EDM question; light bulbs and resistors

Quick note from a lurker:

I don't think that light bulbs and resistors are
exactly equivalent. A light bulb behaves more like a
ballast resistore, increasing its resistance with
increasing temperature. The filament's temperature is
a function of current, so this makes it in effect a
damper of current excursions - a regulator of sorts.
Ordinary resistors are carefully designed NOT to have
this characteristic as long as the current is withing
their ratings.

A friend of mine in California built the two-bulb
circuit years ago and tested it, and it was pretty
clear that the bulbs were not just passive components,
that they stabilized the operation of the circuit as a
whole.

Marc de Piolenc
Iligan City, Philippines
(formerly San Diego, California)






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