Re: [TCML] Plasma Tubes!

[Scott Bogard <sdbogard@xxxxxxxxx>]

Yeah lots of neon really lowers the voltage requirement, and makes for a
very nice display to boot.  The reason for all the annealing and baking is
to keep air molecules trapped in the glass from leaking out and spoiling
the effect, they will still work if you do not do this, but over time the
color will change, sometimes dramatically, and if your power supply is
under-gunned it can become weak...  Another alternative is to seal with a
pretty hard vacuum and fill with something cheap like helium, and drive
like crazy for a few weeks straight, then crack back open, re-evacuate, and
refill and reseal, which knocks all the air loose.  The disadvantage is
that a very small amount of helium will leak in over time, but that won't
dramatically change anything, and since I don't have annealing ovens, that
is what I plan on doing for my next batch of tubes...  But yeah, this is
SOO much fun!  Watching the vinyl feed line light up lightsaber red as I
crack open the cylinder of neon is unbelievable.  Can't wait to order some
more glass!

Scott Bogard.

On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 1:19 PM, <bturner@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Very Nice...
>
> Back in the 80's, I knew a fantastic neon artist in Marina Del Rey who did
> this. Used pyrex laboratory flasks for the globes, and yes, even back then
> some of the more 'exotic' gasses weren't cheap... One thing that really
> stood out though was that you literally had to anneal, anneal, anneal and
> then bake, bake, bake to make the things last a long time. We actually
> filled one globe that lit at nearly atomospheric pressure with one of my
> flyback power supplies that ran on only 12 volts... Wow.
>
> Boy does this bring back some memories.
>
> - b
>
>
>
> >    [drifting ot...?]
> >> Says page not available?
> >    I got the same.
> >
> >>Do you have to have a facebook account to view the images?
> >    Apparently.  I do have, tho little used.  Once logged in,
> >    page came up fine.
> >
> >>>
> http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2464802782137.110686.1314294209&type=1
> >
> >    best
> >     dwp
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