Who remembers (or has) these bulbs?

May 21, 2010
1,280
Minnesota
I had a few of these roughly 20 years ago. Used them in an MX and Oscilasers. Don't remember who sold them or made them back then. The few I used had melted the adhesive that held the cover on and they would fall off. Had one that I really wanted to use so I wrapped it in electrical tape. No clue why it didn't catch fire, it turned to goo but kept the cover on until I changed the setup. Those are long gone, never had one burn out on me that I recall though.

Picked these up recently. Never expected a bulb would be part of my display/collection but they brought back memories so they get a space!

20231128_062739.jpg20231128_062728.jpg20231128_062642.jpg20231128_062632.jpg
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,351
Hazen, ND
Didn't Sho-Me / Able 2 offer these as hide-a-way colored halogen flashers? I remember those colored bulb caps in a catalog from them once.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Didn't Sho-Me / Able 2 offer these as hide-a-way colored halogen flashers? I remember those colored bulb caps in a catalog from them once.
Yes. These are the late 1990s sho-me versions which were closed top designed as hide-aways. These were actually a lot better than I would have expected, red and amber looked best, blue ended up looking a sort of washed out and almost white. They were however usable.

sho me bulbs.png

Fun fact; around the same time there was a company offering dyed 795 bulbs and another company offering plastic caps. The dyed ones were ok but flaked off pretty easily and the amber was the only color that showed up really "true" or in a meaningful way. The plastic ones only held up if they were used as flashers (<50% on time), otherwise they melted.

Whelen (and others) offered colored strobe tubes which were also most effective in amber and red. The blue and green were an opaque "paint" whereas the amber and red were translucent.
hide whelen color.PNG
Whelen sold halogen hide-aways too, but I don't see or remember any colored ones. I'm looking through my "other manufacturers" pile of catalogs to see who else sold colored bulbs.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Back in the 90s EP911, along with their ground breaking LED lights, used to sell the glass colored slip on filters and Halogen bulbs as pictured. They were meant to use as corner inserts in OEM vehicle lights.
Yes! That's right. I want to say Sound Off did too, I'm looking. Sound off mentions them, doesn't picture them. My 911EP catalogs are all too recent and only talk about LEDs. I remember both had some colored sleeve option at one point.
 
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May 21, 2010
1,280
Minnesota
Love the ad John, of course you have it in your treasure trove. I did not know they were for/from hideaway kits. I remember getting the bulbs individually for a wrecker, not as a kit. Never had the chance to see the blue as we only ran red and amber.

Never thought I would see these again so It's nice to see them in your bars too Tony.
 
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JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Love the ad John, of course you have it in your treasure trove. I did not know they were for/from hideaway kits. I remember getting the bulbs individually for a wrecker, not as a kit. Never had the chance to see the blue as we only ran red and amber.

Never thought I would see these again so It's nice to see them in your bars too Tony.
I could be wrong, but I believe the open top ones were designed to be steady on in like a rotator, whereas the enclosed ones were designed to be flashed only. I also remember there is a huge difference in quality between the various makers. Someone on here ordered a set that was glass almost as thick as the bulb itself which looked pretty good and I believe that was response to the person who had the set that melted.
 

TDC

Lifetime VIP Donor
Dec 4, 2012
176
Carswell AFB, TX
Yes, and I may still have a Blue one in the paraphernalia drawer ... enclosed, with the black bottom glue. I had two, but on one the glass cracked around the base. I had them in a clear XL bar.

This was an upgrade from "Stained Glass" coating from the Fabric store to paint PAR36 bulbs, which actually worked very well. Probably lead in it, but whatever.
 
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LED

Member
May 25, 2010
613
New England, MA
Does anyone remember the glass hideaway strobe "caps", we used those for a while. Had much better color than the factory colored strobe bulbs.
 

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