Re: materials of electroddes for Neon gas tubes..

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Ed Phillips <evp@xxxxxxxxxxx>

"Hi,

I used to stick ordinary sewing needles into plastic tubing and pump
the tubing down with an old refrigerator compressor.  You can use
just about any high voltage source to make all kinds for pretty
discharges at various pressures.  I ton of fun :-)))

Try not to overheat the needles or it leaks...  I don't think it
would stay at the right condition for very long without "pump's help"...

Little valves used for fish tanks from the pet store are very helpful!!

Cheers,

         Terry"

	Does your compressor get hot really fast?  I pulled a rotary compressor
out of a defunct air conditioner and while it pumps fairly well (haven't
put a gauge on it yet but it will get down to a pressure which clearly
shows "striations" in a discharge) it overheats in a manner of a minute
or so.  I can extend the run by dropping the input voltage after it
starts to just above the motor stall speed, but still no substitute for
one of my good Welch pumps.  I did  lose some oil out of it during the
dismantling process and I've never gotten any to replace it but doubt if
that's the problem.

Ed