Short Life

[lady-janine]

I inherited my mother's sewing machine when she died and have used it frequently since then. My mother used it every day for 45 years so well used. I thought the light bulb was getting a bit faint so bought a new one. Fortunately I kept the old original bulb as the new one gave up after two months and I reinstalled the old one.

Does anyone have an explanation for this?

[jno]

maybe it works by pedal power like dentists' drills used to?

[lady-janine]

Electric machine jno. I was just amazed that a small light bulb had lasted, and is still lighting, after 45 + years.

[Old_Geezer]

Possibly because today's incandescent bulbs, which I assume it is, are garbage. The EU opted to ban them, so the higher quality suppliers stopped producing.

[jno]

they don't make them like the used to, I suppose - but how it spent its two months' sabbatical building up its strength again, I don't know.

[sandyRoe]

They made things to last then. Now they design things to last no time.

[douglas9401]

Maybe it had an easy early life with the power cuts and brown-outs in the '70s.

[Peter Pedant]

I think the old Geezer has it

there was a recorded case of an outside light being turned on and off for 45 y and still going strong
and they sort of took it away and smashed it and came up with:

filament was thicker than normal, because the thinner the filament the shorter it lasts (built in obsolescence!)and that quality control in those days wasnt good and it slipped thro.....

Me auld mam did the same thing - took in the singer to the singer shop and said "this was me auld mams" ( that is PP's aud gran mam) - who died in 1928
can you do anything to make this last to the end of my auld life

and the fella said
"1) the bearings are screwed so throw it away madam"
and me aud mam screamed noy noy noy - never !
tears and drawing her shawl around her and keening. People calling into the shop and asking - "is everything all right - it sounded as tho someone was being mairdered"
and he continued
2) This was sold in 1950 - you can tell from the serial number, and 200 000 starts at - well I can look it up ......
[no thank you dont bother]

and he suggested that my auld grans singer had breathed its last just after the war and my mother replaced it - -- and forgot she had done so!

[Peter Pedant]

and this sort of backs up what I said:

"On 23 December 1924, a group of leading international businessmen gathered in Geneva for a meeting that would alter the world for decades to come. Present were top representatives from all the major lightbulb manufacturers, including Germany’s Osram, the Netherlands’ Philips, France’s Compagnie des Lampes, and the United States’ General Electric. As revelers hung Christmas lights elsewhere in the city, the group founded the Phoebus cartel, a supervisory body that would carve up the worldwide incandescent lightbulb market, with each national and regional zone assigned its own manufacturers and production quotas. It was the first cartel in history to enjoy a truly global reach."

[shoota]

My OCD (electrician) son would say, 'Bulbs go in the ground, what you have is a duff lamp and a dim lamp...'

[jourdain2]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it? This sort of thing has happened to me. Usually older items were made to last.

[lady-janine]

I'm not going to take the lamp out to see where it was manufactured but the sewing machine came from the Swiss Centre nr Leicester Square. I have the original guarantee and receipt.

My s-I-l left me her treadle Singer when she died and that was pre-war and still working. Gave that to some one who wanted it and uses it. I didn't have room and am very happy with what I have.

Just curious about the lamp. (okay Shooter?)

[shoota]

Not me M'Lady, playing devils advocate for my son.


I don't want to put my bulbs in the ground... ;-)