Thread: flickering light question

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I'm looking for a light bulb that flickers, just a regular light bulb, nothing shaped funny. I've searched through this site, googled it, and I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Everything I find is shaped like a flame or a candle. Does anyone know of a regular shaped light bulb that flickers? And I don't want a steady pulse, I want a flicker, like an old light bulb that's about to die. Or if anyone knows how to make my light bulbs work that way, that's fine too. Any help would be great.

Hello , I dont know if this helps but I read somwhere that using a starter out of a flouresent fixture will give you the effect you're looking for.

Flicker Fire there ya go boss just click on (you build it )

Making a incandescent bulb flicker with a florescent starter is a pretty easy project. I'd recommend using starter sockets instead of trying to solder directly to the starter itself. I built mine in one of those cheap blue junction boxes you can get at Home Depot or Lowes. That, a double outlet module and cover plate plus the starter, socket and a power cord is all you need. It's cheap too!

Opentrack.. where do you get your starter sockets? I haven't been able to find any and I've been looking for almost two years..

OTD, try Orchard Supply Hardware. I think they have stores in your area. I'd call first to confirm, but I've always found them there.

Rymbaby, I think you can use one of the Cooper Wiring Devices "button flashers" based on what you posted you were looking for. You place it in the bottom of your medium based lamp socket, add the bulb on top, and when it heats up the circuit breaks and the bulb will flicker/flash so many times a minute. I remember seeing these in Ace Hardware last year when I was in there. Here's a link to the Cooper website so you can see what it looks like, comes in 3 variations or "speeds".

http://www.cooperwiringdevices.com/p...pdf/R%2017.pdf BTW the site takes a little long to load the pdf file link but the product is right there on the top of the first page that comes up.

The other suggestion would be to find a Lighting FX box. You plug the box into your electrical outlet, the lamp with the bulb plugs into that, and you adjust a dial that is tuned into the amount of noise (or music or thunder track) in the room and the light from the lamp bulb fluctuates based on the level you set with the dial.

Here's a link to an FX box (this one has a xmas tree on it instead of a lightning bolt like the model typically sold for Halloween, but it works the same way and is cheap and in stock--xmas stuff is always cheaper). BTW these type of boxes seem to be harder to come by these days and if you think you may want one I'd suggest moving quickly.

Hope one of these solutions is right for you.

I purchased mine from Greybar Electric. There is a warehouse right up the street from my shop and I believe they also ship...

Graybar | Specializing In Supply Chain Management Services

It looks like Happ has them for a good price too...

Socket for Fluorescent Starter

I tried Home Depot, Lowes and even some local specialty hardware stores without any success.

Thanks everyone for all your input! I'm sure I'll find something that will work.

Otaku.. thanks for the suggestion of trying Osh.. My son found some at the store near where he lives.. The closest one to me is about 45 miles away and they couldn't tell me if they had any starter sockets or not? Osh evidently calls them "adapter sockets" according to what my son found...
OpenTrackRacer... I tried to order some starter sockets on line from Happ but couldn't get the order to go through???? Thanks for the link, though.. I'll keep handy and try again.