Don't put your crystal ball in the window

[Trithemius]

They're apparently a fire hazard, as this guy discovered the hard way.


IF HERVE VANDROT, a French amateur psychic, took out a warranty on his crystal ball, he may soon be claiming on it. Instead of predicting that his flat would catch fire, the fortune-telling device was the cause of the blaze.

Link to Story (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C2-1731541%2C00.html)

[Faeawyn]

what a dork :rotfl:

[yarrow_elfglow]

what an idiot

[BlueMoon13]

OY! That falls under the "well,duh" category. NO common sense whatsoever :meanhead:

[HorseCrow]

I have heard about this before- crystals causing fire. He might be a dork, but I think a lot of un-dorky people could make the same mistake.

[BrigidMoon]

Wow major suckage.

[Gareth]

Well, a crystal ball is like a magnifying glass.
I'm not surprised that they can start fires.

[SacredWithin]

I think that's kinda funny. :smile:

[Chibi-Fallon]

Well that'll teach him to put things away. :lol:

[jetzige]

Seems like a little common sense could have prevented this.

[Brenda]

:lol: very smart :lol:

[SilverClaw]

That reminds me of the story about the woman who left her crystal ball on her coffee tabl and it some how wound up on the couch cause of one of her kids and yep set it on fire.

[Sequoia]

If you read the article, several people seem to think the fire was started by an electrical plug, which is quite likely. It's a bit mean to tease these boys over crystal balls - I've known many people to put crystals & crystal balls on windowsills, with never an ill effect, even on the brightest, hottest days. It's an amusing article, but rather unfair to the kid. I think the firefighters involved are getting a laugh out of him, publically.

[Sowelu]

More importantly, do not put two balls in a hot sunny window!

[Lunacie]

People hang crystals in their windows all the time and I've never heard that it's a fire hazard. Would the shape of a crystal ball focus the sunlight and heat more than a natural shaped crystal does? I'm not ready to accept the explanation that the crystal ball started the fire until I have more information.

[Trithemius]

People hang crystals in their windows all the time and I've never heard that it's a fire hazard. Would the shape of a crystal ball focus the sunlight and heat more than a natural shaped crystal does? I'm not ready to accept the explanation that the crystal ball started the fire until I have more information.

The crystals people usually hang in their windows aren't lenses. A crystal ball is basically a big ball lens, and is very capable of focusing light. Ball lenses are used in laser work and fiber optics all the time.

[Lunacie]

The crystals people usually hang in their windows aren't lenses. A crystal ball is basically a big ball lens, and is very capable of focusing light. Ball lenses are used in laser work and fiber optics all the time.

Ah, thanks for the info. Does the window also work to intensify or focus the light/heat? I wonder how long it would take for a fire to start this way.

[Trithemius]

Ah, thanks for the info. Does the window also work to intensify or focus the light/heat? I wonder how long it would take for a fire to start this way.

No, flat glass surfaces don't focus light. It's a good thing too, or peoples' houses would be burning down all the time! :lol:

That's why it's usually safe to hang crystals in your windows. Most of the ones I've seen for this purpose are prisms, with flat angled surfaces and edges. Instead of concentrating light, they disperse it, separating it into its component colors and making rainbows. If you hit them with a laser at the right angle, they'd act as beam splitters.

As far as how long it would take to start a fire using a ball lens, I really don't know. There are lenses out there that are more efficient firestarters, like the fresnel. Those things can melt rock. I've used a small fresnel to start a fire on a sunny day in less than 15 seconds.

[Sequoia]

As far as how long it would take to start a fire using a ball lens, I really don't know. There are lenses out there that are more efficient firestarters, like the fresnel. Those things can melt rock. I've used a small fresnel to start a fire on a sunny day in less than 15 seconds.
Wow, where can I get one of those?

[Brielle LaLune]

Very good advice...I learned this somewhat the hard way.

I was holding mine in my hand in the sun, just gazing. All of the sudden I realized my hand was burning!! It hurt like crazy! You could definitely fry ants with a crystal ball. *snickers*

[Trithemius]

Wow, where can I get one of those?

You can get credit- card and full-page sized ones at Office Depot where they sell the magnifiers. The credit card size is what I used, and was a couple of bucks. If you can find an overhead projector, you can get the lens out of it. It's under the writing-table surface and will be about a square foot.

Now, if you want to spend some money, this site (http://www.alltronics.com/lenses.htm) has a 38" x 50" lens for about $140, in the middle of the page. That's your rock-melting size. They also have smaller ones, but the big one would be the most fun. :devil:

[Old Witch]

Hey! I could have told him that....two years ago I set my altar up outside and it was windy so I wasn't going to use candles so I wouldn't burn down the neighborhood and I used my Crystal ball as a weight so my altar cloth wouldn't fly away. Well I had to go into the house for something and when I got back my crystal ball was busy setting my altar cloth on fire....

[Old Witch]

If you read the article, several people seem to think the fire was started by an electrical plug, which is quite likely. It's a bit mean to tease these boys over crystal balls - I've known many people to put crystals & crystal balls on windowsills, with never an ill effect, even on the brightest, hottest days. It's an amusing article, but rather unfair to the kid. I think the firefighters involved are getting a laugh out of him, publically.
Just read your post...I set my altar cloth on fire with my ball...It can be done!!

[Sequoia]

Just read your post...I set my altar cloth on fire with my ball...It can be done!!
hehe I read that!

I once spent an entire summer as a kid trying to set dried leaves (in a bowl!) on fire with a magnifying glass. I got smoke, but no flame... :lol:

[WynterWynd]

How sad....funny,but sad.


It just goes to show.....you shouldn't put your balls in the window:imout:

[donatello51]

Ah that phrase once again "common sense". This mythical 6th sense is anything but common since it seems 99% of humanity does not possess such a sense in addition to their other five. It is the most unutilized of all our senses assuming we have such a sense in our possesstion. Humans go blithly through life doing the wrong things routinely. Making all the poorest of choices if given the option of having a choice. It's as bad as "thinking outside the box". What is this mythical box everyone seems to be trapped inside of? Who put you in such a limiting box? Why did you allow yourself to be put in such a place? Humans continually amaze me as the very oddest and strangest of creatures on this planet. :ahhhh: :collapse: :spinner:

[Lunacie]

Ah that phrase once again "common sense". This mythical 6th sense is anything but common since it seems 99% of humanity does not possess such a sense in addition to their other five. It is the most unutilized of all our senses assuming we have such a sense in our possesstion. Humans go blithly through life doing the wrong things routinely. Making all the poorest of choices if given the option of having a choice. It's as bad as "thinking outside the box". What is this mythical box everyone seems to be trapped inside of? Who put you in such a limiting box? Why did you allow yourself to be put in such a place? Humans continually amaze me as the very oddest and strangest of creatures on this planet. :ahhhh: :collapse: :spinner:

Ahem. At least 90% of the time I have really good common sense, but every so often the gods decide to try sneaking one past me. I don't use a crystal ball and don't have any window ledges big enough to set one in and leave it there, but I didn't realize that it would work like a magnifying glass. I mean, they're not shaped the same. And people leave glass jars with flowers or plants in them in the window don't they? Like I said earlier, I would have thought "Hmmm, people hang crystal prisms in their windows so there shouldn't be a problem with setting a crystal ball in a window either."

I don't usually say, "Sheesh, what an idiot. I would have known better than to do that!" because I've had my "idiot moments". We all do.

[Sowelu]

How sad....funny,but sad.


It just goes to show.....you shouldn't put your balls in the window:imout:

That's right!

and.................and don't put your balls against a frozen pole!_taparoo_ _wedgie_ ;)