yes i know he said they were similar....that's not what i was asking...i was Asking if the glass pattern on the original was diffrent and if they offered plastic refractors back then.
I had a GE Form 101 from 1965, it had everything except the PC and Lamp orginal!!! It was a GE Bucket light with VERY BROWN refractor...close bottom and it had a chain attached the the fixture and reflector! Sadly the refractor didn't survive the collection, it was soooooo brittle and very brown with a bit of green in the plastic!
Also the original GE M-250 from 1959-1960 had a plastic refractor!
Plastic gumballs existed too, I have seen browned out gumballs!
60's? Most likely they were replacements. most plastic lenses before the 70's were polycarbonate. Glass is more classic looking. Glass is shiney and looks like new after years.
Michael, the GE M-250 catalog specifies a Poly plastics.....
I am not sure when acrylic came out...but Acrylic are much easier to break than the poly...the poly is stronger, but they are more prone to yellowing than the acrylic
@ jace: that's why i said "most plastic lenses before the 70's were polycarbonate." Once a polycarbonate lens yellows, it becomes more brittle than acrylic. I like the color of mercury vapor light passig through a browned out lens though.
I think it's a chemical change with the UV light and the plastic. I have wondered if bleech could remove the "stain" from the lens, but i don't have any plastic lenses, just glass. You know what happened to my last plastic lens
a quick observation....im noticing alot of AEL 115's popping up as replacements...for a while we had gone all GE M250R2....but the table's are switching in AEL's favor it seems...prehaps contract ended?
I had a GE Form 101 from 1965, it had everything except the PC and Lamp orginal!!! It was a GE Bucket light with VERY BROWN refractor...close bottom and it had a chain attached the the fixture and reflector! Sadly the refractor didn't survive the collection, it was soooooo brittle and very brown with a bit of green in the plastic!
Also the original GE M-250 from 1959-1960 had a plastic refractor!
Plastic gumballs existed too, I have seen browned out gumballs!
I am not sure when acrylic came out...but Acrylic are much easier to break than the poly...the poly is stronger, but they are more prone to yellowing than the acrylic