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Re: Neon life (and death)
From: David Huffman[SMTP:huffman-at-FNAL.GOV]
Sent: Friday, October 31, 1997 10:13 AM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: Neon life (and death)
I returned a neon from the grave by depotting it but the heating method
didn't work for me. Some of the tar was the consistency of Bakelite . Very
brittle and heating did nothing to help removal it. I ended up chipping the
tar, carefully, off the transformer. I finally soaked the whole thing in
solvent to remove most of the remaining crud. It now has a home in oil. I
will see if it lives for very long this way.
Dave Huffman
-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: 'Tesla List' <tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>
Date: Friday, October 31, 1997 8:37 AM
Subject: Re: Neon life (and death)
>
>From: ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net[SMTP:ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net]
>Sent: Friday, October 31, 1997 9:15 AM
>To: Tesla List
>Subject: Re: Neon life (and death)
>
>Gary,
>
>Thanks for the pointers. Your hot oven idea seems both simple and
>reasonable. Unfortunately, prowling the dusty old sign shops of
>downtown USA is not an option for me. I am presently assigned to RAF
>Mildenhall, UK, in rural East Anglia. Gathering materials for a
>coil here has required unbelieveable time and effort. For now I'm
>stuck with a single 15,000v "Transco" unit, and It must sustain me
>until I return to the land of the free. That's why I'm so interested
>in transformer protection.
>
>Is your hot oven method suitable for removing the tar altogether? One
>subscriber suggested immersing the windings in mineral oil to protect
>against corona-induced failure. But first, the tar has got to come
>out. What is the most efficient way to remove it?
>
>Greg
>
>To: "'Tesla List'"
><tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com> Subject: Re: Neon life (and death)
>Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 22:36:39 -0600 From: Tesla List
><tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>
>
>From: gweaver[SMTP:gweaver-at-earthlink-dot-net]
>Sent: Thursday, October 30, 1997 12:47 PM
>To: Tesla List
>Subject: Re: Neon life (and death)
>
>At 07:18 PM 10/29/97 -0600, you wrote:
>>
>>From: ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net[SMTP:ghunter-at-mail.enterprise-dot-net]
>>Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 1997 3:20 PM
>>To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
>>Subject: Neon life (and death)
>>
>>What's the typical lifespan of a neon TC power supply? One
>>subscriber to the list has suggested that a pile of used neon
>>transformers is good to have around, because they don't last very
>>long. I find this most disturbing, as I own only ONE neon
>>transformer, and it wasn't free. I've seen working luminous sign
>>transformers in downtown New Orleans that appear to have been on
>>continuous duty for decades. Obviously, neons are built to last. So
>>why would a TC shorten the life of a neon so drastically? I'm aware
>>of the need for output chokes, and mine will be protected with four
>>(4) robust, home-made units (2 big air-cores, and 2 fat ferrite
>>cores). I'm also including a safety gap. What more can I do?
>>Series power resistors maybe?
>>
>>Greg
>>
>
>
>Its hard to say how long a neon will last. I think it has something to do
>with how old the tar inside the neon is and how much it has dried out.
When
>the tar dries out it gets lots of cracks that contribute to the neon
>failure. If you put a neon in the kitchen oven for about an hour to melt
the
>tar it does wonders for good working neons and will fix most bad neons.
>Collect all the bad neons you can get from sign shops and bring them back
to
>life by putting them in the kitchen oven. If you want more details see my
>web page http://home.earthlink-dot-net/~gweaver
>
>Gary Weaver
>
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