Neon Sign Power Supply: What's the Use?

A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Reply to
Beloved Leader
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Rig up a pair of wire meshes to the 8kV with a blue florescent tube behind = high powered insectecutor.

Reply to
ian field

Great for torture using a couple jumper cables.

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Reply to
Meat Plow

Google on "Jacob's Ladder". They are a great use for old neon transformers.

H. R. (Bob) Hofmann

Reply to
hrhofmann

Wired to the letterbox stops bills & junkmail.

Reply to
ian field

Jacob's Ladder, Tesla Coil driver, and CO2 laser power supply, to name 3 uses.

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Reply to
Sam Goldwasser

Well you can get $20-$50 on ebay for it if nothing else. Neon transformers are great fun to play with, current limited high voltage, 8KV is enough for a classic Jacob's Ladder, those are always cool. You can also experiment with making crude discharge lamps and any number of other things. Grab it.

Reply to
James Sweet

That will get you room an board at the big house.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Exactly the right voltage for a home electric chair - and more than enough amps.

Reply to
Homer J Simpson

Nowhere near, most NST are good for 20-30mA and by their nature are current limited, potentially dangerous, but not automatically lethal. Microwave oven transformers on the other hand are another thing entirely. Safety is important, and any high voltage should be respected and used carefully, but overblown dire warnings accomplish nothing. I was playing with NSTs by the time I was 10 years old, I've made it this far.

Reply to
James Sweet

So it can't kill then?

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Reply to
Meat Plow

If you have certain medical conditions, or someone hits you over the head with it. it takes about 15 ma through the heart to stop it. Unless you are holding both terminals when someone turns it on, its unlikely that you'll grab the second terminal. You are more likely to be injured trying to get away from it.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Many years ago we had one in the lab that we were using in an ozone generator. One lunch time, being more madcap than usual, we tried to drive it with an amplified audio source to seee if we could actually produce a spark gap transmitter.

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie Bress

"James Sweet" wrote in news:R446i.2003$eO5.1662@trndny08:

A true statement but.... 15 mA is enough to 'freeze on' to a current source.

That can EASILY happen with 110 VAC, harder with 8 KV. More likely to throw you across the room.

On the other hand 15 uA across the heart region is sufficient to induce ventricular fibrillation (uncoordinated quivering of the heart) which WILL be fatal if CPR and/or defibrillation is not administered within very few minutes.

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Reply to
bz

messagenews:Jw36i.49265$g63.23956@edtnps82...

Aha!! That might explain a lot of things about you.

BOb HOfmann

Reply to
hrhofmann

I'd never say *can't* in that context, but it's *unlikely* to kill you. That said, you still need to treat it with respect, getting bit by a NST will definitely hurt, likely cause a significant burn, and you may will rip your hand open jerking away or crack your head on the floor when you fall. It will probably not *kill* you, but it won't be pleasant by any means.

Reply to
James Sweet

}A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. }... }Is there any reason I should grab it?

1: if you have several MILES of electric fence and you really want those uppity cows to know exactly who is boss...

2: you can conduct your own experiment with lightning flashes and primordial soup, looking for pre-historic amino acids

3: many years back an acquaintance had a billing disagreement with the local baby Bell (US Worst, if you have to know). In the midst of this, Worst decided to show him who had the upper hand by disconnecting his service.

He figured that since he didn't need the phone lines (being disconnected), they would make a perfect test bed for an experiment he had been pondering for quite some time. To wit, how many volts do you need to induce "cross-talk" between line pairs from a house to the CO?

He waited till 3am (to decrease the chance of a nasty surprise to any neighbors) then he ran his high voltage (non-current-limited) XFMR to his phone line (having dis-connected it from his house wiring and dis-connected the anti-lighting stuff) and plugged it in. The house lights dimmed a bit for about 30 seconds, then came back full. To be thorough, he then grounded on side of the secondary and ran both sides of the phone line to the hot side of the secondary and re-powered for 30 seconds.

The phone company had several trucks in the neighborhood the next day...some of the repairmen were asking residents if they saw where the lightning had hit.

He did this a few more nights before he got bored and payed his bill, figuring it had cost Worst more than it had cost him.

Stan.

Reply to
Stan

What an ass. Someone could have died because he blew out a lot of people's phone service. BTW, that was a criminal act that would have put him in jail for sevral years.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

I've heard the cells are actually quite small and cramped.

Reply to
ian field

That's why it should be used on someone else!

Reply to
ian field

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