off topic home CC use..

Was curious what I'd need to hook up a few cold cathodes for a normal home outlet. I'm gonna be ordering a few cathodes in a day or two, was thinking about maybe lighting up the GF's entertainment center for **** and giggles. I'm out of house projects... heh

what would it take to make the cathode kit work with a wall outlet, where could i get the pieces i need (need somethin for a plug to meet up with the wiring of the cathode)

just don't need any... problems .. to occur afterward =p

I think it involves a PC power supply. They run on 12v.

what materials would i need here hrmm

The cathodes don't really draw that much power, so even a PC powersupply is overkill for only one or 2 cathodes. You can probably just find an old DC 12v power adapter and cut the end off of it, wire it to the cathodes (make sure you get the polarity right!!!) and it should work fine. As long as it supplies a few hundred milliamps, you should be good. They have the MA rating and voltage written right on the plug.

They have power supplys at radio shack for home dc use. The more the amps you get the more expensive. If you can get a old power supply from a computer and hook it up. if you need help just let me know.

Oh, I've got a few of those 12v power supplies I've salvaged from equipment.

I might sell them on here for people like you.

You can hook up maybe 2 cathode kits max, but after that I'd get a power supply ... from a computer.

here's a good idea...I think, I'm no comp tech but looks good for the price.


http://www.svc.com/ag52atxposup.html


Cheap too.

yeah all i want to do is hook up say, one cathode really

What am i lookin at to do this, cost and all for the parts to conver the wiring for use of a home outlet

wow that power supply good for hooking up LED in parallel without a resistor

how would u hook up multiple cathodes to that though. i ntoiced they come witht he connectors an **** but isnt there a way to hook up mulitple sets

For the computer power supply; Cut off the connector take the positive wire and negative wire and connect them to the positive and negative of whatever you want to light up. If you have multiple things that you want to light up buy 2 barrier strips and make one + and the other - that way you have planty of connections all supplied with 12 volts.


For a wall invertor thing (like those that come on phones) jsut cut the connecter off and connect the positive with the positive and neg with the negative. If you have multiple things that you want to light up buy 2 barrier strips and make one + and the other - that way you have planty of connections all supplied with 12 volts.\


not too hard to do in an hour

If you buy a set of cathodes, it comes with a computer adapter, since that's what they're originally for. It's great for hooking up neons to your computer. That's how I was testing / playing with my UB.

Aken wrote:

If you buy a set of cathodes, it comes with a computer adapter, since that's what they're originally for. It's great for hooking up neons to your computer. That's how I was testing / playing with my UB.

mine didn't!

Maybe I'm just special.

naw your not special, vette is just unlucky, mine came with a 4-pin molex

http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/

That is the site I used for making my AC->DC box. Easy to follow steps for both AT and ATX supplies. Encased it in wood with an ON/OFF switch in front, and used a 8 terminal (4+/4-)speaker hookup for connectors. I used to have a pic on here somewhere.

sublime, was it the last section on the side bar menu u used? if so it seems very doable.

PS: could u email me the pics? or repost them? thanx!

Those are the pics

I used the last link in that left bar.
http://www.marcee.org/Articles/PCPowerSupply.htm

Tip: Just make sure you short out all the 5v wires. I made the mistake on the first supply by cutting them out, but they are necessary for it to run. They have to be bridged together, so I cut them short, twisted, and heatshrunk them.[/list]

ok, a few more questions. what is the difference between an AT and ATX power supply? also, what is the best one to get, like how many watts or amps or whatever or dont i need to worry bout that?

what is the difference between an AT and ATX power supply?
also, what is the best one to get, like how many watts or amps or whatever or dont i need to worry bout that?

AT's are oldschool. Power On/Power Off
ATX's are the ones that shut themselves down. Lil more complicated.

The one I use is like 250W/12A or so. Figure for LED's and cathodes, its no problem. I did power a 200W MTX amp off it. Didn't notice much heat buildup. But don't expect to power a whole system.

jeez guys, that's way overkill!!! cold cathodes eat up <500mA per bulb (not sure how the twin inverters work out).... a computer power supply gives out upwards of 25A... that's enough to power up 50 inverters with 1 cold cathode on each...

if you're only gonna use cold cathodes and only have a few, i'd defenitely go with the wall inverter idea instead... just pick one up that provides like 2A or so...

for $20 you get a 2A wall inverter... for $25 you get a power supply...

It's just the facts of mass production.

sorry.. i didn't take into consideration that not everyone is as much of a pack rat as I am... i was thinking of my own collection of used inverters that are left over after the appliance it serviced has gone to a better place ;)

To make that inverter only cost me like $10. $5 for wood, and another $4 or so for the speaker-inputs. I had a few power supplies lyin around, plus switches (From all the cathodes I used to buy), so really all it took was about an hour of labor (Cutting and taping) And I have a lot more flexibilty than 2A of wall-draw

I was just bored over winter break and it gave me somethin to do. I wanted to do it out of plexi (Much nicer n' neater, plus all my measurements were for that), but my "know-it-all" pops wouldn't get off my back about how wood's easier to work with. So I forgot to convert measurements from thin plexi to 3/4" wood and it got all screwed up. But it works, damnit! Hah.

sweet, i got plywood down my garages at home and the speaker inputs i cant get easily. now i just need the darn power supply...thanx for the help, much appreciated