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Re: dying neons
From: Peter Electric[SMTP:elekessy-at-macquarie.matra-dot-com.au]
Reply To: elekessy-at-macquarie.matra-dot-com.au
Sent: Monday, September 01, 1997 2:32 AM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: dying neons
Tesla List wrote:
> From: Kevin[SMTP:wawa-at-spectra-dot-net]
> Reply To: wawa-at-spectra-dot-net
> Sent: Sunday, August 31, 1997 8:15 PM
> To: Tesla List
> Subject: dying neons
>
> I am having a little trouble with my neons. I believe it is because I
>
> am over stressing them but I'd like to know what I can do to save
> them.
> The other night, I was testing out my toriod and a sphere and I was
> getting my largest arcs yet. Anyway, none of my runs went longer than
>
> 15-20 sec and then eventually, everything would stop and the neon
> would
> make a low, quietsounding buzz/hum. I didn't leave it plugged in when
> I
> noticed that. I'd run it a bit longer and it'd happen again. The
> neon
> also began to warm. My safety gap would fire occasionally. What
> exactly is happening in the system that causes it to fire anyway? I
> have two chokes, but perhaps they aren't good enough. They're 8" of
> 2"
> diam. pvc wound with regular (not magnet wire) 22 awg insulated wire.
> I
> recall some one suggesting that you use the same wire used for the
> secondary, what's the story on that? I don't have any capacitors from
>
> my neon to ground either. Would that make a difference?
>
> I'm not able to come across neons very readily so I want to protect
> what
> I got. Sure, I could always set my spark gap smaller and not turn up
> the voltage all the way, but what fun would that be? :)
>
> any suggestions would be great
> Kevin
Your description sounds more like it is your cap that's faulty. When I
blew up one of my neons it did not recover at all, it just died on one
side. When my cap blew, it exhibited the same behaviour you describe.
Turning off the TC fixed it for a while each time, as the oil would heal
up the hole.
Might be worth checking anyway.
Cheers,
Peter E.