Bulb coloring

[DIMwit]

for at least 15 to 20 years, or so, I have been buying R30 75 watt reflector floods at the electrical supply house that had "painted" ones. they are painted a pink color that looks great in the den, which has used brick walls and other items that look nicer with colored lighting. I want to replace these with compact fluorescent reflector floods that are colored the same. I have been unable to find them so far using Google, nor finding a paint or lacquer to color plain bulbs.

The incandescent 75 watt bulbs I have been buying appear to have been painted after the manufacture of them, and with a paint that peels from the heat somewhat after a while.

The compact fluorescent bulbs only get warm, so whatever I paint them with does not have to be very heat resistant.

Anybody know what kind of paint or lacquer I can use that will allow enough light through it to be practical in coloring these bulbs?

Thanks,

Bob

[HeyBub]

Contact the painter of the originals?

Or try a gel (colored plastic film) to cover the fixture?

[Pat]

The problem is is that most paint is opaque so it doesn't matter what color you paint them.

Go to a craft store and find the "paint" they use for making "stained glass". I think they also make a film that goes on the glass.

[N8N]

Or use a "candy apple" paint (maybe the same stuff) or just put a lighting gel (from a theater supply house) in between the bulb and the diffuser.

nate

[Joseph Meehan]

As noted the stain glass stuff may work. I don't know how well it will handle heat.

If you try to filter a compact florescent or any florescent, you may find that you are filtering out a lot more light than expected since they tend to be short on the red end of the spectrum anyway.

[Pete C.]

The gel (theatrical color filters) is the best way to do it and will give you the most color options to find the correct one. Try

and find a dealer in your area. Get the big sample booklet and use to test with the actual lamps you intend to use to find the correct color and then buy a sheet or two.

Pete C.

[Dan Espen]

I've used the stained glass paint on the bulbs in my pinball machines. That works OK.

What works best though is a Sharpie. Just use the pen to color the glass of the bulb. You can even use more than one color.

[Father Haskell]

Fingernail polish and model paint are both acrylic lacquer. Thin with clear acrylic lacquer to produce a transparent glaze.

[DIMwit]

Thanks to all; some very good info was given to me. I will try the craft store to see what they have, and will see if the light from the fluorescent bulb is any good after passing through the "filter"

Bob

[Joseph Meehan]

Cool idea.

[Dan Espen]

Those Sharpies are pretty cool. They do a great job writing on CDs too. Lots of other inks just form drops, The Sharpie ink dries smoothly and quickly even on glass.

[wayne]

try

DIMwit wrote:

[Don Klipstein]

There is a concern that the solvent in Sharpie ink will penetrate to and ruin the data in a recordable CD because the data layer is so close to that surface.

However, I have goten away with that so far, even with one recordable CD where I saw from the data-read side the effect of the ink solvent actually penetrating into the data layer and visible altering its reflection characteristics.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Dan Espen]

Thanks.

I did some Googling and there doesn't seem to be any solid evidence of Sharpie caused CD failure, but I guess anything is a concern.

I'm close to finishing ripping our entire vinyl collection of about 400 LPs. I haven't gotten to the 45s yet. If Sharpies cause problems, I guess I'm going to know about it sooner or later.

[Goedjn]

Use the colored gel-filters, like theaters use:

Make sure you leave air gaps, or even the florescents will cook your fixture.

[celticsoc]

I just read your post. Interestingly, I was just at Menard's today and saw tinted compact flourescent bulbs. They were the 13 watt (60 watt incandescent equivalent). They had red, blue, orange, green and yellow, if I recall correctly. I imagine the red, maybe with a few untinted, might give a similar effect to what you seek.

I'm not sure where you are, so you may not have a Menard's nearby. If you don't, I imagine you could contact them via their website. I think the tinted bulbs were manufactured by Feit.

I found the page on Feit's site where they have tinted flourescent: Compact Fluorescent Hope that helps! Ed