E10... G14... 5V... 1W... Bingo!! Help me find this bulb.

June 13, 2009 10:17 AM

Please help me find replacement light bulbs for my gadget.

Some time ago I purchased two USB Lava Lamps from ThinkGeek. The lights have since burnt out and I cannot seem to find replacements.

The base lists the replacement bulbs: E10 G14 5V 1W. E10 is the base, 5V 1W are obvious, but I'm not sure what G14 is - not really relevant to the question but would be interesting to know. I've tried Radio Shack and local hardware stores with no luck. Googling gives me nothing but overseas sites that simply want you to mail them for more information, and a couple that offer online ordering but with a minimum of 1000 pieces... a little overkill for my needs.

Does anyone know where I could get a small supply of these online (from a domestic supplier), or for bonus points, someplace local to the Minneapolis area that carries them in-store?

Super Bonus Points if a source also supplies LED versions. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work as well because the little sparklies are moved around by the heating quality of the light bulb, but I'd be interested in trying it nonetheless just to see the result.

posted by SquidLips to grab bag (7 answers total)

I've had success with slightly unusual bulbs from Bulbtronics. Here, for example is a search for E10. They have pictures of most of the relevant bulbs which was useful for someone who doesn't know a heck of a lot about light bulbs.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:21 AM on June 13, 2009

I'm not sure what G14 is...

I'm not too familiar with these low-voltage, low-wattage bulbs, but I would ordinarily interpret G14 to mean Globe-shaped (spherical), 14 eighths of an inch (1 3/4") in diameter. Is that plausible?
posted by jon1270 at 10:35 AM on June 13, 2009

My mini lava lamp (not USB) uses an old-style Christmas tree bulb. The diameter of the threaded part was the giveaway.

Lowe's or Home Depot... in-season.
posted by rokusan at 10:56 AM on June 13, 2009

From what I can tell G14 is the bulb size/shape, E10 is the base size/threading. Ikea has E10 bulbs but I'm not sure if they'd work for you.
posted by reptile at 11:49 AM on June 13, 2009

This *might* be your bulb. Note that this one is G4-1/2 or G14mm. That site has a pretty extensive search mechanism and didn't show any bulbs in size G14 with base E10 so I'm thinking that you might want to search for G14mm if the measurements make sense.
posted by reptile at 11:59 AM on June 13, 2009

science geek, you rock! They had just what I needed, more or less. They didn't list the bulb by watts, but by amps, which is easy to convert and find a .15A bulb at 5.1V that should fit the bill (roughly .75W).

reptile, thanks for the link; sadly that is also my bulb, but they are out of stock. But it's a great site for info... it appears the G14 and 4.5 are essentially the same thing... one is metric, one is english. According to their diagram 14mm is roughly equivalent to 9/16in, or 4.5/8 in. Good to know for future searches.

Neither site appeared to have LED bulbs in my size, so if anyone else has the inside scoop on where I might score an LED bulb or two, please let me know. The incandescents are ordered and on their way... thanks to everyone for the replies so far!
posted by SquidLips at 2:11 PM on June 13, 2009

Try 1000bulbs.com ? They have filled some pretty esoteric needs for gadgets in my house, and also been good for general household bulbs.
posted by GJSchaller at 10:34 AM on June 14, 2009