Sale of Halogen Bulbs to be banned in Australia.... LED as an enlarger bulb alternative?

hoffy · May 27, 2018

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ppear-from-australian-stores-within-two-years

It appears that the government have jumped at another shadow and are going to ban the sale of Halogen Light bulbs in Australia. For those of us who use a dichroic lamp enlarger, this would have an impact.

I am probably going to stock up on some globes over the next few months and of course, we can always buy over seas. The question though, will a LED replacement work in an enlarger?

Cheers

Alan Edward Klein · May 27, 2018

Maybe they'll be exempted like oven lights. Why don;t you check into that or even request their exemption?

From the article you linked too: "“We expect there may be exemptions – for example for oven lights, which are required to operate in high temperature environments. [But] unless the particular product is subject to an exemption, we expect that halogen lamps will not be available on the retail market.”".

hoffy · May 27, 2018

Alan Edward Klein said:
Maybe they'll be exempted like oven lights. Why don;t you check into that or even request their exemption?

From the article you linked too: "“We expect there may be exemptions – for example for oven lights, which are required to operate in high temperature environments. [But] unless the particular product is subject to an exemption, we expect that halogen lamps will not be available on the retail market.”".

I'd say that is highly unlikely - every house has an oven, so that kinda makes sense. But only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of houses have enlargers!

This issue is probably not going to go away, so I'd like to at least entertain alternatives.

PS - I still might ask where I get bulbs from. They may at least know.

awty · May 27, 2018

They did the same with incandescent bulbs, but you can still get them easy enough.

hoffy · May 27, 2018

awty said:
They did the same with incandescent bulbs, but you can still get them easy enough.

For enlargers? OK. Never had to tackle that challenge.

awty · May 27, 2018

hoffy said:
For enlargers? OK. Never had to tackle that challenge.

Yes, I bought a couple from Vanbar last week. You can also get Potassium Dichromate and a host of other toxic chemicals simply by filling out a form and faxing some ID. I wouldnt worry too much at this stage, could contact Vanbar to make sure.
Its a bit of a joke, they still have to run there power plants to cope with peak loading and running all the aircons. If they were serious they would force industries to cut power and use solar. Domestic light bulbs are a drop in the ocean.

hoffy · May 27, 2018

awty said:
Yes, I bought a couple from Vanbar last week. You can also get Potassium Dichromate and a host of other toxic chemicals simply by filling out a form and faxing some ID. I wouldnt worry too much at this stage, could contact Vanbar to make sure.
Its a bit of a joke, they still have to run there power plants to cope with peak loading and running all the aircons. If they were serious they would force industries to cut power and use solar. Domestic light bulbs are a drop in the ocean.

I'm not going to disagree with that. I know the banning of incandescent globes was a joke. We went from purchasing and using a very simple, reliable piece of hardware, to using devices that were less reliable, more expensive, harder to manufacture and much harder to responsibly dispose of. We were really sold a pup on the idea that it would be more environmentally friendly.

ic-racer · May 27, 2018

Buy as many as you think you will need while they are still available. They don't expire. This is what the gun people do.

hoffy · May 27, 2018

I just contacted a local lamp supplier and was advised that this style of lamp won't be effected by the ban, as they are not general use.

I'll still get my hands on a few spares, though......

Poisson Du Jour · May 28, 2018

My gallery walls are illuminated by the low-voltage push-in halogen lamps as pictured in the header of the article. Might be time to scout around for the LED alternatives, wherever they are hiding... I have not seen any LED lamps at Bunnings Warehouse, just hundreds and hundreds of various halogen lamps for downlights/spot illumination.
I wonder if automotive halogen lamps will be affected?

AgX · May 28, 2018

awty said:
They did the same with incandescent bulbs, but you can still get them easy enough.

Now-it-better-mode on:
Halogen lamps are incandescant lamps too.

Alan Edward Klein · May 28, 2018

I'm glad you got good news from the supplier.

Michael W · May 28, 2018

Reading that article, Australia is aligning with a EU law that takes effect in 2020 so it's not just us.

freecitizen · May 28, 2018

let's not forget that Malcolm Turnbull was the minister in charge of banning incandescent light bulbs.

Theo Sulphate · May 28, 2018

A few years ago I bought "a lifetime supply" of incandescent bulbs. I like their warm glow and heat; I dislike the LED lights or crazy pig-tail lights that require a hazmat team for disposal.

However I seem to have one lamp or its socket such that a bulb in that lamp doesn't last for more than four months or so. At this rate, I may exhaust my lifetime supply sooner than anticipated. In that case, if at some time you notice no more posts from me, you'll know what happened.

mnemosyne · May 28, 2018

hoffy said:
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ppear-from-australian-stores-within-two-years

It appears that the government have jumped at another shadow and are going to ban the sale of Halogen Light bulbs in Australia. For those of us who use a dichroic lamp enlarger, this would have an impact.

I am probably going to stock up on some globes over the next few months and of course, we can always buy over seas. The question though, will a LED replacement work in an enlarger?

Cheers

I highly doubt the Aussie government would be so stupid to ban special application lamps. The much hyped EU ban was always applicable to general household illumination and to this day opal tungsten lamps for your enlarger are still manufactured and sold. Same goes for halogen lamps in enlargers of slide projectors which are of a distinctly different type than halogen lamps for household lighting. They might become more expensive or more difficult to get in the future because of changes in the production infrastructure and dwindling demand, but not because they were banned. If you are worried, buy a lifetime supply now and put them away. And don't forget to buy the matching sockets, too, they should be changed every second time you change a halogen bulb, else your bulbs might fail prematurely.

jvo · May 28, 2018

will the last person exiting this thread please turn the light out, (unless it's incandescent and will burn out.)

GRHazelton · May 28, 2018

As an aside, there a countless cars on the road which use halogen bulbs. Conversion to other lights is possible, but expensive.

Luis-F-S · May 28, 2018

hoffy said:
I am probably going to stock up on some globes over the next few months and of course, we can always buy over seas.
Cheers

What I did. Bought a lifetime supply of NOS bulbs through the auction site!

AgX · May 28, 2018

Theo Sulphate said:
However I seem to have one lamp or its socket such that a bulb in that lamp doesn't last for more than four months or so. At this rate, I may exhaust my lifetime supply sooner than anticipated. In that case, if at some time you notice no more posts from me, you'll know what happened.

With the last new batches I bought at the imposing of the ban I got the impression that they lasted lesser than in the past. Also I got one large batch from Sylvania where it turned out that the glass bulbs all had yellow streaks inside.

However there are meanwhile interesting LED versions that may even be an alternative for decorative use.

DREW WILEY · May 28, 2018

Halogen home lighting has burned down a lot of houses. Halogen instrument bulbs are unrelated. But thinking you can substitute LED's in a color enlarger is like hunting a water buffalo with a BB gun.

AgX · May 28, 2018

I have not yet heard of such cases. Yes, the glass temperature is higher than with plain incandescant lamps, but then there are reflectors giving quite some shielding, there were lamps even completely encapsuled on themselves . The same for the lamps with higher wattage than plain incandescant lamps which in any case got a shielding glass.
Danger to my mind came from:
-) high current wirings for inserted luminaires
-) high current blank wirings hainging free under the ceiling (for such open installation that had been popular for a while) if not fused
-) one of these high wattage floor luminaire falling over with the shielding landing flat on the ground or a sofa.

Paul Howell · May 28, 2018

I had a Durst 600 with a color head, as I recall the Halogen light source is not just a bulb needs a power supply as well. Finding a LED that would fit the same socket and use the voltage? My guess is you need to rebuild the light source, new power supply, new lamp housing for a new LED bulb. A good lamb shop might be able to convert current Halogen to an LED. Other issue is what LED bulb that will fit your head will match the Lumens of a Halogen bulb? I use a GE classic LED bulb in my Omega D3, its 1600 lumens and works fine with 00 to 3 filters, if I need higher grade need to switch back to a standard 75 watt enlarger bulb.

awty · May 28, 2018

The early 12 volt transformers to run 12 volt ceiling halogens could cause a fire in certain cases. Had to be positioned in a not so confined space. Lots of electrical appliances can cause fire, usually requires a bit of common sense and someone who knows what there doing.

Poisson Du Jour · May 28, 2018

AgX said:
I have not yet heard of such cases. Yes, the glass temperature is higher than with plain incandescant lamps, but then there are reflectors giving quite some shielding, there were lamps even completely encapsuled on themselves . The same for the lamps with higher wattage than plain incandescant lamps which in any case got a shielding glass.
Danger to my mind came from:
-) high current wirings for inserted luminaires
-) high current blank wirings hainging free under the ceiling (for such open installation that had been popular for a while) if not fused
-) one of these high wattage floor luminaire falling over with the shielding landing flat on the ground or a sofa.

The transformers required for individual lights are the primary cause of fires and several have been reported here in Australia. The risk of fire increases if several transformers are placed together in an enclosed space, e.g. a small roof cavity. We have had one such fire, thankfully very minor, from a halogen downlight transformer. In 2009 a fancy switching circuit was installed that monitors all of the transformers installed for changes in temperature and isolates the circuit then logs a fault. There are 58 lamps. Not all of the halogen lamps in the house have been converted to LED (it is expensive with each individual LED downlight costing $38 and installation of transformers by electricians). It's a process that should be finished by the end of this year.

Sale of Halogen Bulbs to be banned in Australia.... LED as an enlarger bulb alternative?

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