Re: [TCML] Plasma Tubes!

[bturner@xxxxxxxx]

Exactly on the trapped air in the glass. (As it really is an amorphous
solid... ) Running things hard is also known as bombarding, and is done
all the time with conventional neon signs. Running high current through
the hard vacuum 'boils' any impurities and unwanted gas molecules off and
out of the glass and electrodes. Turn the current off, keep the vacuum
going and backfill with the neon and throw the power supply into
'burn-in'...  BTW, those 'bombarder' transformers work great for Tesla
coils...  LOL

- b



> 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
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Tesla mailing list
>> > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> > http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tesla mailing list
>> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Tesla mailing list
> Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>
>


_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla