A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?


Rig up a pair of wire meshes to the 8kV with a blue florescent tube behind =
high powered insectecutor.

"ian field" writes:

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?


Rig up a pair of wire meshes to the 8kV with a blue florescent tube behind =
high powered insectecutor.

Jacob's Ladder, Tesla Coil driver, and CO2 laser power supply, to name 3 uses.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

On May 26, 4:39 pm, Sam Goldwasser wrote:
"ian field" writes:
"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
oups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Jacob's Ladder, Tesla Coil driver, and CO2 laser power supply, to name 3 uses.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:http://www.repairfaq.org/

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I don't know where I'm
going to put it, but I might just go grab the thing tonight. Even if I
can't use it, I can surely find a good home for it.

On May 26, 4:39 pm, Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Jacob's Ladder, Tesla Coil driver, and CO2 laser power supply, to name 3 uses.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:http://www.repairfaq.org/

Adding the Wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Sign_Transformer

On Jun 8, 12:09 pm, Beloved Leader
wrote:
On May 26, 4:39 pm, Sam Goldwasser wrote:

Jacob's Ladder, Tesla Coil driver, and CO2 laser power supply, to name 3 uses.

I grabbed it a few days ago. So far, I haven't plugged it in.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and encouragement.

On May 26, 1:50 pm, Beloved Leader
wrote:
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Google on "Jacob's Ladder". They are a great use for old neon
transformers.

H. R. (Bob) Hofmann

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?


Well you can get $20-$50 on ebay for it if nothing else. Neon transformers
are great fun to play with, current limited high voltage, 8KV is enough for
a classic Jacob's Ladder, those are always cool. You can also experiment
with making crude discharge lamps and any number of other things. Grab it.

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Exactly the right voltage for a home electric chair - and more than enough
amps.

"Homer J Simpson" wrote in message
news:Jw36i.49265$g63.23956@edtnps82...

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Exactly the right voltage for a home electric chair - and more than enough
amps.




Nowhere near, most NST are good for 20-30mA and by their nature are current
limited, potentially dangerous, but not automatically lethal. Microwave oven
transformers on the other hand are another thing entirely. Safety is
important, and any high voltage should be respected and used carefully, but
overblown dire warnings accomplish nothing. I was playing with NSTs by the
time I was 10 years old, I've made it this far.

On May 26, 7:15 pm, "James Sweet" wrote:
"Homer J Simpson" wrote in messagenews:Jw36i.49265$g63.23956@edtnps82...



"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
oups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Exactly the right voltage for a home electric chair - and more than enough
amps.

Nowhere near, most NST are good for 20-30mA and by their nature are current
limited, potentially dangerous, but not automatically lethal. Microwave oven
transformers on the other hand are another thing entirely. Safety is
important, and any high voltage should be respected and used carefully, but
overblown dire warnings accomplish nothing. I was playing with NSTs by the
time I was 10 years old, I've made it this far.

Aha!! That might explain a lot of things about you. G


BOb HOfmann

"James Sweet" wrote in
news:R446i.2003$eO5.1662@trndny08:


"Homer J Simpson" wrote in message
news:Jw36i.49265$g63.23956@edtnps82...

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Exactly the right voltage for a home electric chair - and more than
enough amps.




Nowhere near, most NST are good for 20-30mA and by their nature are
current limited, potentially dangerous, but not automatically lethal.

A true statement but.... 15 mA is enough to 'freeze on' to a current
source.

That can EASILY happen with 110 VAC, harder with 8 KV. More likely to throw
you across the room.

On the other hand 15 uA across the heart region is sufficient to induce
ventricular fibrillation (uncoordinated quivering of the heart) which WILL
be fatal if CPR and/or defibrillation is not administered within very few
minutes.

Microwave oven transformers on the other hand are another thing
entirely. Safety is important, and any high voltage should be respected
and used carefully, but overblown dire warnings accomplish nothing. I
was playing with NSTs by the time I was 10 years old, I've made it this
far.







--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

"Beloved Leader" wrote in message
ups.com...
A local shop has a neon sign in the trash. It fell, and the tube
broke. I suppose the power supply is good. The specs are on the power
supply: 7000-8000 volts output. I can't think of any use for it, and
it's not as if I have room for any more junk.

Is there any reason I should grab it?

Many years ago we had one in the lab that we were using in an ozone
generator.
One lunch time, being more madcap than usual, we tried to drive it with an
amplified audio source to seee if we could actually produce a spark gap
transmitter.



Charlie

Beloved Leader wrote:

}A local shop has a neon sign in the trash.
}...
}Is there any reason I should grab it?

1: if you have several MILES of electric fence and you really want those
uppity cows to know exactly who is boss...

2: you can conduct your own experiment with lightning flashes and
primordial soup, looking for pre-historic amino acids

3: many years back an acquaintance had a billing disagreement with the
local baby Bell (US Worst, if you have to know). In the midst of this,
Worst decided to show him who had the upper hand by disconnecting his
service.

He figured that since he didn't need the phone lines (being disconnected),
they would make a perfect test bed for an experiment he had been pondering
for quite some time. To wit, how many volts do you need to induce
"cross-talk" between line pairs from a house to the CO?

He waited till 3am (to decrease the chance of a nasty surprise to any
neighbors) then he ran his high voltage (non-current-limited) XFMR to his
phone line (having dis-connected it from his house wiring and
dis-connected the anti-lighting stuff) and plugged it in. The house
lights dimmed a bit for about 30 seconds, then came back full. To be
thorough, he then grounded on side of the secondary and ran both sides of
the phone line to the hot side of the secondary and re-powered for 30
seconds.

The phone company had several trucks in the neighborhood the next
day...some of the repairmen were asking residents if they saw where the
lightning had hit.

He did this a few more nights before he got bored and payed his bill,
figuring it had cost Worst more than it had cost him.

Stan.

Stan wrote:

3: many years back an acquaintance had a billing disagreement with the
local baby Bell (US Worst, if you have to know). In the midst of this,
Worst decided to show him who had the upper hand by disconnecting his
service.

He figured that since he didn't need the phone lines (being disconnected),
they would make a perfect test bed for an experiment he had been pondering
for quite some time. To wit, how many volts do you need to induce
"cross-talk" between line pairs from a house to the CO?

He waited till 3am (to decrease the chance of a nasty surprise to any
neighbors) then he ran his high voltage (non-current-limited) XFMR to his
phone line (having dis-connected it from his house wiring and
dis-connected the anti-lighting stuff) and plugged it in. The house
lights dimmed a bit for about 30 seconds, then came back full. To be
thorough, he then grounded on side of the secondary and ran both sides of
the phone line to the hot side of the secondary and re-powered for 30
seconds.

The phone company had several trucks in the neighborhood the next
day...some of the repairmen were asking residents if they saw where the
lightning had hit.

He did this a few more nights before he got bored and payed his bill,
figuring it had cost Worst more than it had cost him.


What an ass. Someone could have died because he blew out a lot of
people's phone service. BTW, that was a criminal act that would have
put him in jail for sevral years.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Stan wrote:

3: many years back an acquaintance had a billing disagreement with the
local baby Bell (US Worst, if you have to know). In the midst of this,
Worst decided to show him who had the upper hand by disconnecting his
service.

He figured that since he didn't need the phone lines (being
disconnected),
they would make a perfect test bed for an experiment he had been
pondering
for quite some time. To wit, how many volts do you need to induce
"cross-talk" between line pairs from a house to the CO?

He waited till 3am (to decrease the chance of a nasty surprise to any
neighbors) then he ran his high voltage (non-current-limited) XFMR to
his
phone line (having dis-connected it from his house wiring and
dis-connected the anti-lighting stuff) and plugged it in. The house
lights dimmed a bit for about 30 seconds, then came back full. To be
thorough, he then grounded on side of the secondary and ran both sides of
the phone line to the hot side of the secondary and re-powered for 30
seconds.

The phone company had several trucks in the neighborhood the next
day...some of the repairmen were asking residents if they saw where the
lightning had hit.

He did this a few more nights before he got bored and payed his bill,
figuring it had cost Worst more than it had cost him.


What an ass. Someone could have died because he blew out a lot of
people's phone service. BTW, that was a criminal act that would have
put him in jail for sevral years.

Its a pity the high & mighty ******* telcos in the UK all use fibre.

ian field wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Stan wrote:

3: many years back an acquaintance had a billing disagreement with the
local baby Bell (US Worst, if you have to know). In the midst of this,
Worst decided to show him who had the upper hand by disconnecting his
service.

He figured that since he didn't need the phone lines (being
disconnected),
they would make a perfect test bed for an experiment he had been
pondering
for quite some time. To wit, how many volts do you need to induce
"cross-talk" between line pairs from a house to the CO?

He waited till 3am (to decrease the chance of a nasty surprise to any
neighbors) then he ran his high voltage (non-current-limited) XFMR to
his
phone line (having dis-connected it from his house wiring and
dis-connected the anti-lighting stuff) and plugged it in. The house
lights dimmed a bit for about 30 seconds, then came back full. To be
thorough, he then grounded on side of the secondary and ran both sides of
the phone line to the hot side of the secondary and re-powered for 30
seconds.

The phone company had several trucks in the neighborhood the next
day...some of the repairmen were asking residents if they saw where the
lightning had hit.

He did this a few more nights before he got bored and payed his bill,
figuring it had cost Worst more than it had cost him.


What an ass. Someone could have died because he blew out a lot of
people's phone service. BTW, that was a criminal act that would have
put him in jail for sevral years.

Its a pity the high & mighty ******* telcos in the UK all use fibre.


If its all fiber, why did the phone company have to send out a fleet
of service trucks?


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
ian field wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...
Stan wrote:

3: many years back an acquaintance had a billing disagreement with the
local baby Bell (US Worst, if you have to know). In the midst of
this,
Worst decided to show him who had the upper hand by disconnecting his
service.

He figured that since he didn't need the phone lines (being
disconnected),
they would make a perfect test bed for an experiment he had been
pondering
for quite some time. To wit, how many volts do you need to induce
"cross-talk" between line pairs from a house to the CO?

He waited till 3am (to decrease the chance of a nasty surprise to any
neighbors) then he ran his high voltage (non-current-limited) XFMR to
his
phone line (having dis-connected it from his house wiring and
dis-connected the anti-lighting stuff) and plugged it in. The house
lights dimmed a bit for about 30 seconds, then came back full. To be
thorough, he then grounded on side of the secondary and ran both sides
of
the phone line to the hot side of the secondary and re-powered for 30
seconds.

The phone company had several trucks in the neighborhood the next
day...some of the repairmen were asking residents if they saw where
the
lightning had hit.

He did this a few more nights before he got bored and payed his bill,
figuring it had cost Worst more than it had cost him.


What an ass. Someone could have died because he blew out a lot of
people's phone service. BTW, that was a criminal act that would have
put him in jail for sevral years.

Its a pity the high & mighty ******* telcos in the UK all use fibre.


If its all fiber, why did the phone company have to send out a fleet
of service trucks?


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

When NTL started out they laid fiber just about everywhere, but the street
level distribution is co-ax - the fibre infrastructure means you can't
obliterate their exchange by shoving a million volts down their co-ax.