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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