The Repair of Zebra Lights

or how to fix a light bulb!

So you've created a masterpiece, a work of wonder in light and shading, that has been the exquisite centerpiece of your soul for years and years until...

...the filament burns out. You could buy another Zebra Light (hint hint) but you know you'll never be able to reproduce the original exactly. You want your special light back. Never fear, there is a way, though it isn't easy.

The solution is to break open the glass bulb at the base and insert a small light inside, then seal it back up. The trickiest part of this is getting the bulb open, as you might imagine. Before you even start, gather all the tools you'll need, especially safety glass to protect yours eyes from flying glass and work gloves to protect your hands from sharp edges.

Tools Needed

Safety Glasses.

Work Gloves.

A small sharp file used to cut metal - the shape doesn't particularly matter (triangular, rectangular, square) so long as the edges of the file are made for cutting. In other words, if there are grooves on the face of the file and not on the sides of it, then it probably won't work. There should be grooves on all sides. It must be a file for cutting metal, not wood, which means it will have finer grooves (more grooves per inch). A file for wood will not cut glass evenly.

A clean open place to work. A basement or outdoors is best, in case glass fragments fall to the ground. A cloth or newspaper will help to catch any small fragments that break off.

A small needlenose pliers.

A small 120 Volt light bulb - this bulb must be small enough to fit inside the Zebra Light through the neck of the bulb. A 25 Watt bulb will give you the same brightness you had originally. If you use a smaller wattage bulb the repaired Zebra Light will be dimmer than it was. Bulbs for sewing machines are one source. Speciality bulbs for chandeliers are another possibility. Halogen bulbs are not recommended, even though they are very small, because they get so hot and need a special power supply. If you're ambitious and know what you're doing you might try it though (report the results back to me and I'll post them here.) Flashlight bulbs and automobile bulbs will not work since they will burn out when fed 120 Volts.

A few inches of solid wire of at least 22 gauge or less (smaller gauge numbers are thicker wire.) If it has insulation it might be a little easier to make sure it can't short together inside the bulb.

Soldering iron and solder. If you don't know how to solder you can get a book telling you how at Radio Shack. It's actually fairly simple; it's like using liquid metal to glue metal together. Or maybe you can find someone to do this part for you. You could probably make a working connection by just wrapping several loops of wire around and using the pliers to crimp connections together, but it won't be as reliable and may come loose eventually.

Five minute epoxy. I suppose some other glues might work also, but five minute epoxy sets faster, withstands heat better, and is stronger. Silicone glue might work. Make sure the glue can withstand the heat of a Zebra Light.

What you are going to do is seperate the glass bulb from the metal base, just above where they join. This is not certain to work and you may end up shattering the bulb anyway, but it's worth trying. The pattern projected from the bulb may change somewhat also since the filament of the small bulb you place inside the larger bulb isn't exactly the same as the original. It's worth giving it a try though! I've done this once myself so I know it can work.

The Procedure

You should be comfortable and relaxed. Pay attention to what you are doing and do it carefully and you have a better chance of success. Read all the instructions all the way through first. Put those safety glasses and gloves on now.
Step A
The first step is to break open the Zebra Light. You will do this by cutting the glass around the base, just like a glass cutter would. Using the edge of the metal file inscribe a straight even line (as straight as you can) all the way around the base of the glass bulb at about an eighth of an inch above the metal base of the bulb. Although a good glass cutter usually only needs to score a line once I'd recommend going around the base several times to make sure you've scored a light groove. Don't press too hard or the bulb might break. Make sure the glass is scored and not just the paint.
Step B
Once you have a good groove scored you are ready to break the bulb. Make sure you have those safety glasses and gloves on! Try tapping gently with the file along the groove you scored, working your way around the bulb. Sometimes this is enough to cause the base to break off. If not then you'll have to try more drastic measures such as hitting harder (or hitting with something else---maybe a butter knife?) or having someone flex the base and bulb while you tap it. Anything you can think of to GENTLY get the two to seperate. If nothing seems to work try scoring the groove deeper and then tapping again. With a little gentle persistence you should be able to get a fairly clean break. Even if it's a little rough and jagged, as long as the bulb is mostly in one piece you should be able to glue it all back together. If the whole bulb breaks into pieces you might try glueing them back together anyway, even though it might cause some parts of your design to be covered with glue.
Step C
Whew! That was the tough part. The rest of the procedure runs little risk of damaging your design, so long as you are reasonably careful. Take off the gloves but be careful of those sharp edges! Now, using the needlenose pliers, break off the burned out filament from the two stiff wires that held them in place. There are probably other wire supports for the filament also; make sure to remove the entire filament. Be careful not to break the two wires that carry electricity from the base of the bulb.
Step D
Now you need to attach two wires to the base of the small bulb you want to place inside the larger bulb. These wires will later be attached to the wire posts that the burned out filament in the Zebra Light was attached to. Cut the wires to the length you think you will need. If you are using insulated wire, strip off a short length of insulation from both ends of each wire. Solder one wire to the side of the base of the small bulb and one to the tip at the bottom of the small bulb. This tip is also made of solder so try not to melt it too much; try to restore it to more or less its original shape.
Step E
Now the two wires you just attached to the small bulb have to be connected to the wires that connect to the base of the Zebra Light. Make sure you connect to the right ones and not to the wires that just act as supports. (The supports have loops at the end, the wires to the base don't.) It doesn't matter which wire gets connected to which, so long as the two sides don't touch. Connect them by looping your wires around the base wires and squeezing them together with the pliers to get a good connection. You probably can't solder these together since the base wires aren't copper, so try to get your wires to wrap around the base wires several times and crimp them tight to get a good connection (not so tight the wires break though.)
Step F
When you think you've got everything connected solidly bend the wires and small bulb around to position the small bulb so that it will be roughly in the center of the large bulb when the bulb and base are glued back together. Then make sure the two wires aren't touching each other anywhere or that the base wires aren't touching the base of the small bulb. If one side touches the other anywhere the wires will melt when the bulb is plugged in.
Step G
Now would be a good time to test your wiring by screwing the base into a lamp socket and turning it on. Be very CAREFUL! Make sure the lamp is unplugged before screwing in the base. Watch out for the sharp edges. Turn on the switch before plugging in the lamp so that you don't have to be near the lamp in case the wires melt and spatter. When the bulb is in place then plug in the lamp. The light should light. If it doesn't unplug the lamp and check your work. If it shorts out unplug the lamp and remove the base. You'll have to start again with new wires.
Step H
You're almost done. Now all you have to do is use the five minute epoxy to glue the base back onto the bulb again. Read the instructions for the epoxy if you've never used it before. It really does set in five minutes (at 70 degrees F, slower if it's colder, faster if it's warmer.) A little bit of epoxy is all that's needed spread along all the edges that will join. Hold the parts together for five minutes until the epoxy sets.
Step I
Set the bulb aside some place where it won't be disturbed for 24 hours. Even though the epoxy sets in five minutes, it reaches maximum strength in 24 hours. When tomorrow comes, screw the bulb into a lamp and try it. It should be almost as good as new. Your masterpiece restored! The pattern may change some because the filament in the small bulb inside isn't quite the same as the original filament. You may find the changes an improvement though. And you'll be one of the few people who can say they've repaired a light bulb! If you ever need to repair it again try using a small torch to melt the epoxy; this should be easier than breaking the bulb open was originally.

Good luck!

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