Vintage (ish) neon power supply
Added 2023-02-03 01:58:14 +0000 UTCA rather unusual power supply intended to be an affordable way to drive short decorative argon/mercury neon tubes.
This module and a sequence of fortuitous events sent me on a wild ride of custom neon tubes and equally custom bases to power them.
It's not perfect, but it is relatively simple and the bare PCB version is 100% serviceable with standard components.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CAWIStlP4M
Comments
How long does it take for the tube to become polarized? Would swapping the polarity of the supply to the tube every few months or something prevent the damage?
Charles
2023-02-05 01:48:39 +0000 UTCI can't speak for BigClive, but with enough Jagermeister shots I might volunteer to do that...
Curtis Hoffmann
2023-02-04 16:02:40 +0000 UTCBehringer are notable for their unusual approaches to making the circuitry affordable. The voltage multiplier would probably be very low noise.
Big Clive
2023-02-04 15:31:24 +0000 UTCAh, but would he do it in the buff?
Ymir the Frost Giant
2023-02-04 15:19:53 +0000 UTCI'm sure that block of amber has a prehistoric EEV Dave trapped in it.
Ymir the Frost Giant
2023-02-04 15:08:17 +0000 UTCThe converters I bought say they are for audio applications, so we'll see. There's not much space to work with.
Jon (0ryn) Westgate
2023-02-04 13:05:02 +0000 UTCJust make sure you keep SMPS noise away from the sensitive bits.
Mike Page
2023-02-04 11:32:32 +0000 UTCI just fixed a Berrenger mixing desk and that had an interesting full wave voltage mulitplier which is used to generate the 48V for the the phantom power. It's fed with 25-0-25 AC center tapped supply from an external transformer. It gets rectified and regulated by a 7815 / 7915 symetric pair, but the AC is tapped off by 2 caps to 2 voltage multipliers. I'm not sure they went with 2 as the 48V is regulated by a zener / emiter follower. the current requirements are nothing, just a few mA. I'm going to replace the lots with 2 Aliexpress special dc-dc converters. One for the split +-15V and one for the 48V. It should then run from a single 5-35v supply:) Fingers crossed.
Jon (0ryn) Westgate
2023-02-03 19:38:53 +0000 UTCIf you have a bottom you want BigClive to buff, watch this video.
Curtis Hoffmann
2023-02-03 03:55:48 +0000 UTC
