# Flicker Bulb Problem Anyone else?



## BobC (Aug 23, 2005)

Hey all, I was just thinking about detailed lighting for this year and got to thinking about my flicker bulb problem. They never seem to work correctly they work for a night or two and then they seem to stop working. In my opinion they are totally unreliable. The flicker effect is an important part of creating the mood and atmosphere for my home haunt. The past two years I have built flicker circuits to run my candles and chandeliers, this gives a scary look but not the look of the flicker bulbs. I thought I saw something about flickering LED's somewhere "which would be awesome" but cant remember where. Other then that does anyone have any ideas for me? Thanks all hope all your props are coming out good just about 4 months to go.. Later :jol:


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

hi bob same problem here those bulbs just dont last, i too was thinking of building a flicker circuts to run some lights but its not the same look. there are some post on flickering leds -i did a search on flickering lights and came up with some help. one was tea lights


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Check out this link:
www.johnnyspage.com
Lots of info on LED flicker circuits.


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## JonnyMac (Apr 5, 2007)

You can use a small controller like the Prop-1 to flicker multiple outputs -- this article describes how.

http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/cols/nv/vol6/col/nv126.pdf

What you may want to do is adjust the circuit for while LEDs (which have a large forward voltage); the flicker realism is obtained by the quick switching and the output capacitor on the circuit.


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

Some of my flicker bulbs stopped working last year also.
I just ended up leaving them in the candles they were in...
Then a few nights later they were working just fine again!
I couldn't figure out what it was...
But I found that the flicker bulbs with the "flame" shaped glass stopped working.
I bought some regular shapped flicker bulbs from wal-mart last year and they worked the entire time I had them on.
I think it's just that one type of bulb...
Hope this helps!
.


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

hey bob check these out--
http://www.littlebrightlights.com/site/1435548/page/620459


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

I have some flicker bulbs in a candelabra that I have used for at least 8 Halloween nights. They still work. My sister-in-law has the same candelabra and uses hers every night during the week of Halloween, and hers have not burned out yet. Maybe we just got lucky.

So the flicker circuits don't quite give the same effect? I was wondering about that.


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

For starters, you have to make sure that the lighting fixture's different bulb sockets are not wired in series. Wiring flicker bulbs in series causes them to not work at all.

I also believe that the amount of current being drawn off of the circuit breaker the bulbs are plugged into has something to do with if they work or not. I used to have a jack o lantern at work with a flicker bulb in it. It would work first thing in the morning, but by 9:00 AM, as more and more people arrived and turned more equipment on, it would work less efficiently and then stop working altogether until later in the day when people started to go home (and thus turn off their equipment).


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## the_PROCRASTINATOR (Oct 14, 2006)

Flicker LED tea light candles now at the 99 cent store.
I bought a bunch of them. They work great, very random. I plan to remove the batteries and wire them for power.
Sorry for butting-in, but I thought I would toss it out there.
VH


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Thanks for the tip! As long as you're improving the power, you can cut in a brighter LED, too. I use 10,000 mcd LEDs, but they'll eat up those little flat batteries fast.


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## halloweenguy (Dec 27, 2006)

There is another reason they call them flicker bulbs...cause when they stop working you give them a flick and they turn back on again. True story works with the smaller ones.


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