it might even be beyond mind because I don't solder
small
things very well. I don't solder big things very well, either, come to
think of it. You might make something out of a Bic stick pen tube that
would work - the BIC tube has solved many a home engineering project.

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:50:01 -0500, "Robert Green"
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message

I say again: I think your idea needs more thought. Which is gentle for
"I
don't think it is practical, or workable."

I agree. I think to do it right you'd at least need to clip or solder
lead
out wires to the filament posts. I also think that's beyond the OP's
skill
set (no offense - it might even be beyond mind because I don't solder
small
things very well. I don't solder big things very well, either, come to
think of it. You might make something out of a Bic stick pen tube that
would work - the BIC tube has solved many a home engineering project.

Do you save used pens? I have a hard time explaining to people why I
save so many things that don't work.

Is the Pope a woodsman? Does a bear shi+ in the Vatican? (-:

I neatly label boxes as "Misc. Fab. Material, Plastic" If you're neat about
it, it's not technically hoarding.

--
Bobby G.

"micky" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:49:17 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .

stuff snipped

You need to flex those old ords and listen for "rusling" ir sounds
like moving something in sand. If you hear that, DON"T PLUG IT IN. If
it is quiet and flexible it SHOULD be OK. It LIKELY has a knot tied in
it inside the base of the house as a strain relief (was common
practice in the fifties / sixties)

Good point. And not just any knot, but an Underwriter's knot:

http://electrical.about.com/od/wirin...writerknot.htm

Hmmm. I''ll have to study this. I spent a lot of time in high school
trying to tie one of these things, with a model right in front of me.
They never came out symmetric.

I've tied no more than a few in my life because I've scrounged so many nice
cords with built in strain reliefs for anything I build.

--
Bobby G.

On 12/22/2011 11:32 AM, Robert Green wrote:
....

You gotta admit it's been weirdly warm for the last couple of months. I can
remember some God-awful cold at this time of year. We've had major and
serious snowstorms happen on Nov. 11 and killer frosts in October. When I
first moved in the temp dropped to 6F and the furnace overloaded it cycled
so fast. It's almost Christmas and it's 61F here. That's not right! (-:
....

Well, we had a whole bunch of 70F Christmas days/weeks when I was a kid
some 45-55 year ago but I can't recall one out of the 40s at best the
last 10-14 years or so. Right now were 65 on Sat/Sun and snowing and
blizzard conditions Tues and snowing again today lightly.

Things change and there are and have always been short and longer term
cycles and folks remember only a _very_ short time...

--

On 22 Dec 2011 17:13:08 GMT, notbob wrote:

On 2011-12-22, micky wrote:

http://electrical.about.com/od/wirin...writerknot.htm

Hmmm. I''ll have to study this. I spent a lot of time in high school
trying to tie one of these things, with a model right in front of me.

Lordy! You must be dumber'n a bag o' hammers. (kidding!)

Sounds like the cause may be a learning disorder. Are you perhaps
dyslexic? That might explain it.

No. I'm isolexic, Or maybe they said photolexic. Or polyunlexic.

But I think maybe the real problem was that we didn't have any new
wire and the old stuff had curves already in it. I didnt' want to
cut off 6 inches to get to the part that was straight.

Also, it wasn't the knot at the top but just an overhand knot I was
doing, and one side always seemed to overpower the other.. I
eventually stopped making knots inside plugs on the theory I never
pull the plugs out by the cord anyhow.

nb

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:28:23 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"micky" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:11:18 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:


Bobby G. - It's 58F degrees at night in December in DC. Maybe global
warming theorists are right!

I heard on the radio that it was 55 at 6 in the morning, in Baltimore.
That struck me as strange.

It's been like that for a while. My heating bill is half of what it was for
the same period last year. I don't mind that. I just hope we don't see a
string of 100+ F degree days in the summer. I dislike the heat a lot more
than the cold.

You can always put on more clothes, but there's a limit to how naked
you can get (fully naked is the limit and not even that in public.)

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:38:35 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"micky" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:05:23 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

"micky" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:30:41 -0500, wrote:


Are we having fun yet?
First thing we need to know is what the voltage is at the secondary
of the transformer (which WILL be AC) and if there is anything between
the transformer and the switches (like a rectifier). It is UNLIKELY
there is a rectifier because there is no advantage to using DC on the
bulbs. The #14 bulb is rated at 15 hours at 2.5 volts, and if the
voltage is only 1.5 volts the lights will be dimmer (but the light is
only for "realism" so it does not need to be full brightness)

Dim light is okay if they are dancing or watching tv, but if they are
doing homework or reading, a brighter light is much better.

Anyone ever see one of the few one hour TwiZone eps with Robert Duvall
(with
hair!) called, IIRC, "The Dollhouse?"

Maybe. I think I have a vague recollection.

I might have grown up there.

Memory lapse! It's called "Minature" - searching on Dollhouse got me all
sorts of Russian girlie sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniatu..._Twilight_Zone)

Charley Parkes thinks he sees a figure in a museum dollhouse that comes
alive. Charley returns to the museum
numerous times and gazes into the dollhouse . . . sees the doll in the house
come alive.

Charley falls in love with the figure, a woman, but is institutionalized
because of his belief that the figure of the woman (as well as a housekeeper
and a man) is alive. He eventually is "rehabilitated" and is returned to the
care of his mother.

You'll have to go to the link to read how it ends. You're close.

I'm pretty sure I saw it. All the episodes of that show were good.
Apparently Rod Serling practically worked himself to death to write
and (produce and direct?) so many episodes so quickly.

I thought there was something wrong with me that I didn't ike "The
Outer Limits", which I somehow thought was the sequel to the Twilight
Zone. But now they show Limits on tv every night, and it's not at
all like the Twilight Zone and I see why I didnt' like it.