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NE-2 neon bulbs

Another thread on here mentions the NE-2 neon bulbs. I remember those going back to the 60s. They have never changed, but worked well for testers or indicators if you did not want brightness.

But I always wondered, was there a NE-1, or a NE-3? I always wondered why they are called NE-2? I have never seen any other number after the NE-.

One thing about them, if they were used for continuous use, such as a nightlight. Eventually they get weak and die. They usually flicker first. I had a nightlight with one of them that eventually did no longer light, but if the room's lights were turned on, then it would light. I recall showing that goofy thing to a friend and telling him it was retarded. We got some good laughs out of that thing...

Reply to
oldschool
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I have a trusty old Coutant bench ps. For perhaps 15 or 20 years the neon mains-on indicator has never worked, unless it is pitch black dark in the room and then it would regularly flash on and off. If something had gone functionally wrong with it at some point I'd have fixed that and also replaced the neon. It looks fine , not like the blackened things (but still working) I've seen as electric-fence very HV indicators

Reply to
N_Cook

Yup, there were many different types for different applications, years ago. Check it out, everything you could want to know about them:

There's an interesting section about radiation hardness testing of neon lamps; apparently they could be blasted with huge amounts of gamma radiation without significant change to their electrical properties, just a darkening of the envelope.

Reply to
bitrex

You can still buy an NE-3, it's a long lamp with a "telephone slide base", designed to be mounted to a panel as an indicator and viewed end-on:

Reply to
bitrex

NE-1 lamps are Edison based, 3/4" globe neon lamps commonly used as on/off indicators for radios in the 1950s and early 1960s, mostly from Zenith and mostly AM/FM. I have a sleeve of them that I got when I purchased a brown-p aper-bag of *stuff* at a flea-market. Coincidentally, that bag also include d two NIB RCA 7199 tubes. Go figure.

I also have a sleeve of fuse-style neon lamps. I do not remember the part n umber, and I did not think there was any modern application - until I looke d at my 1-point tester some time later.

They look like this:

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Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

That's a weird looking thing...

Another thing I always wondered about these small neon lamps, is how come they were always that yellow color. Neon signs have all sorts of colored neon gasses.

These days LEDs are much more common, but I still see neon bulbs inside of switches on power strips. (I have an old power strip and that switch flashed on and off all the time. I guess they just get weak over time.

Reply to
oldschool

Now those, are just damn clever.

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Reply to
Foxs Mercantile

The depth of your ignorance never fails to amaze me.

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Reply to
Foxs Mercantile

Eh, they call 'em "neon signs" even though not every gas in a "neon sign" is neon. Like how not every band-aid is a Band-Aid.

They did make some small "neon lamps" using gases other than neon, I'm pretty sure I've seen unfiltered violet and red before.

Ah here we go:

Reply to
bitrex

Impressive, since you are not all that easy to amaze...

Reply to
John-Del

He really works at it.

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Reply to
Foxs Mercantile

I think that he's 'The Son of Skippy!'. :(

Reply to
Michael A Terrell

There are several ?NE-x? neon bulbs of varying voltage and base (or wire leads). I just changed an NE-2 bulb in a B&K Precision 1601 Regulated DC Supply.

The ?operating life? of Neon bulbs is usually ~ 20,000 hour s, so after about 10-15 years of continuous operation, the bulb will either flicker or ?go dark?. Illuminated Rocker switches (Carling Curvette LRA 211 or 911) are used in p ower strips, Astron DC power supplies, and WTCPN or WTCP series soldering bases.

Mouser stocks popular models, at less than $2.00

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Digi-Key stocks most popular LRA.

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Since this illuminated rocker switch conforms to the standard appliance rec tangular cutout, a number of other switch mfg. (Cherry, NKK, C&K, Eaton) offer equivakents.

Reply to
w9gb

Why would you want to amaze anyone here, of all places?

Reply to
bruce2bowser

Neon plasma is red-orange.

A late reply...

I'm not particularly impressed by the link information. Yes you can use other noble gasses in a "neon" sign. I don't think the other gasses are used much.

Actual "neon" signs are transparent glass, and you can see the plasma discharge in the center of the tube.

Almost all the other signs have argon to strike, and a small amount of mercury, which vaporizes. The mercury arc produces UV. The inside of the tubes have a phosphor for the color produced. You can not see through the tube (to what is behind it). They are cold cathode fluorescent lights.

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