This is a first!!

[kansei]

A dim-bulb Variac on the auction site. What will they think of next?

/noaf

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-DIM-BUL...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item2c58f8fe16

 

[jdurbin1]

Well, it's a dim bulb tester but not a variac... I imagine they thought it was worth a few bucks to someone that can't make their own.

John

 

[rifftrax]

Interesting. The linked page on the ebay auction is rather informative. Very cool.

http://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

 

[voltcontrol]

Interesting. The linked page on the ebay auction is rather informative. Very cool.

http://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

Very cool indeed. Saved for future reference, this guy has explained it well and thoroughly.

 

[kcollins4]

Thank god they put a label where the light bulb goes..

 

[EchoWars]

Interesting. The linked page on the ebay auction is rather informative. Very cool.

http://antiqueradio.org/dimbulb.htm

Very cool indeed. Saved for future reference, this guy has explained it well and thoroughly.

Great info on how to use it for old table radios. If you want to use with hi-fi gear, his suggestions for bulb size need to be adjusted upwards significantly.

 

[audiodon]

Nothing oozes quality like large bold letters and exclamation points.

That being said, this might be the right piece for certain people. I wish him luck. At least he's not claiming it as an invention. Not everyone is as good with this stuff as this audience.

 

[uxwbill]

Nothing oozes quality like large bold letters and exclamation points.

The unit itself looks to be well made. I should revise mine to look like that, as right now it's just a bunch of parts that have been haphazardly fastened to a piece of plywood. (What can I say? I was in a hurry.) I could--and probably should--do better.

On another note, I wonder how the upcoming phase-out of many incandescent bulbs is going to affect these things?

 

[similost]

Oh yeah.. that one is worth every cent he's asking, especially since it's ALMOST NEW..

 

[uxwbill]

Oh yeah.. that one is worth every cent he's asking, especially since it's ALMOST NEW..

You can always make an offer.

I question the "almost new" story a little...of all the things I've found in estate sales, I've never found one of those. (Of course, the number of things I haven't found at estate sales is a large number.) What I can't do is imagine a reason why someone would be making a few of these, unless maybe they planned to get into doing so as a business and became unable to live in their home afterwards.

 

[blhagstrom]

hmmm

Well, the tester isn't antique. He must mean, used for antiques.

I like the honesty. "looked and looked, too lazy to make one". So the question is, if you're too lazy to make one, what woud you do with a messed up radio/stereo/etc....?

I actually DID find an old one at a yard sale. Maybe even old enough to be called antique. It's actually made really well and even includes a soldering pencil holder. If it wasn't for this place, I never would have known what it was. That, and if I hadn't have already made one, I wouldn't have found it. :yes:

$30? Well, I guess if you're truely lazy. I made mine from "new" parts I picked up at yard sales.

Lets see, DIY store prices for new parts (roughly), $3 extension cord+$2 bulb socket+$2 swtich+2*2 boxes+$1 cover+a board. $12? Sound about right?
Hardware store could be double, $24. So yeah, I guess.

 

[Arkay]

I see nothing wrong with someone selling these, whether they came from an estate sale, or were made specifically for sale on eBay.

What I DO wonder about is whether anyone who is either too lazy or too incompetent with electrical stuff to make their own, has any business getting anywhere near to old radios, with the intention to repair them.

To test a radio out just to see if it works, okay... but if it doesn't work, then you'd better be competent to fix it. Otherwise, take it to someone who is. They will have a dim-bulb tester, or be able to make one. It has to be one of the easiest things to make, in this whole hobby. If you can't manage it, you probably can't manage a decent repair job, either.

I'm not sure what a fair price for one of these would be, but I wish the seller good luck with the sale.