[augustwest]

i have a ten inch neon from wal-mart that im going to put a molex on and use in my case. the only thing that bothers me is the bulkyness of the thing. does anyone have any experience with taking these apart and stipping them down to the bare-essentials? im going to use a rocker switch so the switch that came with the thing isnt needed. if no one has down this then i guess i will be the guinea pig! let me know what you all think

[CrystalMethod]

You need to keep the inverter. The rest of the housing you can get rid of though.

[johnny5c]

I have the same neon in my case. The inverter gets very hot after a few hours so I mounted it outside the case. Just cut the plastic about a inch from where the bulb is and add a few inches of wire so it will reach the back of your case. I taped up the open end and stuck it to the back with the velco it came with. Works good if you are useing the sound control knob so you don't have to open your case to get at it. Kind of getto but works great.

[augustwest]

johnny: you got any pics of yours all torn apart?

oh, and in the end opposite the inverter, how far back does the tube go...... before i start to hack at it i thought i should get some rough measurements?

[DaveSauce]

when I got my CCFL kit, the instructions said to mount the inverter next to a fan, heh.

Keep in mind that the inverter has to convert 12v into 500v....thats a lot of electricity. its going to get hot.

[JoT]

Originally posted by DaveSauce
Keep in mind that the inverter has to convert 12v into 500v....thats a lot of electricity. its going to get hot.

500v?!?!?!

[DaveSauce]

yea, check the specs. CCFLs take a ton of voltage to run. They run on 200~1000VAC, according to spec sheets......sooo converting 12VDC into 1000VAC is gonna create a bit of heat.

[johnny5c]

i don't have any pics right now, but the end of the tube stops 5/8 of a inch from the end opposite the inverter. If you have the blue one like i do, the plastic is very translucent when it is lit. You can see most of the wires and spacers with out even opening it up.

[DarkHawk]

I have the 10" Blue neon and I removed everything from the plastic, I have the glass tube, the inverter and a mini-toggle switch all wired in, I will try and get a cam for a pic, but simply put, you need to crack the plastic near the inverter or over it, then pull it apart, the flat bottom part of the inverter side can come out with some work, then I took the inverter and wrapped it in black tape and set it to always on mode.

Any more questions?

[augustwest]

thas just about it..........time to dig in!

thanks

[gahdzila]

my local walmart has a "liquid neon" tube....mmmm....it's on my list of upcoming projects

[Crazy Jayhawk]

Yes, I've removed the casing from Wal-Mart neons before.

I'm selling three of them, actually.

[Mysphyt]

I've got the 10" blue neon in my case, stripped everything but the tube and the inverter. No problems yet. Something to note, though: there's a copper strip that runs the length of the tube, and that I'm pretty sure carries current; even if not, it's liable to short something out with relative ease. So I wrapped mine in clear tape, as a preventative measure.

[johnny5c]

The copper strip does carry power to the end of the tube and you must be careful not to ground it to the case.

[gahdzila]

I'm selling three of them, actually.

Sorry you must have at least 100 posts to view threads in this forum.

sorry...I tried

I bought the 10 inch green "liquid neon" walmart car neon light. Like you guys, I'll have to mod it a bit to make it fit in my case. The unit with inverter is actually about 17 inches long...about an inch or so too long to sit in the floor of my case.

I plugged it in in the cigarette lighter in my truck, just to see what it would look like. The liquid neon doesn't look exactly like what I thought it would...but it's VERY pretty! It makes little lines through the light; sorta like those glass globes with the sparks in them, that when you touch the globe the line of electricity goes to your finger, or it can beat to music...remember those?

which leads me to my question...should I worry about electrical interference? is it safe to put this thing in my computer case? I assume it's probably ok...I've seen pics of someone who put one of those globes in his case.

What do you guys think? Will it be ok?

[DarkHawk]

Electrical interference? No, I don't think so....
Grounding on the case and such should help

Static issues? no I don't think so....
Again, grounded chassis, not to mention I would wrap it in something, like tape or maybe find some silicone tubing with the correct inner diameter and place it in that, thats what I am going to do, but I am going to find some way to darken mine by tinting the tubing, becuase mine is way to bright, like at the last LAN party I went to, people complained about it being distracting, I just told them they were sore loosers in SOF2.....lol

[gahdzila]

too bright?!?!? It CAN'T be too bright!!!! There's no such thing as too bright!

I already have a blue CCFL...I wanted a lot more light. I want it *BRIGHT*!!!

thx for the tip, darkhawk. I'm with you...I doubt that it will cause any interference or static; it just makes me feel a little better to hear it from someone else

The tube is glass...and glass is a very effective insulator, from what I've read.

BTW...maybe you could try some automotive window tint to cool your light down a little.

[DarkHawk]

I was thinking that auto tint would work, but its too expensive to buy a whole roll just for the 2 x 12" strip I would use, not to mention I can get some cool spray paint that is transparent and I can spray or spread that inside or outside the tubing before I put the neon inside it. And for the $10 plus effort, the WalMart neon's are way bright, and they will be coming in black soon, if not already, though the will cost more. I also am using their neon string and the little flexible neck neon light. My friend is using the shift knob neon removed from its casing and is going to find some sort of globe with some etching on it to backlight with the neon.

Can't wait to see it, and let me know how that "plasma" neon works out.
Or show me in a pic.

[gahdzila]

hey, guys...I got my green walmart liquid neon hooked up.

I started another thread, as I think I've hijacked this guy's thread badly enough already...lol

the thread is here

augustwest:

since you asked how to cut the inverter out:

It really wasn't hard at all. You'll notice that the end of the light that has the wires coming out of it is longer...that's where the inverter is. The flat bottom of the case is sorta glued in there, and pops out with a little coaxing. Then, I carefully cut about a half inch or so off of the end of the case with my dremel and a cheap cut off wheel, to make it easier to get the inverter out. Just go slow, and don't cut too deep to avoid cutting the wires. The edges of the PCB of the inverter are also glued...pry it very carefully, and it should come out easily. Just don't pry it so hard that you break the PCB. There are two wires from the inverter to the bulb. I then just cut the end of the case until I left just enough of the flat bottom surface to act as a stand for the bulb.

Oh...and a fingernail and some patience works just fine to get those stupid stickers off of the side of the case.