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Prank email it!
by Kipkayon Dec 13, 2007in tech & offbeat rating

introstep 1step 2step 3step 4step 5step 6step 7

introMysterious Lightbulb Prank
Have you ever seen the Magic Lightbulbs magicians use? Here's how to
make one that will drive people crazy! Thanks to Brad Graham for the
fun idea! Watch the video and then follow along with the Instructable.
Hope you enjoy it!

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50 comments Add Comment view all 57 comments

Jan 10, 2008. 7:55 PMandrew101says:
gunna try it

REPLY

Jan 4, 2008. 6:21 PMATsays:
Nice!

Uncle Fester would be proud.

REPLY

Jan 4, 2008. 5:23 PMservant74says:
Thats a lot nicer than the light bulb prank they did when I was in
college.

Then you could find large flash bulbs that looked like regular light
bulbs.
When someone was in bed in the dorm, sneak in and replace the light
above the sink (one in each dorm room). When the light was switched on
for morning activities, a VERY bright flash. Several people would just
turn around
and go back to bed. ... What was not nice to wake up to on Monday
morning :(

REPLY

Jan 3, 2008. 12:23 PMjlanesays:
Kipkay, this ROCKS! Great instruct. Clean/easy to follow.

Even a dufus like me should be able to do it!
We'll see. Har Har Har..

REPLY

Dec 24, 2007. 8:23 AMRun N Gunsays:
Sorry for the many questions, but my light bulb is one piece of glass,
and the filament is part of it. how do I take the filament out without
ruining the powder inside on the surface of the glass, and without
shattering the whole glass? I am starting to think my light bulbs are
weird!

P.S - I am from the USA, are you? Just because if you are from
somewhere else your bulbs might be made differently to accommodate the
different wattage you use.

- Gun

REPLY

Dec 24, 2007. 7:23 AMRun N Gunsays:
KipKay or someone else, I found that some light bulbs' bases are glues
with a brown solution almost all the way down the metal bottom part
that screws into walls and such. In the picture in step 4, I can see
that the bottom part of your light bulb doesn't go down as far (maybe
it does, but I am just assuming this from the different appearance
than mine) . What kind of light bulb do you use for your project?
Also, what kind of wires do you use? I am not familiar with technical
names for wire, but if there is no other, more memorable name than a
technical name would suffice. Thanks again, and awesome project, I
can' wait until I'm done!

- Gun

REPLY

Dec 15, 2007. 8:17 PMDavviksays:
What kind of light bulb was it? Because I got some cheap 25 watt bulbs
from where I work and the batteries didn't fit in the metal part.

REPLY

Dec 23, 2007. 6:38 AMsscamaro69says:
there are several different sizes of button cell batteries

REPLY

Dec 23, 2007. 7:12 AMDavviksays:
But not of 3v ones

REPLY

Dec 22, 2007. 11:32 PMjan007magicsays:
using a 2n3906? schematics please...

REPLY

Dec 22, 2007. 7:46 PMRichardBronoskysays:
If you really want to "prank" someone, try this. Add a High voltage
transistor (or relay) to the circuit is such a way that the led is
normally getting battery power, and when the bulb contacts receive
household current, the transistor breaks the battery's circuit to the
led. This means the light is on UNLESS there is power going to it.
Then install this bulb in a room that has multiple lights on one
switch. When the switch is on, the regular bulbs light and the prank
bulb is out. When the switch is turned off, the regular bulbs go out
and this on comes on. The will screw with your wife's head!

Actually, my wife would just say, "honey, you messed up the lights."
I'd rather try this on dad who is an Electrical Engineer, or my
brother in-law who is a chemical engineer. They know enough to know
they should be freaked out. My wife trusts me too much.

Now I need to talk to a friend who is an EE to figure out what kind of
transistor to use and what to do with the electrical potential to keep
from tripping a the circuit breaker. An instructable may follow!

REPLY

Dec 14, 2007. 1:58 PMSpectracesays:
can you put it in your mouth and it still be safe? Like the guy from
the Addams family .. haha...

your instructables are awesome.

REPLY

Dec 21, 2007. 7:41 PMthinkdunsonsays:
you could put a piece of tin foil on your tongue to make it light up
instead of modifying it so that it doesn't need metal.

REPLY

Dec 14, 2007. 10:56 PMberky93says:
that would be coool - you stick it in your mouth and it turns on, then
tell people its cause your so smart the light never goes out. then
take it out of your mouth and it turns off!

REPLY

Dec 21, 2007. 1:09 PMRun N Gunsays:
Does it matter what kind of wire I use? If so, what kind. I'm not
really the tech kind of guy, so fancy smancy words will not be
recognized by my brain of a two year old... Thanks again!!

- Gun

REPLY

Dec 21, 2007. 1:01 PMRun N Gunsays:
When getting a clean metal part I did what you did, but there is a
brownish glue sticking the glass to the metal, so the glass doesn't
come out. Any suggestions? I am using an ACE hardware light bulb, what
do you use?

- Gun

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 12:45 PMmortaldoom780says:
Why no try this with a general purpose amplifying transistor so that
you don't HAVE to use a ring or something metal to light it up...

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 4:00 PMBrewdawgsays:
This is a good addition. Any recommendation as to a part number for
this? I had one of these as a kid and it worked without an external
metal contact.

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 7:33 PMmortaldoom780says:
Any general-purpose amplifying PNP transistor will do. A common one
available at ratshack is the 2N3906.

REPLY

Dec 17, 2007. 8:15 PMkoolaidslammersays:
if i wanted it to last a while, what resistor would i use?

.

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 5:43 PMslicknicksays:
About 150 to220 ohm would be fine.

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 6:34 PMkoolaidslammersays:
thanks

REPLY

Dec 18, 2007. 1:26 PMmarkodeanosays:
330 Ohms Should be just right.

REPLY

Dec 18, 2007. 2:56 PMkoolaidslammersays:
kool, i have one of those, 1/4 watt.

REPLY

Dec 19, 2007. 11:31 AMrgshreddersays:
Hi, can someone recommend a good led; I bought a few, but they've been
pretty lame.

Are people putting the led up into the middle of the bulb or just at
the base; the intact bulb impedes the ability to put an led up into
the middle.

Also FYI, radioshack charges up the arse for the batteries, you can
buy a two pack at target for the price of one at RS.

it seems that the total cost is pushing about 10 bucks...can anyone
else share their out the door price for this. LED prices vary like
mad.

Excellent tutorial by the way

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 6:03 PMslicknicksays:
I spend a lot of time at the local trash depot salvaging all types of
electronic stuff ,most computors have CR2302 batteries and holders and
just about everything electronic made in the last twenty years has
LED'S.I have over fifty computors and hundreds of TV innards I usually
just strip out the main boards and speakers Knobs screws etc.. and
save heaps also many TV's have single amplifier IC's in them if you
have any knowledge of electronics they are not hard to identify,then
download the data sheet and for practically Zip you can build a neat
little amp using all recycled parts even resistors caps and tran
sistors.I n fact all the computor system I am using at the moment I
got from the dump for nix,a little clean up and a new bios battery and
presto I'm online for virtually nothing.

REPLY

Dec 13, 2007. 6:22 PMnavesays:
isnt kinda dangous to be solder a battery?

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 4:43 PMphyzomesays:
Notice that he wraps the wire under the zip tie instead of soldering
it. Smart!

REPLY

Dec 13, 2007. 7:28 PMKipkaysays:
Yes! That's why I don't suggest it.

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 3:46 PMFrogzsays:
heres a little hint for everyone
if you heat the base carefuly with a torch or lighter(or other source
of flame) it'll pop right off, 100%% intact(the glue breaks easily when
hot)

REPLY

Dec 20, 2007. 3:23 PMgdawgsays:
Another good instructable. Although, it get's a bit wordy when you you
talking about how to wire it up. I can understand it as is, but still
suggest adding arrows or something to the video. This will make it a
little easier to follow.

REPLY

Dec 15, 2007. 6:48 PMRun N Gunsays:
Hi, I'm having some trouble getting the metal bottom of the light bulb
off, the first time I tried the glass blew up in my hand. Is there an
easier way to take it off, I am doing something wrong? TIPS WOULD BE
EXTREMELY HELPFUL!! Thanks.

-Gun

REPLY

Dec 19, 2007. 8:49 PMbobthetoolsays:
i fell asleep, and when i woke up, my bedhead light had broken! the
top had disconnected from the base! must have elbowed it or
something.....

REPLY

Dec 16, 2007. 12:16 PMKipkaysays:
Here is what I did. I tried hard to get one bulb loose with no luck
and it broke as I show in the video. So, I cleaned out the base to
slavage it. To get a good bulb, I gently picked at the edge of the
bulb base closest to the glass until I could get a piece of it with
snips. Then I used a pair of needle nose pliers and started peeling
away at the base until the bulb came free intact.

REPLY

Dec 19, 2007. 8:39 PMmechcemsays:
how do you clean the base

REPLY

Dec 16, 2007. 6:40 PMDoctor Whatsays:
I didn't use gloves....

REPLY

Dec 19, 2007. 2:45 PMmadhops0620says:
rebel

REPLY

Dec 19, 2007. 6:36 PMDoctor Whatsays:
Shattered Glass + No Gloves = Super Happy Fun Time

REPLY

Dec 17, 2007. 11:02 PMnim6says:
I was wondering if I can i use a triple a battery, and just tape it to
the bulb or something, without letting it show...

REPLY

Dec 17, 2007. 8:28 PMcheesynerdsays:
I'm going to make one right now!
You should check out my instructable. But for some reason you have to
search "cheesynerd" with the "people" selection and click on me. hmmm

REPLY

Dec 17, 2007. 11:00 AMloki233says:
if u wanna do something potentially interesting (never tried it, just
thought of it) you could use the little base piece on the bulb as a
pressure switch, if you disconnected it from the insulation around it.
might be a bit tough, but i bet with enough hot glue and a little work
you could use it as an on/off switch.

REPLY

Dec 16, 2007. 11:47 PMbrain in a jarsays:
HEY, thats so cool i just made one for my brother
for Christmas... i went through 4.four.4!!!! globes to get it right my
mum knows i used 2, and my dad knows i used 2... 4 its all good
though.

thanks a lot

REPLY

Dec 16, 2007. 9:44 PMaxle_66says:
anything more imposible????

REPLY

Dec 16, 2007. 11:04 AMeasyrider1says:
pretty cool! when i was about 10 or so a guy that ran the local
skating rink had one of these magic light bulbs and i remember trying
to figure out how he could make it light up and i couldn't. that was
over 40 yrs. ago sonny. he also had some fake puke and other stuff.
what a great guy,thanks Farley where ever you are.

REPLY

Dec 16, 2007. 6:38 AMlocofocossays:
Nice. but u got a funny voice in all your videos..... :P

REPLY

Dec 15, 2007. 8:58 PMItsgoofytimesays:
Yay a cool Instructable :D

Just don't plug it in!

Good Job Kipkay, Keep ones like this coming.

REPLY

Dec 15, 2007. 2:19 PMBrennn10says:
Another amazing hack by KipKay. Keep them coming!! Nice work!

REPLY

Dec 13, 2007. 5:37 PM!Andrew_Modder!says:
:-) thats cool! But one question, what happens if you plug it in a
light socket?? Does it blow up, cause the lithium battery?? :-X

REPLY

Dec 14, 2007. 1:10 PMKipkaysays:
Yes! Smoke and a big spark!

REPLY

Dec 15, 2007. 8:50 AMEdward SexyPantssays:
you never cease to amaze me with your instructables kipkay, keep up
the great work please, i enjoy them all!

REPLY

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category: tech & offbeat

keywords: lightbulb, light, bulb, led, prank, hack, kipkay

license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

author: Kipkay

published: Dec 13, 2007
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