I’m trying to make a light bulb run off battery power. This is a project for a stage play. We have an oil lamp, that we want to have a light in it and since we don’t want flames on stage, I want to put in a candelabra type bulb and hook that up to a battery.
How much battery power will I need?
The bulb is a 115 volts. Do I need that many volts to make it come on?
Thanks
There are a lot battery operated ‘candles’ now. They are small, light, and inexpensive. You could easily mount one inside a lantern. I assume you are looking for the flickering effect, otherwise you could just use one those LED lanterns as seen on TV. You won’t easily power a conventional incandescent bulb with small batteries.
how many watts is it? Here are some that are 15 to 40w and run off of 12volts.
The problem is that the oil lamp we are using is an actual antique. I could put on of those candles in it but I would have to damage the to do it.
I think I can put one of those very small candle bulbs into the socket I have.
I have the socket on top of the metal part with the wires running through where the wick would be. I’d like to put the batteries down in where the oil would be.
I think I need a smaller bulb but I do have one.
Should be relatively simple to deconstruct an ‘LED candle’ so that the LED can be soldered onto the wires that pass through the wick channel, and the driver circuit and battery hidden away somewhere else.
I got it working.
For a 9 volt battery, the little “hat” that snaps on and has the wires, what is that called? And can I buy those?
Thanks, except now I have to venture into Radio Shack.
There are a great many easy possibilities here. Take your question to a radio shack or similar store and they will point out which parts will do what you want. Then select what suits you best.
Not willing to suffer for your art?
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha
[catches breath]
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
[wipes tears of laughter out of eyes]
Haven’t been in a radio shack in the last 20 years or so I see.
Actually I had the strangest experience when I went to RS.
I went to their website first and checked to see if it was “in stock” at nearby stores. It said it was, but I’ve had trouble with that previously. So I went to a Shack that I had never been to before on 44th st. It was a little hard to find. I went in and I was the only customer and there were two guys working and they were clearly geeks/nerds. They asked if they could help me and I asked for the snap connector and they went right to where it was in the store. They had two different types and they explained the differences in them and there was no price difference. I bought one and left the store with a strange feeling. Happiness? Satisfaction?
There’s still a good supply of geeks for RS. The problem is teaching them to sell since that’s where the margins are. But some geeks are surprisingly good at that too, so go figure.
I think the main reason RS gets ragged on is that if you need any serious electronics, it’s strictly mail order via Mouser or someplace like that whereas at one time (long ago) RS could be considered a real electronics store.
I’ve built lots of prop lamps for stage performances. You definitely don’t need a 115 V lamp for a prop. In fact, you really do want a low-output lamp so as not to distract from your real stage lighting. There are plenty of tiny flashlights, mountable lamps, fake “tea lights” and the like that you can buy, or you can build your own tiny circuit using small incandescent bulbs or LEDs (Don’t use a “white” LED. These use a broad band phosphor with a blue LED, and the result is unnaturally bluish).
Yeah, the only thing I ever buy from them nowadays are their perfboards because they are much cheaper than elsewhere (I use a lot, even the 6x8 inch ones), and I buy those online ever since the nearest stores stopped stocking them in-store (never mind that I usually buy 10-20 at a time).
As for other components, even if they still had a good selection, places like that don’t carry a lot of the stuff I buy; that is, stuff* that more than basic hobbyists would use, like integrated offline SMPS controllers or advanced MOSFETs optimized for power loss and switching speed, silicon carbide diodes, etc (and most stuff is WAY cheaper; 100 resistors for a dollar? Sure).
*Of course, a lot of the stuff I use can’t be found at places like Mouser either (e.g. SMPS transformers), which I strip out of discarded electronics I pick up (along with many other parts; most of what I buy are semiconductors, commonly used resistor values and bypass capacitors).
**Michael63129: Hmmm, switching power supplies and high voltage diodes. Sounds like somebody is building a death ray or maybe a CO2 laser. 
Actually I have no freakin’ idea, but I figured that would sound good if I just dumped in here real quick before it could register and then said I wasn’t feeling well. OK, gotta go. 
**
Here’s a hanky. You cropped my quote to suit only yourself. I said “Take your question to a radio shack or similar store and they will point out which parts will do what you want.” Would you laugh at similar electronics stores other than radio shack? It could be any electronics parts store, but who can know what store names are in anyone’s area, on the fly?
All thats needed is a selection of luminating components (Led’s or light bulbs, etc) a short length of wire and a battery holder, with a switch optional. Any radio shack would have a selection of these items and could show a novice how to connect them together. Are you saying the stores near you DONT stock these items? Which backwater could That be?
I’ve literally got tons of these items (cause i like rigging lights of all kinds) but my frugal self didn’t get parts from the shack only because of their pricing. This is one application that doesn’t need quality parts, if that was a concern.
I dunno, was it what you needed? Whats that feeling you get when realizing you bought something you didn’t need because it was a little intimidating to know two geeks were staring at your every movement? I always get distracted or indecisive by different parts costing the same, when it makes more sense that they shouldn’t be. Similarly, i’d want to get out of there asap if two bored clerks were eyeballing me, their only customer, while i deliberated that in my mind. (ya, a 'lil insecurity)
They seem to be an outlet for cell phones lately - i acquired one from them when sprint offered me a free phone update. While there, i checked out their components drawers, to see if they carried some items i may need in the future - they did. Wound up also buying a hand held microscope for identifying garden pests because i was looking for one and nobody carried it. But it wasn’t worth the time to take it back when it was too !@#$%g hard to focus (worked ok as long as i didn’t hold it - needed to prop it up to use.) oh well. didn’t cost much.
Fortunately for the thread poster, the parts required here dont need to be quality parts. Anything the shack stocks will suffice and they’re guaranteed to have whats needed here. Some wire, a battery holder, and a couple leds or bulb. Any clerk can show how to connect them.
Could you use this? Most of it is already assembled, for convenience.
LED Lantern Kit
A battery can be substituted for the usb power source.