Need a bulb adapter...

Okay, with the return of comfortable weather, the garage door is open a lot. And every time someone goes in and out the garage doorway, the door obstruction sensor turns on the opener lights (well, it doesn't for me, but I step over the beam) and they stay on for ~5 minutes each time. During a weekend garage sale these lights went on a lot...

So what the heck does this have to do with topic heading you ask? We'll get there in a minute. These are two of the very few remaining incandescents in my home, and 75W, or 150W total when they are on. For those who have followed this saga before, I attempted to install CFL's in them. Problem is the bulb socket is unusually deep with a taper extending past the end of the threads. Standard CFL's won't fit them, even the smaller bases on Sylvania micro-mini twist CFL's couldn't make contact. So I need another solution, hence the topic.

What I think I need is an adapter maybe 1/4" deep that would screw into the base of the socket with a conductor in the center and ceramic insulator around so that the center base bulb contact would actually be able to contact throught to the base. (I might be able to rig something, but this carries some risk, so I would prefer a commercial product.) Anyone seen anything that would fit the bill?

A second idea is an adapter to fit a candelabra bulb into a standard incandescent thread. I had this idea today when I noticed some candelabra based 60W equivalent Sylvania micro-mini CFL's.

I considered using a Dremel to cut away the extra taper extension, but part of it exends into the opener housing. Hmm...might be able to grind away some of the inner surface though... :nerd:

 

Sort of...ordering something like that and paying shipping for something that I'm not sure will work isn't quite the solution I was hoping for. I did a search of a few stores today while working on another project, no luck finding them in a store so far except for ones that come in the package with Bright Effects candelabra base CFL's.

The Dremel will probably see some action soon...

 

I've heard some folks say that they were losing incandescents in garage door openers and other applications because of the vibration, and that is why they went to CFL's...so I'm not sure which is going to be more prone to vibration related failure.

I did replace the incandescents in the smaller opener (Prius' bay) a few months ago. Those CFL's are still doing fine, but until they've lasted 5 years or so it would be hard to draw a conclusion that they aren't sensitive to vibration induced failure.

rvndave,

The outlet adapter is not a bad idea. I figured out how to remove the actual socket earlier today. It clips in and has plug in pins. I'll have to check as I might have room to mount new sockets within the lenses, parallel rather than sticking out of the body at ~30 degree angle as they do presently. I'll probably have to make a cover for the resulting hole in the housing though, else the internals could turn into an expensive bug zapper.

This is a belt drive LiftMaster 1280 1/2 hp, but the current 3280's appear to be almost identical from perusing the manual (different lens allows 100W vs. 75W in my older one.) Interestingly the newer manual says not to use "short neck or specialty light bulbs" and not to use halogens. No mention is made of CFL's although they do say "incandescent only" which leaves one wondering Wth? This is especially true as they warn of the possibility of overheating...ain't gonna happen with a CFL, but has already happened with the incandescents in the existing housing. The surface is melted in several places--I suppose the previous owner put in some 100's rather than the 75's that are in there now?

LiftMaster really needs to update this design. The constant ~6W draw should be reduced to sub 1W, and the light sockets should be made CFL compatible. Doing these two things would reduce power consumption by around 75% (about 60 kwh/year in my case.) Ironically, the motor operation is around the same as that of the energy consumption of the lighting, and both are swamped by the vampire load of the device. There would be some cost from redesign and retooling, but actual production costs should be essentially the same.

 

It certainly would be a good option, perhaps with a price premium since it would actually cost substantially more for the same light output. The advantage of CFL capable is their unit production cost would be lower so I suspect having both light package options would be smartest for them. The LED could even be a direct plug in socket/lens replacement kit for existing or new openers. Cha ching! :wof:

You have to wonder why manufacturers sit on their duffs and don't recognize such promising niche markets--especially ones that are likely to become dominant rather than niche in the coming decade. This wouldn't be a hard sell to customers.

The difference in power consumption between a CFL and LED for this should be negligible. The physical durability of LED lighting would be nice, and it should be insensitive to heat/cold as well.

Meanwhile, I'll keep my fingers crossed that the CFL's last the lifetime of the opener--they should if vibration or the elements don't take them out. I'm certainly not expecting them to last that long...one of the reasons I'm working on an adaptation for $1.50/bulb CFL's, rather than the $4.50/bulb specialty CFL's.

 

Below 0 F would be tough, but Sylvania's micro-mini CFL's packaging says the reliable operating range starts at 0 F. Haven't tried them in cold weather so I don't know how they actually perform (mine are inside.)

Cold weather is hell on standard interior incandescents too in my experience. I noticed what appeared to be a strong correlation between increasingly cold temperature and failure of the incandescent filaments (back when I was still in high school/college and experiencing some nasty midwestern winters.)

 

It is done. :thumb: Didn't even have to get out the Dremel, just a pocket knife, hacksaw, and some needlenose pliers. I wasn't satisfied with the selection of socket replacements and the amount of fabbing I would have to do, so I decided it was time for a bit of reconstructive surgery to the existing sockets.

I cut the interfering outer extension cone away from a little over half of the existing socket using a hacksaw. Then I used a pocketknife to carve down as much material on the other side as I could without destroying the structural integrity of the clip-in portion of the socket. This was enough to get the micro-mini's to work, but the regular n:visions CFL bases were still not quite making contact with the bottom. So I bent the bottom contact upward a mm or two with the pliers. Now the n:visions fit too, and for 1/3 the cost of the micro-minis.

 

Better still, I was able to unplug and unclip the sockets to work on them at the bench. That's what made the process so much simpler. It took a few iterations of testing to get it worked out on both sides with minimal material removal.