Having featured a demonstration panel for the LED neon-like strips, I thought it would be good to show a display case used to demonstrate real gas filled neon tubing to help customers choose colours.

This case has three sections of four tubes spliced together, and all three sections (not four as I said in the video) are wired in series and powered from a high voltage electronic transformer.

The first section has the tube filled with pure neon gas with two phosphor coated tubes, a red glass tube and a clear glass tube. The phosphors are mainly for diffusion, although the neon does cause a slight stimulation of the phosphor to tint the light slightly.
The other two sections are based on argon gas with a touch of mercury, and use the emitted UV to stimulate phosphor coated on the inside of the tube.

The yellow glass tube with white phosphor is more stable than yellow phosphors which always seemed to fade quickly.

The case is made from black and clear perspex/acrylic bonded together with solvent, and with screws for removing the back should maintenance be required.

The power supply inside is a high voltage and high frequency electronic power supply.

This is very much a legacy unit, as it is very hard to find a place that makes real neon in the UK now. It was given to me by a sign company I used for all my custom neon tubes.

The surge of popularity of "LED neon" has taken a lot of business away from traditional neon glass benders. And while the new material is massively cheaper due to being low voltage and easily assembled into routed plastic sheets, it will not last as long as a properly made glass neon sign that can last for many decades.

This video was recorded with a different device while travelling - hence the squished audio.


If you enjoyed this video, please consider subscribing for similar content.

You can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!)
I release content for critique and feedback on Patreon as soon as it has been made.

https://www.patreon.com/bigclive

Alternatively, for a single contribution you can use PayPal:-
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigclive


#ElectronicsCreators
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW8-h5lL_2M