Conventional Fixtures Shatter-resistant Edison Lamps

I've got a tour out right now with some lamp sockets on pipes onstage that the LD would like to try to find plastic/shatter-resistant lamps for so that when the lead singer goes nuts swinging his around or a guitar nicks one or whatnot there's not glass onstage. They're currently using 60W Equivalent dim-to-warm lamps from Home Cheapo - these guys - and love them. Would like to find something similar in plastic if available. I can't find anything, and my google-fu is usually pretty good... anyone ever heard of such a thing? Or know of a truly clear coating that would at least contain the glass if broken?

Try these.

Seriously, I don't know of an unbrakable plastic incandescent lamp. Many LED incandescent lamp replacements are plastic and they come in several color temperatures, but I don't know about 'unbrakability.'

You could suggest these. I would say they are the closest to break resistant

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W03K9CE/?tag=controlbooth-20

Idk what they will will look like cause they are flat. So if you are going horizontal I think it might look weird.

Safety coated is probably the search term you want.

You could maybe dip them with a clear epoxy resin.

There are lamps made for transit that are "tougher". Seems like a wrapping with strands be and a coating. "Rough service" lamps or light bulb should find plenty on Google. A lot on Amazon.

Wow, @soundlight , what cool lamps. In addition to the vapor proof fixtures that @JonCarter suggested, what about Bulb Cages. Those lamps you linked to reminded me of this Thread and the light bulb in a mixing bowl fixtures. In addition to the A19 shape they also have the G25 shape, I can envision columns of those for a not too annoying blinder effect. I wonder if they would work with the DFD low power dimmers, so you could have arrays of 8, 12 or 24 bulbs in a bowl.
It should be pointed out that the reason some BAND* members swung their whatevers around was to entice the "Sweet, sweet Connies"** of the touring world.

* The Who
** Grand Funk Railroad

I had a show out with a bunch of these https://www.mcmaster.com/1728k442 or similar. Instead of small shards of glass it ended up being large chunks. Still wouldn't feel great if you stepped on it but much easier to avoid one big blob than a thousand small pieces.

@JonCarter @JohnD the LD is very much looking for a bare bulb effect, no cage. @FMEng @BillConnerFASTC I'll take a look for safety coated and rough service, thanks! With how good plastics are these days, and how low wattage some of these LEDs are, I'm surprised that there are not more clear plastic LED lamps. I'm basically hoping to find a larger version of these. And yes - we're incredibly happy with the lamps we found at Home Cheapo - the dim-to-warm is awesome, the dimming is butter smooth down to about 15%, and they also do a really cool flicker when you run a fast square wave effect across them.

Paging new to the 'booth but not new to me ex-lightbulb-salesman @James Suit - you ever seen what I'm looking for? (Welcome, by the way, glad to see you here)

Hey, @soundlight ! Thanks for tagging me in.

Definitely Look for rough service or food safe lamps. They have coatings that are designed to contain shatter so that the glass may break but not actually puke glass all over the stage. The downside is that those are rarely decorative and will most likely not have the dim-to-warm. Is that a deal breaker for you LD and talent?

The only one I know of that had the coating and dimmed pretty well was the old Ushio U-LED A19, but they're no longer in production. You may be able to find them online, and I probably still have one in my garage. See if I can find it in the clean out.

Archipelago has some lamps that are designed for hospitality/food service that may work as well.

I'll rack the ol' brain and see if I can come up with other options. The folks at Kennedy Webster, especially Dan Imfeld, may have access to more brand info than I do.

Thanks @James Suit - the dim to warm is not necessary but the clear with filament look is. A19 format with E26 base is necessary as well. Is this the one you were talking about?

@Amiers those unfortunately wouldn't work because the LD really wants the clear lamp with filament look.

I'm trying to find something the client can just order to a venue on their tour since it's already in progress - but if that something is a clear spray-on coating of some sort that works too. Any thoughts on if this would work?

That's the one. If B.C. Still has stock, should be easy enough to order and drop ship.

No idea on the FlexSeal. No concerns about generating heat at 5w LED, and if the envelope is glass there shouldn't be an issue with aerosol reactions. I say give it a shot for 25 bucks, and if it doesn't work you can always waterproof your boots.

All the rough service lamps I've seen have been incandescent, and have been frosty from the coating.

I've heard of painting regular lamps with white school glue to provide some shatter safety, but haven't done it myself.

I wonder about spraying your clear LED filament lamps with clear Plasti Dip. It's available in a rattle can, the rubbery aspect of it might work well. It's still going to look frosty, I think any kind of coating probably will. Clear office tape might work, too.

I find clear A19 incandescent lamps on Amazon. This might do it but different pattern https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUF4E5U/?tag=controlbooth-20

I’d say anything that you spray on is gonna get dusty too just cause it will be tacky from heating up and cooling down.

BillConnerFASTC said:

I find clear A19 incandescent lamps on Amazon. This might do it but different pattern https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BUF4E5U/?tag=controlbooth-20

Click to expand...

Those would be perfect but I can't tell if they're dimmable - which is a must. Only 2W more than those Ushio ones - so maybe those are the move.

Amiers said:

I’d say anything that you spray on is gonna get dusty too just cause it will be tacky from heating up and cooling down.

Click to expand...

Good point. I already emailed the LD suggesting they buy the Ushio ones despite the drop in brightness. They'd work fine. Hopefully that's what they go with.

So I spent the last hour after work today googling up and down and there isn’t such a product( million dollar idea).

The closes thing that exists is a creative fake plastic shell with a metal base, no filament.


Which in theory if someone wanted to make such an animal you could shatter the glass and shove the base on to these.

Prolly source them from China and get a deal or if you know someone in the plastic extruding business could prolly get a few made.

Heat would play a factor but easily remedied by talking to the people sourcing it.

You could ask @DELO72 to maybe make you a prototype or maybe they are already RnDing it and just not telling anyone.

@Amiers yeah, I spent a similar amount of time myself before even posting this thread. I think those Ushio U-LED A19 lamps are the winners so far - dimmable and "shatterproof" (per Ushio website). Might get some regardless of whether or not the tour gets them because they look like the ideal solution for touring, dimmable LED lamps. Despite the lamps going in their own foamed out case for travel, there is still a relatively high risk of them getting bumped in to or dropped. I do loved the newer filament-looking linear LED strips in these more modern LED bulbs, great look!

@soundlight You can use the LED from Home Cheapo, but get some clear tool dip: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Plasti-Dip...NjhejkqR_b7ZTcFSzyfZbuHtiFI5mVQhoCzMgQAvD_BwE

you can dip them and let them hang to dry for 3 hours. used to do this for low wattage incandescent lamps when at stage level. keeps the glass contained with no shards. my test was to throw one against the wall when coated to see what happened. it made a great rattle, sort of.