Ah, ok. That makes sense. I think I'll go with the bulb swap then. My character could always unscrew the bulb he put in there and put the original one back in after he commits the murder.
.

If in N.A. you can get the low voltage E.S. base in 12v as @Ylli 's post.
If it takes place in the UK then you will need Bayonet Cap version.
But surely if this is a novel, the swap occurs on paper, not literally?
Max.

 

Be very aware what you are talking about is dangerous, possibly even explosive, The staff will be tracking this thread with an eye to shutting it down.

 

Be very aware what you are talking about is dangerous, possibly even explosive, The staff will be tracking this thread with an eye to shutting it down.

...But apparently not going to occur in practice!?
Max.

 

Yes, lets not blow up any fictional light bulbs...

 

It has not escaped my notice other people, not the TS, are talking about pyrotechnics. I may just delete a couple of posts instead. Good luck with the novel.

 

Drill a small hole in the glass to let air in, then the element will burn out as soon as it's powered up.....

That's how I would go about it. You can even drill into the base of the bulb (the metal) using as suggested a good carbide tipped high speed drill bit. The tiny hole would not be visible when the bulb was screwed back into a socket. Option two would be the suggestion to over voltage a 12 Volt lamp. I see neither of these options as dangerous and we are talking about a novel, a character in a novel.

Ron

 

I see neither of these options as dangerous and we are talking about a novel, a character in a novel.

Ron

Agree.
The method only has to Sound a viable proposition!
Max.

 

Hi guys,

I'm a writer working on a novel. I know virtually nothing about circuits and I'm hoping someone is willing to help me out.

My character needs to sabotage a light bulb so that the next time the switch is flipped, it pops and blows out. In other words, the light bulb needs to not look like it's been sabotaged, but rather has naturally burned out.

This would be a regular light bulb used in a ceiling fixture.

Any ideas are much appreciated.

I would not drill a hole in the glass but, as others have indicated, drill it in the base. But that leaves a hole in the base for the investigators to find, should something make them curious enough to look.

Another thought would be to see if you can desolder the center contact (don't know if that's actually solder or not), let it sit for a while to let oxygen diffuse in (bulbs are not evacuated, but rather filled with an argon/nitrogen mix at about 70% of an atmosphere, so it will suck some air in immediately -- maybe even enough). Then reflow the solder to seal it. You might also desolder the contact to the base, but I have no idea if you can keep the lead in electrical contact in the process.

I like that, as an author, you are actually trying to discover plausible and realistic scenarios -- so few even make the attempt.

I would recommend one step further and actually carry out the experiments -- so often even authors that try to do paper research into their ideas end up so far afield and on the wrong side of the gulf between what is conceptually plausible and what is practically possible. In doing so, you might discover that the bulb blows differently when there's air in it and that might suggest some plot elements to you. You might also examine the bulb after it burns out to see if it looks different than one that burns out normally and that might suggest some plot elements for your good guys trying to solve the murder (if there are any).

If you do carry out some experiments, just put something between you and the bulb when you turn it on. It might burst, but I doubt it. Better safe than sorry.

 

Be very aware what you are talking about is dangerous, possibly even explosive, The staff will be tracking this thread with an eye to shutting it down.

I'm so sorry to cause any trouble, Wendy. This is all definitely hypothetical and will most definitely NOT be done in real life. It's difficult to research questionable activities for my fiction, for obvious reasons, and I'm so grateful to everyone for taking the time to share their knowledge and ideas.

 

My '72 Shasta motor home used A19-12V bulbs- you know the rest- a lingering bright flash.

 

I would not drill a hole in the glass but, as others have indicated, drill it in the base. But that leaves a hole in the base for the investigators to find, should something make them curious enough to look.

Another thought would be to see if you can desolder the center contact (don't know if that's actually solder or not), let it sit for a while to let oxygen diffuse in (bulbs are not evacuated, but rather filled with an argon/nitrogen mix at about 70% of an atmosphere, so it will suck some air in immediately -- maybe even enough). Then reflow the solder to seal it. You might also desolder the contact to the base, but I have no idea if you can keep the lead in electrical contact in the process.

I like that, as an author, you are actually trying to discover plausible and realistic scenarios -- so few even make the attempt.

I would recommend one step further and actually carry out the experiments -- so often even authors that try to do paper research into their ideas end up so far afield and on the wrong side of the gulf between what is conceptually plausible and what is practically possible. In doing so, you might discover that the bulb blows differently when there's air in it and that might suggest some plot elements to you. You might also examine the bulb after it burns out to see if it looks different than one that burns out normally and that might suggest some plot elements for your good guys trying to solve the murder (if there are any).

If you do carry out some experiments, just put something between you and the bulb when you turn it on. It might burst, but I doubt it. Better safe than sorry.

I like your ideas, but having never soldered anything before, how large would the equipment be? My character is sneaking into someone's house in the middle of the day and needs to pack lightly. I think I'm not going to emphasize the investigation afterward, since the person who's dying isn't a good person. It's a retaliation killing.

 

If in N.A. you can get the low voltage E.S. base in 12v as @Ylli 's post.
If it takes place in the UK then you will need Bayonet Cap version.
But surely if this is a novel, the swap occurs on paper, not literally?
Max.

Thanks for the advice! And yes, the setting is the U.S.

 

I like your ideas, but having never soldered anything before, how large would the equipment be? My character is sneaking into someone's house in the middle of the day and needs to pack lightly. I think I'm not going to emphasize the investigation afterward, since the person who's dying isn't a good person. It's a retaliation killing.

You can get butane soldering torches from Walmart that fit in the palm of your hand for between $10 and $20.

You might have the person doing the killing do some experiments and discover that their first idea, perhaps taken from the internet, doesn't work and then, after trying some unspecified and undetailed other ideas, comes up with the one they use. I think that will make the character much more believable than the usual slew of characters that are geniuses at everything and where everything they try works perfectly on the first attempt with no practice at all. Shouldn't take but a couple paragraphs or perhaps a page or two.

 

I like your ideas, but having never soldered anything before, how large would the equipment be? My character is sneaking into someone's house in the middle of the day and needs to pack lightly. I think I'm not going to emphasize the investigation afterward, since the person who's dying isn't a good person. It's a retaliation killing.

A small soldering iron is the size lf a large pen or medium-sized letter opener. Plug into any outlet, wait 2 minutes, solder. He'll also need a piece of solder wick to remove the solder. It's like the woven wick of a kerosene lantern, but braided copper to wick away molten solder.

An alternative to the iron is a small butane torch purpose-built to be a small soldering iron. You still need the wick.

Everything is on ebay.

ak

 

Perfect! Thanks to both of you. I think doing a small operation on the bulb will make for a better scene than just swapping out the bulbs too.

 

A small soldering iron is the size lf a large pen or medium-sized letter opener. Plug into any outlet, wait 2 minutes, solder. He'll also need a piece of solder wick to remove the solder. It's like the woven wick of a kerosene lantern, but braided copper to wick away molten solder.

An alternative to the iron is a small butane torch purpose-built to be a small soldering iron. You still need the wick.

Everything is on ebay.

ak

I'd have your character avoid eBay. Have them go to a Walmart or other store and buy it along with some other unrelated items and pay cash. These torches are often used to brown creme brulee, so buy the ingredients for creme brulee and now it's perfectly natural to buy the torch at the same time. Also, have then do their internet search at a small public library or university library on a public terminal -- and have them only do a single search on any one terminal, then move to a different terminal or even a different library. Some of your readers are likely to be so contaminated by all of the CSI technocrap that they will be expecting the cops to be able to pull off miracles to track them down, so make it pretty obvious why this isn't likely to happen.

 

I would not drill a hole in the glass but, as others have indicated, drill it in the base. But that leaves a hole in the base for the investigators to find, should something make them curious enough to look.

Another thought would be to see if you can desolder the center contact (don't know if that's actually solder or not), let it sit for a while to let oxygen diffuse in (bulbs are not evacuated, but rather filled with an argon/nitrogen mix at about 70% of an atmosphere, so it will suck some air in immediately -- maybe even enough). Then reflow the solder to seal it. You might also desolder the contact to the base, but I have no idea if you can keep the lead in electrical contact in the process.

I like that, as an author, you are actually trying to discover plausible and realistic scenarios -- so few even make the attempt.

I would recommend one step further and actually carry out the experiments -- so often even authors that try to do paper research into their ideas end up so far afield and on the wrong side of the gulf between what is conceptually plausible and what is practically possible. In doing so, you might discover that the bulb blows differently when there's air in it and that might suggest some plot elements to you. You might also examine the bulb after it burns out to see if it looks different than one that burns out normally and that might suggest some plot elements for your good guys trying to solve the murder (if there are any).

If you do carry out some experiments, just put something between you and the bulb when you turn it on. It might burst, but I doubt it. Better safe than sorry.

Oh man, I overlooked the pesky investigators. A good crime involves leaving no evidence.

Ron

 

I'd have your character avoid eBay. Have them go to a Walmart or other store and buy it along with some other unrelated items and pay cash. These torches are often used to brown creme brulee, so buy the ingredients for creme brulee and now it's perfectly natural to buy the torch at the same time. Also, have then do their internet search at a small public library or university library on a public terminal -- and have them only do a single search on any one terminal, then move to a different terminal or even a different library. Some of your readers are likely to be so contaminated by all of the CSI technocrap that they will be expecting the cops to be able to pull off miracles to track them down, so make it pretty obvious why this isn't likely to happen.

Incidentally, my character likes to cook, so him thinking of creme brulee is something that seems plausible. Thanks for the great idea!

 

How many nerds does it take to break a light bulb? That depends, do you have the schematic, what is the voltage, do you have a diamond drill, what about a torch, what language is the bulb in, is it a green bulb or mercury?

Dual purpose weapon...write your way around it.

 

There doesn't seem to be a reason to modify the bulb in situ. It would make more sense to make a modified bulb elsewhere and swap them, then back to hide the evidence.