Are flash bulbs dangerous?

I just bought a set of old camera accessories on eBay. It came with a light

meter (still not sure if it works right), an Argus C-44 manual, a set of

filters, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff. It also came with a flash

(the kind that has a reflective dish) and a bunch of blue flash bulbs. I mainly

bought it just as a collection, and I thought it might be cool to display. I

was curious though, would it be safe to actually try the flash? Are flash bulbs

dangerous?

 

I don't remember flash bulbs, but when I was a little kid I had a camera that

used disposable flash cubes. It was a really old camera even then, and I don't

remember where I got the cubes. I only used it a few times I think. That was

back maybe in the early or mid 1980s. I don't remember flash cubes being

dangerous, but I don't know anything about bulbs.

 

So would it be better if I just kept them as a display? Or are they dangerous,

and should I just got rid of them? Would it be safe to actually try to fire a

couple of them? Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

They're safe. Might be entertaining. They're not dangerous, otherwise how could they sell them to people? They don't degrade over time. It would be quite entertaining. You might be able to sell them as they're not made any more. They're self contained, they might bubble a bit from the heat.

Sell the Flash Bulbs on eBay, people pay good money for them.

I just sold 16 of them from a similar find to yours.

The old ones with no plastic coating were dangerous to bare feet when you pop them out and they break on the floor. If you were in a hurry, they were too hot to take out. You just pushed the button and let em fly.

Let them off by all means, great fun and there seems to be plenty for sale on fleabay these days. Harmful? Only if you swallow them and grab a bare electrical wire!

 

Tony

Yes, extremely dangerous, whatever you do, do not eat them! ;)

If you peel the safety coating off they make a very satisfying bang. Only dangerous to the subject, not the photographer (if the bulb was in a reflector).

Hell, photography done right .....is pretty dangerous.

As I recall, flash cubes had a percussion igniter- a little snap spring in the base was released by the camera. Could be dangerous under the right circumstances.

 

A big box-o-loose-bulbs could likewise become interesting if one went off. One way the old timers could augment their flash was to tape or rubber band a couple of extra bulbs to the 'live' one in a flash fixture. When the normal bulb was fired, the heat set off the adjacent ones.

Every once in a while, one of the #5 glass ones used to shatter and fling small shards of hot glass at your subject. It was for that reason that most old flash "guns" came with a transparent, clip-on shield or a pull-over plastic cover.

 

Also, it's not a good idea to carry a handful of loose "peanut" AG-1 bulbs in a pocket, especially in the pocket of a pair of wool trousers in a dry, cool climate such as you might find at a spring prom in Albuquerque, New Mexico back in 1962.

 

The problem, you see, is that it doesn't take much to set off an AG-1 flashbulb. Static electricity can do the job nicely. The heat from an ignited AG-1 is enough to set off other bulbs it may be touching. In a split-second you can be experiencing the photographic equivalent of an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.

 

In your pants.

Why do I get the idea that Dennis is talking from experiance here?

I grew up with flashbulbs and there is nothing wrong with me.

Gene, is your statement open to discussion?

If you've never seen some of the bigger flashbulbs go off, think thermonuclear explosion.

 

They're great if you ever need a lot of light in a small package. They put electronic flashes to shame.

Bulbs are still viable, especially if you want to light up a whole room. There's even an outfit in Ireland still making them but just the big mazda base ones though. Very pricey but you can get plenty of 5's and 25's on the auction site, usually for around a buck apiece.

No.

I once screwed one of the big screw-base bulbs into a coworker's drafting light before he came in to work in the morning. That was kind of dangerous, he was bigger than me. But I ran faster.

LOL...hillarious replies!

 

But what I mean is, I guess what I'm afraid of is one of these old flash bulbs exploding or something. Is there any real chance of that?

 

And yeah, that does indeed sound like Dennis is speaking from experience! I don't have any plans of carrying a bunch of them in my pocket! I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has ever had one of these bulbs explode in the flash. They do have what looks like a blue plastic covering though.

The big ones are, as someone said, awesome. A former colleague of mine claims to have screwed one of the big screw-in style bulbs into his roomate's lamp so thatwhen the guy got home and flipped the switch, there was this blinding explosion.

Only if you eat them.

Dangerous 'where the sun don't shine'.

they are dangerous if you grab them with static charged fingers! I've set off all 4 bulbs in a cube trying to get it out of my pocket... OUCH!

Seriously though....from 'Perfexction in a Flash' published by Phillips 1959 :

 

'The bulb is filled with oxygen and a finely drawn wire of aluminium and magnesium (8%). The glass envelope is designed to withstand 15 atmospheres and the varnish coating 3-4 atm. The peak pressure during combustion does not rise aove 4 atm. In large bulbs there is a small protective screen to intercept the hot ash.'

 

'A crack in the glass wll have 2 effects :

 

1) air will enter the glass and so incomplete combustion will take place.

 

2)a weakness in the bulb means that there will be a risk of bursting.

 

Every 'Photoflux flashblb contains a blue safety spot. In the large bulbs it is on the inside top surface of the glass and for small types on the glass bead under the filament. The cobalt salt will turn pink on exosure to air so bulbs where the spot has turned pink should not be used.'

 

Some ancient reminiscences :

 

I remember my father using flashbulbs. (The book I am quoting belonged to him). When they went off the glass bulbs would go wrinkly and be very hot - too hot to touch for a few minutes without gloves. So in all seriousness they do need a bit of care and might just possibly explode if the lass envelope is damaged.

 

Good luck!

Gene: you have a thousand obsolete cameras, some of which work, and some of which use film you can still get. You spend your time posting (wonderful) images from film you find in these cameras. There is definitely something wrong with you... Same thing that's wrong with most of us here I suspect.

 

I think we can safely answer the original question: if you set off these bulbs you will almost certainly develop a dangerous, possibly life-threatening, obsession with antique cameras. It may already be too late. Your only hope is to seal them up in a lead-lined envelope, together with anything they have been in contact with (especially any old cameras, films or accessories), and post them to me at once. I will dispose of them safely (being already infected they can not harm me further). Do not post them to Gene.

I use flashbulbs still - as my main lighting system.

 

Using M-sync setting, you can even use bulbs as 'fill flash' up to the top 500th speed of the Compur shutter. I have used hundreds with no problem, apart from one I found in the garden which was an AG-1 with the laquer removed. It went with a huge bang and made my ears ring. I took a photo of my sister with it and the photo shows the burning magnesium wire being ejected towards her.

 

Do not use bulbs with damaged laquer!

 

Ian