can i use another transformer for the cold cathodes...

my orginal cathode transformer got mest up and i have a friend who had bought cathodes but both of them broke..they were both 12 inch cold cathodes and used a chrome small transformer box..i was wondering if i cud jus us that box for my cathodes..

if i can use it....it has 2 sets of white wires that connect the cathodes to the box..they dont clip in like the ones that come from oznium so im gonna have to splice it...does it matter which goes wire attaches to which..like postive and neg..or it jus connects either way

It's worth a shot since they don't do any good w/out one. But I'd be very careful. Transformers change voltage and amperage so if the transformer puts the wrong output then you can kill your cathode and there's always the possibility of fires, etc.

Just be careful

alright man thanx..but like you kno the 2sets of wires that conect the transformers to the cathodes..is it like one wire is negative and one is positive or it dont matter which connects to which?

hey man i tried it out and it worked!

hipnotic4 wrote:

hey man i tried it out and it worked!

cool, now you have some cathodes that work.

yeah..i think this transformer maybe a little more powerful though...being that when i take off the cathodes it still has a lil glow to it..i dunno i guess itz all good

hipnotic4 wrote:

yeah..i think this transformer maybe a little more powerful though...being that when i take off the cathodes it still has a lil glow to it..i dunno i guess itz all good

all my neons and cathodes still have some glow to them when i shot them off.

oh really? well thas good to hear..man cathodes are really bright..some one shud make like a cathode underbody kit..like the double 2tubes on each side and the transformer cud be built on..so 4 sets of double tubes with the transformers glued on or something...that would be like 39.96 plus a switch and some xtra wiring...phil u shud defintly set up a lil kit like that

man i would totally dig a cathode underbody, I think that brandon made his own poor mans underbody.

problem with that is

1. external transformer not waterproof
2. cathode size is physically limited becuase of the conductivity/reactivity of the gas
3. hot/cold tolerances

ADDICTED2ICELED wrote:

problem with that is 1. external transformer not waterproof 2. cathode size is physically limited becuase of the conductivity/reactivity of the gas 3. hot/cold tolerances

1. silicone solved that. I heatshrinked(heatshrunk?? ) the transformers instead of the plastic cases that some ppl use.
2. You can buy bigger cathodes, but they are a lil more expensive. I chose not to. I might by one or two to see how they work though. 24" is the biggest I've seen.
3. Yah, this is probably the only problem. Ben mounted one above his muffler and one night when he left the car parked and running it started tomelt a little (asphalt directed 100% of the heat back up). He had this on for months before this and never had a problem before. Cold is really the big draw back. Some times when it's cold they don't light up all the way at first. This happens to interriors as well. ....small price to pay IMO. I like the glow. Although ppl do always say "that's ghetto, it's all lil tubes," but they usually don't know **** about **** anyways....


But yah, it works

Brandon wrote:

but they usually don't know **** about **** anyways....

ain't that the truth

OK, first off...i have cathodes under my truck. I used them all winter. Matter of fact, the pic of my cathodes in the gallery it was 35 degrees out. Second, using lots of tubes is not as "ghetto" as ppl think. I saw the cars used in The Fast and the Furious and they all had about 8 tubes of neon under them, installed WAYYY more ghetto than my cathodes. They used a standard SG Gold series and then added tubes to fill in around the front and rear soo don't hate cuz ppl got lots of tubes. i have 0 problems with my invertor or cathodes, silicone keeps em dry and i fabbed up a piece of stainless steel to mount em on so that the light would reflect back onto the pavement.

The only thing i would suggest for cathode for underbody use is to put them inside a plexi or plastic tubing and make sure that the cathode is padded with foam on each side. The external tubing will protect from flying rocks and foaming for abrust vibration and bumps. As for heat/cold variation, well i have it on the front grill and never had a problem, of course with the above precaution.

the cathodes come in an acrylic tube which acrylic is actually sturdier than lexan (from what I've read/heard). The foam isn't necessary and it would probably just slide around and block glow. The transformers are the weakness and I've seen some metal casing now that I may try to grab... just to see how it works.