Dang bulbs. Especially the little ones. You think you are buying the right bulb to replace, say, a taillight or some fancypants lamp and lo! the wattage is right but the dang butt of the bulb doesnt fit in the socket!
Behold the Mushbulb. It comes in standard wattage, but instead of an aluminum base etc there is a wad of metal impregnated, conductive putty. The base contact is similarly made of putty (insulated from the top part of the base, by putty, of course). One can simply cram the mushbulb into the socket, or can make some effort to sculpt the base into the right shape and pare off unneeded putty before cramming it into the socket. The putty slowly hardens over time, so by the time the mushbulb burns out, the putty will be solid enough to come out in a piece.-- bungston, Dec 09 2003 Conducting/Carbon Putty http://www.madsci.o...042321290.Ph.q.html [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004] I like this but I forsee problems with over amp mushbulbs in under amp sockets.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 09 2003 The various sizes and configurations act as a safety mechanism. Those that are too thick to figure out which bulb fits in the socket can not be trusted to perform any task involving electricity.-- dobtabulous, Dec 10 2003 Besides, what's this magic conducting putty made out of?-- Worldgineer, Dec 10 2003 I really like this bung. any idea how it might work? +1 anyway!-- po, Dec 10 2003 Completely unworkable: the putty will often as not short out the electrical circuits, causing way more problems than a couple of trips to the store.-- DrCurry, Dec 10 2003 its a lovely concept though!-- po, Dec 10 2003 Any kind of magic putty available that will permanently solidify once current is passed through it? Make the base from that.-- half, Dec 10 2003 Heck, if they can make silly putty and C4, I'm sure they can come up with that. Carbon putty conducts electricity, so you're halfway there.-- DrCurry, Dec 10 2003 I need one of these now. +-- sartep, Dec 10 2003 why whats the problem?
its Lightbulb Man to the rescue!
and his sidekick - Flash Boy!-- po, Dec 10 2003 Mushbulb Man and Multimeter Boy-- Letsbuildafort, Dec 10 2003 Nice idea! I really don't think it would work, but it's better than complaining about the problem. Still, if you did make it work, you would be hailed as the lightbulb god (at least by me)! I say [+], it's good.-- TahuNuva, Nov 03 2007 Nice idea! As for the people worrying about dumb people burning down the house, there's a CLEAR AND OBVIOUS warning label on a lot of light fixtures that says "do not use higher wattage than XXX or short circuit may result" so if the mushbulb had the wattage in larger print and near the base, so those who have less-than-stellar vision would be able to read it-not like the almost-microscopic print at the top of normal light bulbs!-- Dickcheney6, Mar 28 2009 Why is this not solved by a candelabra bulb with a dual adapter base for home lighting? For car lighting it is unworkable as many bulbs have twin filaments and the pins are for alignment. I'll go with the poster who said that if you can't handle this, hire a professional asit will save you I the long run. (-) This just encourages bad behavior in those with limited knowledge and there s enough of that out there already.-- MisterQED, Mar 28 2009 random, halfbakery