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Could i use neon car lights as cold cathodes?

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Bboy_Jon

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Can i use the lights that people use for their cars like these

2blueneon.bmp


2blueblister.JPG


that hook up to the cigarette lighter in my computer? walmart sells them for maybe $5.00 and they run on 12 volts i believe

how would i hook em up to the psu? (if possible) i cant buy online (my dad would say its a waste and bla bla) so i can only buy in a store (so he doesnt know ahhaha)
 
Yes you can use them in your comp. They are just a little bit more bulky than the ones comp companies use. You can pick up a pair of computer ones for about $5 also. To hook them up, you will need to cut off the cigeret lighter part. Now you should have 2 wires. Figure out which one is positive and which one is neg (all companies do it differntly, most of the time the positive will have writing on the wire.). From here you get a molex and pins and hook the positive up to the yellow 12v line and the negetive up to any black wire in the molex. Good luck, but I suggest just using a computer one.
 
I used a pair of blue 6" neons in my cube case (about 4-5 cases ago).
The positive wire is the center pin on the cigarrette lighter plug, otherwise it's just as Devil said. Negative to a black molex wire, and positive (the other wire) to a yellow molex wire. Mine were wired with black and red wire, so it was easy (red to yellow).

If you don't have the molex's to spare, you can simply strip the neon wires 3/4", double it over then twist it. It makes the wire thick enough to simply plug into the molex plug. A bit of tape to hold it in place is all that's needed.

I used a fan splitter that came on an old fan (called a pass-through). It's got the two wires that come from the fan (12 volts, just right) and the male and female molex's on the end...works perfect.

Neons' are easily held in place with some superglue, or even hot glu (they don't get hot enough to remelt it).

Have at it!
 
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Yes you can, but I'd recommend not to. Neons give off a lot more heat than CCFL's do. That would hinder performance enough to be dis-advantageous in my mind. Remember, Neon's are not Cold Cathodes, they are completely different, although they are designed for the same style lighting effect.
 
My friend used a neon.

I got an idea tho. Just ask a friend who can buy online to buy it for you. Like have him order it and you give him the cash. I do it for some of my friends all the time. I will go online and order something for them and they pay me and I use CC. Simple as that.

That way you can get some nice cathodes. They are brighter and cooler (temp. wise) than neons and much thiner and smaller overall.
 
Yuummmmmm Brownies...... Has anyone noticed that lately, people have wanted to put computer cathodes in cars, and car cathodes in computers? The whole world has gone mad :)
 
ya i dont think i even have the right molex for it to connect to (the only one i have (from my fan) is the one with the pins coming out of it, i would need the one with the holes?

i would mount em with double stick tape i guess. ya i thought about asking a friend to buy the stuff online but i dont really talk to them to much anymore.

i dont think i have enough room for one though

how much would it heat up my case? at load my comp is around 50. At idle it goes from 36-42
 
Well, one made for a comp would heat it up a whooping 0 degrees (maybe .00001). THe one for a car will most likely heat up your temps some. It was made to take the irregular voltages from the car and put out a fair ammount of light. Thier concern was not with heat. You can pick one up online for your comp at about $5. Thats most likely not going to break the bank :) . You can always get a prepaid credit card to order stuff online instead of going through people. This way it is your money and you can handl everything.
 
where can i get a prepaid card? also ummmmmm do they sell cards that have 10 dollars in em? haha cuz thats all i have. Im gonna ask my sister if i can use her card to get 2 round ide cables from svc.com for 9.75 (thats with shipping) so ill still have 25 cents left over haha.

at newegg.com the generic cables are sold out and the cheapest ones would cost 15 with shipping.

18 inches would be long enough right?

its gonna look funny because i have a antec cobra round cable (that i bought from staples for about 12 dollars) and then ill have 2 blue round cables o well
 
Sorry to ask, but how old are you? If you are 18, and have a bank account, I would suggest setting up a debit card. That way you can put however much you want on the card when you want and use it to order anything you would like. Oh and 18 inch should be fine
 
i used to have one in my case then i upgraded(?) to a mini fluro wraped in yellow gel,
hey Diggrr i thought itll be the +ve on the center pin because that where the fuse is

edit: as heat is concerd i didnt notice much heat at all, my new one pumps it out tho
 
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You're right Adrian, center pin is positive...too many late nights this week...thanks for catching!
 
i dont think i have any room fo one, nor do i have a molex to connect it too haha
 
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