Cold Cathode into Outlets?

cygaramond · Post by **cygaramond** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 7:39 am

I'm thinking of picking up some cheap Cold Cathode tubes to light my PL NX-01. The catch is that these are deigned as computer lighting and only have the little plug on the end to hook them into a computer power supply. I have looked around, but I can't seem to find an adaptor (other than a cheap computer power supply) that would allow me to just plug them into a wall socket. Does such an adaptor exsist? If not, what would it take to strip off the end and rewire it (presumably into a transformer) to do so?

These are the lights I'm looking at:

http://www.xoxide.com/coldcathodes.html

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

-Chad

jwrjr · Post by **jwrjr** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:33 pm

Computer power connector color codes:

yellow = +12v. dc
red = +5v. dc
black = ground.

For a CCFL inverter it is unlikely that you will need to worry about the red (+5v. dc) wire.

cougar184 · Post by **cougar184** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:19 am

did you get a power supply for this? just wondering what you found out as I would like to use these for my nessel lighting as well

cygaramond · Post by **cygaramond** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:24 am

I havent acctually bought anything yet, but I did decide to just simplify everything and pick up a cheap computer power supply. You can get them over at tigerdirect.com or newegg.com for ten or fifteen bucks.

-Chad

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:49 am

There are issues with running a PC power supply without a proper load, I don't think the CFFL converter will provide enough load. I believe it is %5 of the total power. Google converting a pc power supply to bench top powersupply. I had some links looks like they are at home. . .

Since these CCFls run off 12 volts, what you need is 12 volts. Unfortunately the website states their average power is plus or minus 3.7 watts. Plus or minus what? Is it 10 watts plus or minus 3.7? Probably not but theres an issue with what current is needed for the driver boards. 3.7 watts / 12 volts is 0.308333 Amps of current. Double it to be safe (startup current is higher than running current).

I have a radio-shack 12 volt multi volt adapter, it's 1 amp rated (1000 mAmps). Its $40 dollars but it lets you experiment with different voltages. You can get a cheaper version that is 12 volt only, say 600 mAmp to be safe and test the tubes.