Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [neon]

26 questions
23
votes
14 answers

Is there any reason nowadays to use a neon indicator lamp instead of an LED?

I have a bunch of old neon indicator lamps recovered from old AC devices and used to indicate power status. I wonder: is there any reason nowadays to use the neon lamps instead of LEDs? I see they are still widely available. LEDs are cheaper even…
FarO
  • 1,306
  • 1
  • 13
  • 33
13
votes
5 answers

Why does a neon lamp indicator on a power strip switch flicker in the dark?

Neon lamp indicators embedded in power strip switches indicate whether the switch is ON or OFF. When the neon lamp is ON in a dark environment (lights of the room are off), the lamp begins flickering and it sometimes goes off for a few seconds. When…
Hamid Rouhani
  • 233
  • 1
  • 5
  • 14
12
votes
1 answer

What are the ways in which semiconductor-grade neon is critical for manufacturing?

This is a question about material use specifically in semiconductor manufacturing. CNN's Ukraine halts half of world's neon output for chips, clouding outlook begins: Ukraine's two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world's…
uhoh
  • 3,399
  • 2
  • 23
  • 63
9
votes
3 answers

Neon lamp symbol

I am new to neon lamps: I just discovered its electronic symbol: I am a little bit confused, What does the dot in the symbol mean? It looks like the neon lamp is polarized. How do I know what lead of the neon lamp corresponds to the dot? I have…
Dau
  • 515
  • 8
  • 23
7
votes
2 answers

Do neon signs emit x-rays?

I'm interested about whether or not a conventional neon sign such as this one could emit x-ray that could be harmful. The sign that you can see in the picture is just below my office window so I'm basically sitting like 8 hours a day about 2 meters…
Raaas
  • 71
  • 2
7
votes
2 answers

What component is this?

I'm organizing a lot of components and don't know what this is. Hooked up to PS at low voltage and nothing happened. I can't tell the anode from the cathode. What is it?
what is this
  • 71
  • 3
5
votes
1 answer

A capacitor and a neon lamp focused circuit problem

Here is the problem I am stuck on. The lamp starts out as an open circuit. Then capacitor charges up and eventually the voltage \$v\$ across the lamp raises. When the voltage across the lamp exceeds a “striking voltage threshold…
Georgy Martynovich
  • 173
  • 6
3
votes
3 answers

Neon Sign Testing

I am looking for a way to test a neon sign to determine the correct power supply size. The power supplies come in a variety of different sizes but the most common are: 6kV and 10kV and a working frequency of 36-41KHz. The power supplies are self…
Jeff
  • 131
  • 3
2
votes
2 answers

Enclosure connectors for neon light

I'm putting together an enclosure to hold the transformer and dimmer for a small neon sign. I'm quite comfortable with normal AC/DC stuff, but the output from the neon transformer is super high voltage! The transformer: Ventex VT5520A-120F Output:…
JeffThompson
  • 195
  • 9
2
votes
3 answers

Can I somehow use a neon bulb as a switch?

I’m trying to create a timing light. Due to the lockdown I can’t get any other parts. I have a neon bulb which does light up when I hold it next to the spark plug lead but it is too dim to be useful. Is there any way I could somehow use this as a…
Junaid
  • 141
  • 1
2
votes
3 answers

Powering neon indicator lamp from battery

I would like to power neon lamp like NE-2 from low DC voltage like 1.5 V battery. Is it possible to boost low voltage like that to 85-120 volts which is needed for neon lamp? And can i use blocking generator schematics for that, or it will not…
after
  • 21
  • 2
2
votes
1 answer

Safe inverter circuit to power neon indicators

I bought some neon indicators from eBay. I want to find a safe way to power them so we can do some experiments on solderless breadboards. I can obviously power them from mains (120VAC/60HZ USA), but that's not safe for handling on a solderless…
Ryan Griggs
  • 2,596
  • 2
  • 30
  • 53
1
vote
1 answer

neon-indicator-lamp for a bypass switch

Please excuse my schematic. This is a Dim-bulb Tester I am building. This is supposed to protect the device under test (DUT) that I will plugin into "outlet", by limiting the current, "forwarding" it to the 60W bulb in case of a short within the…
Musa
  • 296
  • 2
  • 11
1
vote
2 answers

Neon bulb lamp replacement for surge suppression

I'm restoring an HP 141T and it has a broken neon lamp which is used I believe as surge protection in the following configuration: On the right is the CRT. I believe the only purpose for such lamps is so discharge a build up of charge between…
cosenmarco
  • 71
  • 8
1
vote
2 answers

How do SPST neon-indicator-lamp wall switches power their neon indicator?

I am building a totally overkill electronics repair bench for fun while in quarantine. Part of this bench build involves wiring up electrical distribution (i.e., a lighting feature to illuminate the work surface, and a bunch of power receptacles).…
Will Preston
  • 13
  • 3
1
2