The Light Bulb That Ran For Years And Years!

Originally posted by cyberjedi
Planned obsolescence or built-in obsolescence[1] in industrial design is a policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period.

What are your experiences with planned obsolescence?

I see planned obsolescence and value engineering a little differently.

I've had experience with various manufacturing industries and component life tests.

In the automotive industry, 100,000 miles was a target to meet for product life (or equivalent). So if the test result came out to 200,000 miles equivalent, it would raise the question how it might be cost reduced to last at least 100,000 miles.

Or instead of reducing cost, if it was a blower fan motor being tested, the idea might be to reduce noise to provide a nice quiet interior for the driver. But if you ever notice a lot of stuff in your car lasts for at least 100k miles but then things start to fail, that could be one reason why.

I have two Panasonic microwave ovens, and old one that was designed well, and a newer one that was designed poorly. When the new one broke I took it apart and the design of the component that broke is so ridiculous I wondered if it was a planned failure type of design, either that or it was designed by an engineering moron. Whichever one is the cause of the poor newer design, it's really pretty sad. It was a $100 microwave and with a penny or two more plastic in the right spot, it probably would have lasted as long as the old one.

Another thing that comes to mind is compressors. Campbell Hausfield for example makes both light duty and heavy duty compressors. The heavy duty models are more expensive to make, sell for more, and last longer. This would be ideal if we could get this kind of choice in every product, but it's not very practical to do it with everything, like cars. But it's an example that there are cost considerations to product life, and manufacturers are always looking for ways to cost reduce their products to increase profits, but if you demand a heavy duty air compressor, you can still get one if you're willing to pay more for it.

I think manufacturers have by and large messed up. If they want to compete as a serious product they need to make their prducts more reliable. For example, Toyota is the #1 selling car brand in South Africa for the last 30 or 40 years and this is mainly because Toyota have a reputation for reliability.

Reliability = #1 Selling brand. How hard is it for other manufacturers to understand that?

Better not bring it to Australia.
Incandescent bulbs are being phased out, compact fluoros are all you can buy.
I think there is a bulb running in, of all places, afire brigade, that has been running since the early 1900's.
Can't remember where I read it, but was an interesting story.

Yep, it's all about making money, nice profits. Not about sustainability. If we go on like this we will deplete most of our resources on Earth. But the producers don't care as long as the consumers keep buying their products. Things don't even have to break for people to buy new stuff, because eventually their items are no longer fashionable. Take the mobile phone for instance. It used to serve just as a functional tool, now it's become a fashion item. Every so often they bring out new phones in different colors, with new apps that nobody really needs nor uses. They make loads of profits out of useless stuff, but we all buy into it.

Originally posted by Electric Crown
I saw an infomercial years ago about a shaving razor that would never go dull. They wanted $19.99 for it. Seemed like bunk to me, but if in fact they can really make one then I'd say the disposable razor companies are taking us for millions. Those things aren't cheap at all

Try this. I have used the same razor head (gillett sensor) for two years. It works and subtracts from the over 1 trillion disposable razor blades thrown away every year.

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by Colbomoose
Better not bring it to Australia.
Incandescent bulbs are being phased out, compact fluoros are all you can buy.
I think there is a bulb running in, of all places, afire brigade, that has been running since the early 1900's.
Can't remember where I read it, but was an interesting story.

Yes, they are to be phased out by 2012 in the US as well. Ikea started early and already stopped selling incandescents.

Turning a light on is when most bulbs pop due to (IIRC... high school electronics here ) increased resistance so it's not unusual that a bulb left on will last a lot longer than it's typical shelf life. This particular bulb is impressive but not part of some great conspiracy IMO.

reply to post by AeonStorm

Can I ask you what you mean by a capacitor "rupturing?" I do not understand what you are trying to convey. Usually they die out or in the case of to much current they will literally explode.

What I meant by a capacitor rupturing sounds like a heat related failure. The casing for a cylindrical capacitor splits open and looks similar to when a battery splits open and goos all over the place, just not as much mess but corrosion takes hold a lot quicker.

Have you ever tired some of these devices after being subjected to water?

The circuit boards I have coated in fibreglass resin are for AA and other small battery recharging. I have not submersed the boards in water, but I would be confident that they would still work. They have been exposed to some damp and humid conditions and still ok.

"Several if not all hardware companies will place a small chip into their product, witch at a given time, will malfunction the whole machine."

Any evidence to support the above claim? Any?

As for the 110year old lightbulb, it started out at 60W and now only glows at 4W.
Still pretty impressive, and could be done to only having been switched off and on
a very few times in it's life.

Anybody care to work out the electric bill for this bulb? :-)

From a moral point of view, planned obsolescence should be punishable to death penalty, especially considering how much unnecessary #ing plastic and other nonbiodegradeable # we're putting on the Earth because of this system. Not to mention the stress problems im sure it eventually causes lol.
However, we've based vital parts of our economy on it (electronics and automotive industries) so without completely disbanding current governments and companies and basically starting from scratch, we're #ed with a capital F. Maybe that's part of the reasoning behind the NWO, the extermination is just to make it go more smoothly with less people to worry about

Originally posted by ossminid
Try this. I have used the same razor head (gillett sensor) for two years. It works and subtracts from the over 1 trillion disposable razor blades thrown away every year.

That's pretty cool, I actually started looking into leather razor strops to try to do something besides the disposable razor route.

In that video he has some kind of stop with some green compound on it, I can sort of guess the compound but I can't really tell what that is he placed the compound on, he calls it a strop but it doesn't look anything like the leather strops I researched.

There was a TV commercial of a disposable razor blade sharpener that had a spinning wheel with sandpaper flaps spinning around when you pushed a button or something. I always wondered how well that thing worked.

I might try the blue jeans since I can do test it for free without wasting any money, but I'm not sure if it will work with just the jeans and not the green compound strop thing he uses.

Another question is, why do the stropping with a disposable razor, where you can only do one side of the blades? Wouldn't it be better to go with a regular straight razor where you can strop both sides?

how about cars. in cuba you see immaculate 1950's chevy's and fords. they run perfectly and have very little maintenance done to them due to the trade embargo limiting replacement parts.

now you'll be lucky if you don't have 3 major trips to a mechanic on a car barely 10 years old and less than 100,000 miles on it.

we've been conditioned to think a car with over 80,000 miles is ready to fall apart, and with good reason, they probably will.

there's no reason why a car built with solid materials on key components on the engine and axles couldn't run for 30 yrs with proper care.

but i think the key conspiracy is the way they manufacture the body. after 5 years the engine may be good, but the paint and body make the car look 20yrs old.

nobody wants to drive around in a rust bucket.

Originally posted by AeonStorm

Originally posted by againuntodust
The first thing that comes to mind is automobiles. They have parts that wear and degrade when in reality we have the technology to eliminate that aspect of an automobile.

A product that lasts forever. Ahh... nothing of the sort exists... but refreshing to think about.

Sorry but I must disagree. Anything that is electronic related (from my knowledge) will include heavy wear and tear especially from anything heat related. The first component you may want to observe is the capacitor. You may also want to look at temperatures in which the electronics are operating in...Humidity may also play a big factor (sorry but I've taken Electronics Engineering) .....

Peace & Respect,

AS

PS: If you want to go further with automobiles you may want to look at thermocouples and transducers)

edit on 16-2-2011 by AeonStorm because: Added

edit on 16-2-2011 by AeonStorm because: tech

I have to agree, any mechanical system exposed to corrosive elements or friction will degrade with time. Nothing lasts forever.

With that said, I worked at a steel mill that had an operation hammer press that was made in 1890. It had been rebuilt several times, but it kept ticking.

Originally posted by AeonStorm

Originally posted by againuntodust
The first thing that comes to mind is automobiles. They have parts that wear and degrade when in reality we have the technology to eliminate that aspect of an automobile.

A product that lasts forever. Ahh... nothing of the sort exists... but refreshing to think about.

Sorry but I must disagree. Anything that is electronic related (from my knowledge) will include heavy wear and tear especially from anything heat related. The first component you may want to observe is the capacitor. You may also want to look at temperatures in which the electronics are operating in...Humidity may also play a big factor (sorry but I've taken Electronics Engineering) .....

100% percent correct. Temperature IS a stress factor. Disk drives failure rates strongly correlate with temperature as well. There are also thermal couplings in every computer that can go bad with time. And then there are transient voltages (say from badly conditioned mains supply) which completely sporadically may or may not fry your unit.

Hi there. This is my first post to this site. My great Grandfather actually worked with Thomas Edison on the lightbulb. When I was 10 years old he showed me numerous light bulbs that they had developed in the early 1900's that still worked. No doubt about it, they engineer light bulbs to die. How else would they make any money on it?

Originally posted by Arbitrageur
The heavy duty models are more expensive to make, sell for more, and last longer. This would be ideal if we could get this kind of choice in every product, but it's not very practical to do it with everything, like cars.

Arb, I can't agree with this. Many years ago, when Mercedes were still good cars, you could buy one, for more money and God did it last! I drove a 18 yo Mercedes which was in a top shape, really. I sold it later. Now you'll probably go with something else.

reply to post by AeonStorm


Whats up , I got this found link just for you I havent checked it out nor looked through it but others seemed to stoked about the content. Find schematics, wiring diagrams, etc. for everyday electronic devices from fcc database

www.instructables.com...

I was driving along the highway yesterday when my 2002 truck wich had just gone past 300,000km on it started miss firing. I limped into the next town along the highway which luckily had a dealership. Turns out that wire from the coil to a spark plug had come loose. Just as I go there a guy driving another truck just like mine (2002 and he had also just passed 300,000km) came in from the highway and it turned out that his truck had the same exact wire come loose as mine. What is the chances of that It was funny but this thread made me think about just how unlikely that was.

Originally posted by JediMindTrick
Hi there. This is my first post to this site. My great Grandfather actually worked with Thomas Edison on the lightbulb. When I was 10 years old he showed me numerous light bulbs that they had developed in the early 1900's that still worked. No doubt about it, they engineer light bulbs to die. How else would they make any money on it?

No, they engineered them to be inexpensive. Longevity was a consequence of that.

In the Power Wheelchair industry there are several parts that are made of Very brittle cheap plastic. Such as the armrest housing,the control box that allows for various functions, the back rest shell, etc.
When these parts break, and boy do they break, the customers insurance, most often times Medicare, is billed for a replacement.
The manufacturer is more than happy to charge the repair company and send these parts, the company is more than happy to charge the insurance companys, The insurance is more than happy to pay, the customer is more than happy to get their chair fixed. EVERYONE WINS!!!!!

The problem is,
If ANY of these parts were made from steel or even Aluminum, they would be slightly more expensive but..........THEY WOULD NEVER and I mean NEVER need to be replaced again.

Same thing with the batteries that power these chairs. They used to be made with enough lead in them to last easily five years. Medicare will now pay for battery replacement Once a year. Guess what???????
The batteries are made with LESS lead now and last almost as if they were on a timer, they last for.........Anyone......Bueller.....Bueller......ONE YEAR!!!
And I mean almost to the day sometimes. The reason after digging on my part?
They are made with less lead now due to the rising costs of lead.

This just stinks to high heaven. But, I am assured, that this is just the way the world turns.

Many products could be made ONCE and last a lifetime. How many products do you know of that ARE bult to last would be my question.