OT: Does this exist?

Yeah, typical Christmas light cheater. I'm always surprised that they ever were sold, much less UL rated, 'cuz it's just asking for liability lawsuits. (Then again I cannot see how they sell lamps with 18 gauge zip cord to be plugged into 15A circuits...)

Tim.

Standard house light bulbs with pig tails? If not what size?

Hello Tim,

Those are usually larger and with a non-grounded socket or two to the side. I think the bulb will then stick out an inch or so more than without the extender.

The better ones have a tiny fuse in the plug. The not so good ones probably don't ...

Regards, Joerg

Standard house light bulbs.

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

Hi Jim,

It would help to know a little more about the application.

Is it for normal household 120V screw base lamps?

How long is short?

Is the pig-tail in series or parallel, or is pig-tail Arizonian for a pull cord switch?

-Chuck

Sno-o-o-ort ;-) Isn't "pig-tail" a fat broad ?:-)

I want a pair of (parallel) sense leads that tell me that the light is receiving power.

(My old garage door opener had terminals that I could hang a relay on to turn on my "parking guidance" LEDs, the new one was conceived by someone afraid of big brother... virtually vacuum sealed ;-)

...Jim Thompson

IIRC, you can buy a light-bulb adapter that provides a two-blade receptacle perpendicular to the light bulb axis. A few bux at Home Despot, brown bakelite. The purpose would be to tap off an extension. Then you can plug a line cord into the receptacle and get your pigtail without any modifications to the GDO.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Hello Jim,

Can't you just current sense the input to the opener? A sense relay with limiter, whatever, so when there is in excess of x milliamps the parking guidance is on. Most openers consume little power when only the receiver runs but there should be a marked jump when the light bulb turns on. And, of course, another one when the motor cranks but that can be limited out.

Regards, Joerg

The variety with the sockets are fairly long (~2"). There is a style that's a stub (used for extending shorter halogen replacement bulbs), but you'd have to add the pigtail. Or the variety that's a screw-in socket - put the garage lights on a motion sensor and do without the bulb in the opener.

Ahh.. Here's something I ran across..I was taking apart a dead Compact Flourescent Bulb..and cut the base open,and snipped the leads to the PC board off.. Viola! Base,complete with "pigtail" for next to nothing,if you've got a dead CFL around.. Use a "Y" socket thingbulb in one,and pigtail in the other..

Or maybe a Y and one of those bulb-base to 2-prong outlet adaptors..You can probably find one at a decent hardware store for a buck or two,next to the Y's for a couple bucks. ;-)

Here's the current Leviton product:

And the stubby ones I remember from my youth (the brown one):

Looks like "current tap" is the key phrase.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Doh,But perhaps this won't all fit under the (assumed) cover over the light?..Now I think I see what you're getting at.. Humm.. How about putting the outlet adaptor in the GDO,and running a cord down to your LED/sensor and a seperate light? (perhaps a relay to click on the overhead garage lights?).. a single flouro. fixture,or a lamp on a shelf/table/whatever?

Photocell?

John

In message , John Larkin writes

Doesn't tell you if the bulb is dead or the power is out. A neon coupled to a photocell would work, you could mask the photocell so that light from the bulb changed the resistance, you then have a tri-state output so you can tell when the bulb is lit, dead with power or just no power.

The white one is a night light. There used to be a translucent shroud that snapped into that groove; and it takes a large Xmas tree bulb. Remember the ones where all the bulbs were 115 and they were in parallel? I think they might have been about 7 watts, but maybe that's way high - I remember the 7 1/2 watt bulbs about the size of a ping-pong ball, but they had the full-size base. Our night light here takes that smaller base, it might be "candelabra", but I never have really known if that's actually it.

The black one looks like just a cube tap.

Cheers! Rich

I remember many years ago, seeing a little one-outlet adapter - it was almost flush, very much like an old BUSS fuse, but with an outlet on top. You could plug in an ordinary ceiling lamp and whatever else you want. I have no idea what it's called - variations on "socket adapter" kept coming up with the long extenders, but Home Depot et al might have one.

Good Luck! Rich

Motion sensor already there turning on fluorescent ceiling fixtures, but it doesn't always trip on vehicles, just people.

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

Hi Jim,

You could go really hi tech, and set up one of those photoelectric trip beams across your garage door entrance.

-Chuck

Jim Thomps>