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I occasionally find a lightbulb, especially LED, unlabelled and away from its peers. I built this light bulb tester out of an old cigar box, with a wedge socket in one end and a bayonet in the other. Now, if I can't figure out if an LED is burned-out, or tell what color it is, I put it in my tester and flip the satisfying switch to find out.
Cigar1 (resized).jpgCigar2 (resized).jpgQuoted from mbwalker:Very nice! But you need to lower current rating on the fuse...a LOT! The transformer would go up in flames long before that fuse ever pops.
What amperage would you recommend?
Quoted from mbwalker:Just doing some back of the napkin numbers, the output (secondary) is 6V at 500mA. So 6 x 0.5A = 3W. Converting that to the input (primary side): 3W/120V = 0.025A. But that's assuming there's no loss in the transformer (i.e. 3W in, 3W out), and that's not the case, but a good starting point.
So I'm not sure exactly what fuse you would use, but definitely something with a low current rating (i.e. 0.05A, 0.1A?). I don't know if you can even get that small of a fuse rating. Plus I don't know when the transformer wire actually would melt (you want to fuse to blow before the transformer is damaged).
Maybe look around on Amazon for a fuse assortment kit? Are you going to check incandescent bulbs too? Or just LED?
Sometimes incandescent, in those rare instances where the filament seems intact but doesn't glow under load. Mostly LEDs.
Quoted from mbwalker:A 44 incandescent bulb is rated at 0.25A, so you should be OK there. And a 47 is a little less. So not sure what's going on there.
Getting back to the fuse size, you could maybe put a 0.5A inline the 6V side too since those are probably easier to get than a lower rated one for the primary. Then maybe change to a 0.1A on the 120V side to cover the transformer (still a WAG there).
Sorry - probably overthinking things.
Well, I underthought them, so maybe we'll average out at a good answer. I've got some 250MA fuses, so I'll start there. Thanks for the help!
Quoted from Shredso:Awesome! I would add a 2nd socket to each side. Sometimes LEDs look similar and you need to figure out which is warm white, sunlight, etc.
Good idea! When I have time, I can advance the unit to "Cigar Box V2.0".
Meanwhile, this very-low-tech left side playfield support bar made from an old broom handle.
I fastened a closet dowel socket to the bottom of the cabinet to keep the pole from sliding. I beveled the ends of the broom handle to appropriate angles as well.
The length of the pole was decided by what would work in both a Flight 2000 and a Flash. They both have playfields which flex enough to be scary.
cottonm4 uses a kinked, single pole in the center to do the same job more securely, but my machines still use coins and coin boxes. And yes, I know, the idea of non-original parts or modifications to the cabinet horrify those pinsiders who do near-perfect restoration. I'm just trying to keep my head from being cut off.
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