Lurch wrote:
On 03 Jan 2005 16:50:26 GMT, Ian Stirling
strung together this:

All neon lights are unreliable, almost by design.

Well, if the neon was used as an indicator on a 240V supply then it
would be fine. The general theory behind using it as a test instrument
is the flaw with the neon screwdriver.

Neon lights seem to die after a few decades, which is annoying.
On reflection, this may not be that much of a problem on a screwdriver.