What would happen if I used this flashbulb?

[VinKnee]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but would the flashbulb be more likely to shatter?

It's a GE M3B flashbulb.

 

[BrianShaw]

Nope

 

[AgX]

To me it looks as if there is smoke coming from the base!


As there is no safety-indicator dot from the start, chances are that the glass may fracture at combustion due to leakage over time. Furthermore one may not be sure whether there is a safety coating over the glass, preventing shatter in case of fracture.
I have no daubt that it would fire.

In case of portraiture or indoor use I only would use it with a safery screen over the reflector

 

[VinKnee]

It still does have a blue dot but my concern was that it has four wires instead of the usual two, just a factory mistake I assume.

 

[Sirius Glass]

In a word? No.

 

[AgX]

How embarrassing, I was that much puzzled by that "smoke" (still enigmatic to me) that I did not realize that "double ignitor".


Well, we do not know what battery or what capacitator you use. We also do not know what way the two filaments are soldered-in. Most likely they are soldered-in in parallel. What is the least electrically stressing alternative.

In case your question implies that you expect something spectacular to happen, it won't. The bang comes from the metall-wool filling, not the ignitor.


I would not try to ignite it, but make it a shelf-queen.

 

[BrianShaw]

Feel free to send it to me. I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. Shattering flashbulbs is a lot rarer in reality than the internet imagination conjuncture. I’m sure it has happened or flash shields never would have been invented. More are broken by getting stepped on when ejected from the flash holder...

 

[BrianShaw]

Sylvania???

 

[Bill Burk]

Shattering was always mentioned but I have never seen it. The blue coating will bubble and is intended to protect you from shattered flying glass.

So I think they are designed to be safe. You could put some kind of protection in front of the flashgun like a handkerchief or piece of plastic to be extra safe.

Because with age, the coating could have changed in its flexibility and of course the manufacturer is not liable any longer.

 

[BAC1967]

It’ll be twice as flashy.

 

[AgX]

Concerning shattering: Often it is very hard to discern whether a flashbulb already got a coating or not. Just presuming so is very reckless.
Also a coating might have lost its flexibility.

So far though I not yet experienced a shattering, but nearly all AGs fractured or melted.

But I once had a halogen lamp explode in my hand. A disaster, resulting in fire and bloodshed. I learned my lesson.

 

[Bill Burk]

To clarify, as I am not a consumer product safety lawyer... I can’t really advise on liability. If I had those bulbs, and I have some similar... I would not hesitate to shoot with them. They have the blue coating so you can shoot daylight-balanced color film. And they have the safety dot intact. So of a mixed bag of bulbs these are the ones I would be most confident to shoot with.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but would the flashbulb be more likely to shatter?
View attachment 258245
It's a GE M3B flashbulb.

it wii explode and push you into a different spacetime from which there is no escape. You'll be trapped in the 1940s forever.

 

[BrianShaw]

it wii explode and push you into a different spacetime from which there is no escape. You'll be trapped in the 1940s forever.

FINALLY... a response that does not oversimplify or over-exaggerate the potential risk!

 

[VinKnee]

How embarrassing, I was that much puzzled by that "smoke" (still enigmatic to me) that I did not realize that "double ignitor".


Well, we do not know what battery or what capacitator you use. We also do not know what way the two filaments are soldered-in. Most likely they are soldered-in in parallel. What is the least electrically stressing alternative.

In case your question implies that you expect something spectacular to happen, it won't. The bang comes from the metall-wool filling, not the ignitor.


I would not try to ignite it, but make it a shelf-queen.

Thanks for your reply, I was just worrying over nothing.

 

[AgX]

I did not even realise that double ignitor when put right up tp my nose so to say. How did you discover that?

Recently I discovered one dud lamp inside a Magicube that still was virgin though its firing pin had been released. Something I realized at whiping it off and a glance at ots bottom.

 

[Dale Raby]

I started down this rabbit hole in 1975. Flashbulbs were still in common use, though electronic flash was rapidly gaining traction in the market. Over the years since then, I have probably fired hundreds of flash bulbs. When electronic flash captured the lion's share of the market, you could buy 5b flashbulbs for fifty cents a dozen. I grabbed as many as I could find. My theory was that they worked just fine and had a guide number that was just totally awesome compared to the little Vivitar I was using at the time. In that time, I had several bulbs fracture under the lacquer coating, but none actually burst. I did have a few fire in my hand as I put them into the flash gun, though to this day I don't really know why. Most likely that old Zeiss-Ikon's shutter had some issues.

There is no real reason not to continue to use flash bulbs as long as you can get them, just use some common sense: don't use one within spitting distance of anything that could be damaged by a burst bulb, don't use one in an explosive atmosphere (i.e. in the vicinity of a leaking gasoline tanker... and yes, I've been there and was smart enough not to do that).

Most of the flash bulbs that are still in common use are either so bright that they would be better used at long distances from the subject and/or employed as a bounce-flash light source where any glass shards would not be directed toward your subject. The little bulbs simply don't have enough punch to do any damage even if they did somehow manage to burst.

If you don't have a flash-guard, Saran wrap is your friend.

 

[Nodda Duma]

When I started using flashbulbs, I would put a ziploc bag over the reflector and bulb. After a while I stopped doing that because I never had one shatter, and they were all shellac coated anyways.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I still have about 850 flash bulbs that I bought ten years a go and I have not touched since I bought them.

 

[Dale Raby]

When I started using flashbulbs, I would put a ziploc bag over the reflector and bulb. After a while I stopped doing that because I never had one shatter, and they were all shellac coated anyways.

That'll work...

 

[Dale Raby]

I still have about 850 flash bulbs that I bought ten years a go and I have not touched since I bought them.

Ummm... have you seen the prices of those things of late? What kindja got? Some of those things are going for five bucks each. If I had that many I think I'd put them on the market and maybe see about a Hasselblad 500C. Then again, it would be a lifetime supply for most people these days. That might have some value.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Ummm... have you seen the prices of those things of late? What kindja got? Some of those things are going for five bucks each. If I had that many I think I'd put them on the market and maybe see about a Hasselblad 500C. Then again, it would be a lifetime supply for most people these days. That might have some value.

I have a Hasselblad 503 CX and 903 SWC as well as many Hasselblad lenses. So I do not need a Hasselblad 500C body. I will keep the flash bulbs for my Speed Graphs and will keep the bulbs from the hoarders.