Cold cathode quetions

1) what color is the red, i have heard it was a pinkish tone before. and how bright is red being its the least brightest color in the spectrum?

2) are the tubes safe for year long use, like rain and winter? also, how shock resistant are they? because i wheel my truck and i dont want them to shatter

3) will 2 of the 2 12" tubes be sufficent to light up the grill on my truck? (see sig for pics)

thanx, im sure ill have more questions

Optika1 illushun wrote:

1) what color is the red, i have heard it was a pinkish tone before. and how bright is red being its the least brightest color in the spectrum? pink 2) are the tubes safe for year long use, like rain and winter? also, how shock resistant are they? because i wheel my truck and i dont want them to shatter They are pretty duriable, and when sealed they can be used in any weather 3) will 2 of the 2 12" tubes be sufficent to light up the grill on my truck? (see sig for pics) they should be thanx, im sure ill have more questions

Some people say they are more of a pink than red. They are VERY bright. They are pretty fragile.

Pretty much what CorvetteCrazy said above ^^^ . If you want truly red lighting, I would suggest red neon tubes instead of the cathodes. They aren't as bright as the cathodes and you may have to use more of the neon tubes to get the desired amount of glow, but atleast the color will be actually red & not a washed out pink color.

2 12" cathodes should light up your grill area just fine, however if your planning on doing neon tubes now instead, I would suggest 20" or 25" ones.

This is a friend of mine's old truck that has a single 20" green accent tube in the grill (actual tube is hiding behind the "ford" symbol):


Hope it helps... L8R,

i had 3 neons in my grill before, 2 10s and 1 15 from wal-mart and it lite it up nicely but it was a hassle having all those neons in there and the slats behind my grill are small so the tubes could be seen. i figure the cathodes are small and could be hid in the slates for a stealth look. the noens arent a big deal, i was just wondering if they were really red or pink. thanx for the answers, like i said im sure ill have more questions soon.

Optika1 illushun wrote:

i had 3 neons in my grill before, 2 10s and 1 15 from wal-mart and it lite it up nicely but it was a hassle having all those neons in there and the slats behind my grill are small so the tubes could be seen. i figure the cathodes are small and could be hid in the slates for a stealth look. the noens arent a big deal, i was just wondering if they were really red or pink. thanx for the answers, like i said im sure ill have more questions soon.

You could always use "Mini" neon tubes. I haven't seen them much longer than 12", but you could use multiple tubes and they are pretty damn thin... not the same, but pretty close to the thin-ness of cathodes atleast.

Just my .02... L8R,

hmmm,...sounds like a good idea. i'll see about putting them in my grill too....
that truck with the green grill looks great though. i might try to do that, but dout i'll be able to.
lets see some pics when your done!

Thanx... not to hijack, but here is another pic of me and that truck:



L8R,