Original poster: "Scott Bogard" <teslas-intern@xxxxxxxxxxx> BrettIf you put neon rings around a Tesla coil, chances are they will probably light and stay lit as long as the coil runs regardless of whether the rings are energized or not. A florescent light lights up from some distance and my homemade plasma globe a few feet away has very interesting aurora-like stuff going on in there (stemming from the center ball, which has capacitance), with my small 3in TC. I am not sure exactly what effect you are going for, but methinks that if you put anything around the secondary, try to make sure it is just the bulb and not the ballast or inverter or whatever, just the tube, then it should be fine (any circuits may or may not get fried, either way, they probably will not get any brighter than they already are). You might want to experiment with grounding one or both sides of the tube, but something in my gut tells me you shouldn't connect one end of the tube to the other, as it will rob energy from the PRIMARY assuming it lights up at all, and get very HOTTT (possibly melting, which is sad). If you want the tubes to flash, I'm sorry, but you will probably have to flash the entire coil assembly (or possibly have a nifty mechanical ground remover on the tube, but that won't turn it off, just make it dimmer). if you cannot remove the tube as is likely the case, try it at your own discretion, and you may fry the electronics, but I'm pretty sure the tube will still light from the coils emf, and grounding the tube contacts may or may not help save circuits). I hope this helps, have fun, good luck, and let us know if it works (or doesn't, I very well may be wrong about everything I just wrote)!
Scott Bogard.
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx Subject: neon rings around secondary? Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:54:14 -0600 Original poster: "Brett Hays" <bretth@xxxxxxxxxxxx>I just saw a music video which gave me an idea for the coil we run in the Frankenstein section of our haunted house each year.I realize that all of the HV effects in this video are computer generated, but I am wondering if I could do something similar. I have a number of the neon rings that kids put around the woofers in speaker boxes. I know how to make them cycle, etc.If I put them around the secondary on the coil would they be instantly fried, or is this possible.BTW, the effect I am talking about starts a little past 1:00 into the video.
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