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107 Comments
- miles01110, on 10/12/2007, -1/+125I wonder if they'll have to turn it off when incandescent bulbs are banned in California :-/
- anastrophe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+91there is generally a voltage spike/surge when power is restored after an outage. that surge often toasts bulbs that are in a weakened state.
- dunezone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+69Turning a light bulb on and off puts alot of stress on the filament. Since this light bulb is always on, it rarely goes through the stress of cooling off and warming up which is why the power outages could possibly hurt it. One of the reasons why alot of bulbs die when you turn them on.
- DaBrainiac, on 10/12/2007, -3/+54This was totally on Mythbusters.
- jgrgg, on 10/12/2007, -6/+50this was on an episode of mythbusters a couple months ago
im sure u can find a video of it somewhere on the internet like youtube - Mankind121, on 10/12/2007, -3/+42Yeah I live in Livermore too, and that thing is even more boring in person
- gert2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31Yes, lightbulbs have been powered before.
- JoCliMe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+31Indeed it was, but on Mythbusters, they seemed to imply that it has been lit for 100 years (i.e. constantly lit) Which is totally implausible, power outages, surges, etc. But hey, TV does seem to exaggerate a lot, why shouldn't the Mythbusters?
(Hey, I like the show too!) - crazzy88ss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27I live like 1.5 miles from it, and it's real. It even has it's own webcam:
http://www.centennialbulb.org/photos.htm - brokekneck, on 10/12/2007, -13/+38Made in America.
- themastersb, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25They sure don't make them like they used to.
- Nudar, on 10/12/2007, -10/+33@elnerdo
There are climate change advocates?
He said activists not advocates. Why do you have 16 diggs? - elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -31/+54There are climate change advocates?
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30It needs a live webcam.
- HHP2K, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24It's funny, because you can refresh every 10 seconds.
Why the hell bother? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22they don't build 'em like they use to.
- slicedoranges, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27Since this story is over 100 years old, surely it hasn't been on digg's front page before!
- Ankh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19what do you expect from a bulb made in 1901?
- themoose, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Every single lightbulb would last for ever (bar power surges) if they had better quality seals - that's what goes wrong with them, after several heating up and heating down of the seals they eventually break and let in Oxygen.. which ignites and poof you're lightbulb's gone.
- spookyttws, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Neither, it was Grant from the build team.
- nelswick, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15@ Junkyarddawg
It has one: http://www.centennialbulb.org/photos.htm - raabco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13FTFA:
"Today you'll find a remarkable light bulb burning bright at a fire station in Livermore, California. It hasn't been turned off since 1901."
Nope, nothing misleading about that! - jgrgg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14sry for the comment abuse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light
http://www.centennialbulb.org/ (official website & has a video) - insomuchas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10You are so lucky. I would love to go visit that bulb myself.
- doig007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9If I remember from Mythbusters, this bulb has a carbon filament, which is far thicker than the tungsten etc. ones used in modern bulbs. Whilst that means it's not very bright, I should imagine that it means the filament is physically much tougher.
p.s. check the facts on the bulb's own website...http://www.centennialbulb.org/facts.htm - Ankh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9no. but interesting
- Salgat, on 10/12/2007, -11/+20How would power outages hurt a lightbulb?
- shinynew, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Yea i stopped using light bulbs cause its just not original anymore.
- Computer_Kid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Link to the mythbuster's segment:
http://www.centennialbulb.org/intrvw/mythbstr/LPFDBulbMythbusters.mov - binaryspiral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8You can leave a light switch on, even though there is no power to illuminate the lamp.
And lay off the question marks - those things make you look silly. - setledownslappy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9It was always my understanding that originally light bulbs were made to last "forever". It wasn't until GE bought the patent that (or whoever) that they made it so they burnt out. Anyone else hear of this??
- combatchuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It's a 4 watt bulb. It uses barely more power than a christmas light.
- jguy584, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I have heard of this before to, and was hoping to find some validation of it in the comments section. Guess not.
- 1freelectron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You can put a 240V- 60W bulb in a 120V socket and it will last a long time, maybe forever? But it will not burn bright. It would be very dim
- SmokeAbowl, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9It's not very bright... 0.o
- rms099k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@themoose
The seal isn't naturally faulty, they're designed to eventually break, destroying the vacuum inside. Otherwise, how would light bulbs companies make money? All light bulbs should theoretically last an extremely long time....how long does it take the materials which comprise the seals to break down? This bulb is an excellent example. - rnwen2750, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Yah Mythbusters! Was it Adam or Jamie that was completely geeking out on the lightbulb? I think it must have been Adam.
- zlintux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@miles01110
No. If California ever does, then this will be exempt. I bet it's already a historical landmark, and if not, would instantly become one. Historical landmarks are exempt from such restrictions.
@mdhauke
Du bist bei Frankreich... welche ist schlechter? - Hindu_Wardrobe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Lightbulb manufacturers like money. They wouldn't like it if everyone had lights that never burnt out.
- jdc760, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4http://www.centennialbulb.org/mythbstr.htm
- selphishnerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5lol, hopefully it has better luck with the digg effect than that poor tortoise. We're all going to be watching the web cam when it dies.
Maybe the webcam will die first. - AlanOrozco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Read the ***** comments.
- nsjoker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's quite simple. The coil in that bulb is much thicker than the crap they sell us today. There's no money in irreplaceable light bulbs so thin coil is what we get =/
- ThePhilomath, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4If it was it would have burnt out by now.
- gregmo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ ankh
i expect the bulb to be burnt out - JoeCool1986, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3if you think about it, most of the times you actually see a bulb burn out is when you first flip it on and it pops.
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It has not been constantly lit for 100 years? :(
- mcottier, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Why don't they just study the bulb, and make more like it, and sell them to the public? This way we all would have light bulbs that never die.
- elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It surely is possible, as while even argon isn't totally inert, vacuum most certainly IS.
Why lightbulbs burn out:
Seal breaks, oxygen gets in.
Filament is stressed when turning on/off.
If you make the seal better, and prevent it turning on and off too much, it will last an extremely long time - ArmandoM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'd rather have a bright bulb that burns out once in a while, than one that's so dim it would be near useless to me.
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