We have a glass block wall in our kitchen, and would really like to put a blue light behind it. I am thinking some sort of neon / fluorescent (sp?) light would look best. Has anyone got any recomendations? It is actually a little cubby hole for our cat to eat, and in an ideal world I would love to find a neon cat shaped light. Mad I know. Am I dreaming?
Daniel
You can get blue 'neon' type lamps made specailly, at a price. Try google.
I think blue is argon, or mercury vapour actualy, neon is mainly orange.
Otherwise blue pygmy bulbs are readily available. Or are they called 'borgs' these days (Bulbs of Restricted Growth) :-)
Well you can just contact a signmaker and he will bend a glass tube into the shape of a cat, fill it with neon (actually he won't - if you want blue he will fill it with argon and add a microscopic amount of mercury) and then seal it.
Adrian.
What?? You'd allow mercury in your house?
:-)
Get a few ultra-bright blue LEDs (Maplin etc). Will look lovely.
I didn't say that! Sadly I think I was exposed to much more mercury in the chemistry lab than I'd get in 1000 years from a neon sign...have to wait to see if the dementia sets in early! :-)
A.
Do you mean the luxeon ones? If so just how bright are they? Are they actually GBP12 per LED?!
A.
I've not experienced the luxeon ones, but have some of Maplin's Nichia ones (NR85G), £3 each and 3Cd output, which is very bright.
About 14 years ago when high brightness types were just coming out I remember buying an 8Cd red led from Tandy for £15. And that was when £15 could buy a house!
snipped-for-privacy@a.com (Adrian Sims) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.dsl.pipex.com:
I got a red and a white LED keyring thing from the local quick and dirty for 99p each. BLOODY bright
mike r
I got my exposure in grammer school physics. polarity reversing switches with pools of mercury as terminals; amalgamating ha'pennies to shillings and our house keys.
Never did me any h
Depending on how much light you wan't would one of the cold cathode tubes the twiterati are using to illuminate the inside of their computers be adequate?
Not long ago I saw a panel of HP power LEDs, and was very surprised at the light being emitted. It really felt that you could warm your hands if you got up close!
PoP
You can get blue neon lights, running on 12volts for the inside of computers. i KNOW !!, its the latest craze amongst the overclockers. You can also get them to fit on cars. So a local computer fair or somewhere that does car parts.
Dave
Luxeon Lumileds are astonishingly bright - to the extent that when working on optics based with them I have to wear gas welding goggles to stop hurting my eyes. They knock any other LED into a cocked hat for intensity
And they are expensive.
Steve
Hi Daniel,
As other have pointed out, there is a trend of late (like to point out both my PC's are very boring beige boxes before I continue!) for making the inside of your PC look like the northern lights, which has lead to pretty cheap components.
I would suggest you look at getting some Electro Luminescent (EL) cable, that you can then shape like a cat and or any other domestic animal to your hearts content. I think it can also be cut to required length.
You will need to get a 12v mains adapter (as the lights are designed for a PC with 12v on tap), but I imagine the draw is pretty small and your average maplin 12v plug brick job would do the trick. Possible source:
Question is, what will the cat think about all this?!
Paul.
Do you have any "normal" fluorescent tubes in your house? Then you already have plenty of mercury ;-o
Timbo
I know I'm going to burn in hell for saying this, but, PC-World stock them with all the connectors etc.
Or a medical thermometer.
A sign maker should be able to make a neon in any shape, but they require a high voltage power pack so might not be suitable.
How about a rope light in the correct colour glued to the panel - these can be bent to a certain degree. Maplins or disco equipment shops sell them.
You could make something up out of LEDs, but these also need a transformer, and of course blue LEDs are about the most expensive variety.
I know! That was an ironic reference to the earlier fluoride thread, gettit?
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