Cold Cathode Project

[Anomenx]

Hey everyone!

I'm new to these forums, and looking around, this seems like a pretty cool place. i've had a lot of electronic questions lately and none of my friends can really help me out... so i googled a question and it brought me here! :]

I'm kinda new with the whole working with electronics thing though... so sorry if this seems like a dumb question.

I have this old pc that i'm using for scrap parts. I found 2 cold cathode light bulbs that pulse with music inside of it (you can turn the pulse off though so it is just a steady light). A buddy of mine has a bar in his basement, and sometimes it gets pretty dark under the bar when you're looking for drinks. So it hit me last night... maybe i can use these light bulbs and mount them under the bar to give it this cool glow and also light up the area making it easier to see.

it seems like a pretty cool idea. my question is however... how could i connect the light bulbs to a normal wall plug? (it has one of those plugs that you use to connect it to a computer power supply) and how much power should the plug be able to provide? the lights have an inverter on them... but with my lack of electronic knowledge... i really dont actually know what thats for haha. :X

any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

-Sean

 

[kchriste]

They probably run on 5V, but to be sure post a picture of the plug that connects it to the computer power supply. The pinouts of those plugs are pretty standard so you could also google info on PC power supply connections to figure it out.

 

[Anomenx]

I did some research.

Input voltage of inverter: 12V
Output voltage of inverter: 680V
Current draw: 5.0mA
Inverter: Dual-Output Inverter

the wires on the on off switch go into the 1 and 2 spots on the pc power supply plug... which is the yellow, or 12 volt wire and a ground wire.

so what type of power supply should i use? i probably said it... but i just want to make sure before i connect some wires and accidentally blow my light bulbs.

 

[Anomenx]

hmm... do you think something like a 12V DC 1.5AMP power adapter would work? or is that too strong.

 

[Hero999]

Yes, that should work, providing the voltage is correct the inverter will take as much current as it requires and no more.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

It MUST be a regulated supply though, if it's not regulated it will output considerably more than 12V at your low current.

 

[Anomenx]

I have a few AC adaptors laying around my house... How can you tell if it is regulated? i tried looking on google but i couldn't find anything that helped.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

They usually say on them, but if you have a meter, then measure the output voltage off load, a regulated one will be about 12V - an unregulated probably 18V or so?.

 

[Hero999]

Don't worry if it's about 14V or even 15V though as most of these inverters are designed to be able to run in a car where the voltage can get that high when the engine if running at full revs.