[neonixie-l] Re: Lighted switches.

[gregebert]

>From my Radio Shack education back in the early 1970's..NE-2 bulbs 
required 220K when running off 120VAC line and used 1/25 watt. NE-2H 
(high-brightness) used a 22K resistor and used 1/4 watt.
-
Sad fact.I did not get into nixie tubes when they were cheaply and 
readily available at Radio Shack because I refused to believe a TTL device 
(74141) could tolerate the high-voltage used with nixies. Even the 
datasheet said the max voltage was 60V and I neglected the voltage-drop 
across the tube. That ignorance kept me away from nixies for roughly 35 
years until I built my first clock from junkbox parts in 2011. Nope, I 
didn't use a 74141 in that clock and never will use them
On Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 10:05:21 AM UTC-8 Dekatron42 wrote:

> There are many types/models of NE-2 neons, look at the table at the end of 
> the book "Using and Understanding Small Neon Lamps" by William G Miller, 
> might be in the files section on teh forum or can be downloaded from the 
> internet, the list contains recommended resistor values for 115 VAC - the 
> resistance value varies from 30k to 250k for the various models of NE-2.
>
> /Martin
>
> On Sunday, 24 January 2021 at 17:07:42 UTC+1 philthepill wrote:
>
>> Yohan   sorry for misspelling your name.
>>
>> Pharma Phil
>>
>> -- Original Message -- 
>> From: Yohan Park  
>> Date: January 23, 2021 at 7:10 PM 
>>
>> Phil, sorry I'm getting back at this but I think you're seriously 
>> overdriving these NE-2 bulbs. 
>> Even the high brightness versions need a 33K resistor. 
>> Regular NE-2 bulbs (which you most likely use as well) require around 
>> 150K 
>> I'm running standard brightness bulbs in my wall switches on 230V and I'm 
>> using 330K 
>> Always go as high as you can with resistor value. 
>> I've been running standard bulbs on 220K and they became luke warm to 
>> touch. This reduces the lifetime of the bulb and can cause blackening of 
>> the glass. 
>>
>> On Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 1:52:34 AM UTC+1 philthepill wrote: 
>>
>> I make my own lighted switches...
>>
>> I connect NE-2 lamps with a 20 K-ohm resistor at both ends of about 8 
>> inches wire, drill a small hole in the switch face plate and push the end 
>> of the lamp thru just a little and hot melt glue it in place. If the face 
>> plate is white, you can just glue the lamp to the backside of the faceplate 
>> and it will shine thru. I wire the other ends of the resistors to the hot 
>> and neutral terminals that go to the light. When the light is off, the neon 
>> lamp lights, and when the light is on, the neon is off. You can find all 
>> the light switches in my house at night just by looking for the neon glow. 
>> They have never needed replacing. If you want to be super safe, you can use 
>> 4 x K-ohm resistors, two just next to the neon body and the other two at 
>> the other end of the wires. I use heat shrink over the resistor connections 
>> in both cases. Very cheap and effective but not UL or CSA approved.
>>
>> Pharma Phil 
>>
>> -- Original Message -- 
>> From: Nick Andrews < nickja...@gmail.com> 
>> Date: January 15, 2021 at 12:20 PM 
>>
>> Sweet! I've been thinking of looking for a lighted switch in the 'on' 
>> position for the attic lights we installed to maybe remind us to turn them 
>> off. Been up there a bit lately, running cable. More cameras, power, commo. 
>> New NVR has 10 cameras, I think have added about a dozen new duplex 
>> outlets, and so far 17 runs of cat5 through the house. More to come. 
>>
>> Yes, some thermostats had mercury bulbs in them, the bigger ones having 
>> bigger bulbs. I grab those wherever I can find them, getting scarce now. 
>> There were also contactors with a fairly significant amount in them, but 
>> tricky to open for recovery. OLD ignitrons I think had a large amount in 
>> them. Sure mercury can be toxic, but it kills me to see the ridiculously 
>> idiotic overreactions to things like broken fluorescent bulbs in schools or 
>> places. I know a guy who built a box device to try recovering the mercury 
>> from old bulbs. It wasn't worth the hassle. A 4' flo bulb has what, about 
>> 1/20 of a drop of mercury in it? I've broken hundreds of them, and 8' ones 
>> too in my time. In high school we used them for lightsabers at the 
>> university dump. 
>>
>> I use mercury in my carburetor sync gauge for my bike. I know they make 
>> some now with a little tungsten rod in them which are safer, and maybe I'll 
>> buy one some day. But for now, I'll hoard my little stash... 
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 9:15 AM martin martin < mcve...@gmail.com> 
>> wrote: 
>>
>> Greetings all, 
>>
>> These are no longer available in the US as of 40+ years ago. I found one 
>> in a box and had to put it back in to service! 
>> They were sold as "silent switches". Small tube of mercury to make the 
>> contact and the toggle 

[neonixie-l] Re: Lighted switches.

[Dekatron42]

There are many types/models of NE-2 neons, look at the table at the end of 
the book "Using and Understanding Small Neon Lamps" by William G Miller, 
might be in the files section on teh forum or can be downloaded from the 
internet, the list contains recommended resistor values for 115 VAC - the 
resistance value varies from 30k to 250k for the various models of NE-2.

/Martin

On Sunday, 24 January 2021 at 17:07:42 UTC+1 philthepill wrote:

> Yohan   sorry for misspelling your name.
>
> Pharma Phil
>
> -- Original Message -- 
> From: Yohan Park  
> Date: January 23, 2021 at 7:10 PM 
>
> Phil, sorry I'm getting back at this but I think you're seriously 
> overdriving these NE-2 bulbs. 
> Even the high brightness versions need a 33K resistor. 
> Regular NE-2 bulbs (which you most likely use as well) require around 150K 
> I'm running standard brightness bulbs in my wall switches on 230V and I'm 
> using 330K 
> Always go as high as you can with resistor value. 
> I've been running standard bulbs on 220K and they became luke warm to 
> touch. This reduces the lifetime of the bulb and can cause blackening of 
> the glass. 
>
> On Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 1:52:34 AM UTC+1 philthepill wrote: 
>
> I make my own lighted switches...
>
> I connect NE-2 lamps with a 20 K-ohm resistor at both ends of about 8 
> inches wire, drill a small hole in the switch face plate and push the end 
> of the lamp thru just a little and hot melt glue it in place. If the face 
> plate is white, you can just glue the lamp to the backside of the faceplate 
> and it will shine thru. I wire the other ends of the resistors to the hot 
> and neutral terminals that go to the light. When the light is off, the neon 
> lamp lights, and when the light is on, the neon is off. You can find all 
> the light switches in my house at night just by looking for the neon glow. 
> They have never needed replacing. If you want to be super safe, you can use 
> 4 x K-ohm resistors, two just next to the neon body and the other two at 
> the other end of the wires. I use heat shrink over the resistor connections 
> in both cases. Very cheap and effective but not UL or CSA approved.
>
> Pharma Phil 
>
> -- Original Message -- 
> From: Nick Andrews < nickja...@gmail.com> 
> Date: January 15, 2021 at 12:20 PM 
>
> Sweet! I've been thinking of looking for a lighted switch in the 'on' 
> position for the attic lights we installed to maybe remind us to turn them 
> off. Been up there a bit lately, running cable. More cameras, power, commo. 
> New NVR has 10 cameras, I think have added about a dozen new duplex 
> outlets, and so far 17 runs of cat5 through the house. More to come. 
>
> Yes, some thermostats had mercury bulbs in them, the bigger ones having 
> bigger bulbs. I grab those wherever I can find them, getting scarce now. 
> There were also contactors with a fairly significant amount in them, but 
> tricky to open for recovery. OLD ignitrons I think had a large amount in 
> them. Sure mercury can be toxic, but it kills me to see the ridiculously 
> idiotic overreactions to things like broken fluorescent bulbs in schools or 
> places. I know a guy who built a box device to try recovering the mercury 
> from old bulbs. It wasn't worth the hassle. A 4' flo bulb has what, about 
> 1/20 of a drop of mercury in it? I've broken hundreds of them, and 8' ones 
> too in my time. In high school we used them for lightsabers at the 
> university dump. 
>
> I use mercury in my carburetor sync gauge for my bike. I know they make 
> some now with a little tungsten rod in them which are safer, and maybe I'll 
> buy one some day. But for now, I'll hoard my little stash... 
>
> On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 9:15 AM martin martin < mcve...@gmail.com> wrote: 
>
> Greetings all, 
>
> These are no longer available in the US as of 40+ years ago. I found one 
> in a box and had to put it back in to service! 
> They were sold as "silent switches". Small tube of mercury to make the 
> contact and the toggle switch has a large NE-2 for a nice looking night 
> light. 
>
>
> -- 
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>  
> .
>  
>
>
>
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>
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> 

[neonixie-l] Lighted switches.

[alb.001 alb.001]

 
  Yohan   sorry for misspelling your name.
  Pharma Phil
  
   -- Original Message --
   From: Yohan Park 
   Date: January 23, 2021 at 7:10 PM
   
   Phil, sorry I'm getting back at this but I think you're seriously overdriving these NE-2 bulbs.
   Even the high brightness versions need a 33K resistor.
   Regular NE-2 bulbs (which you most likely use as well) require around 150K
   I'm running standard brightness bulbs in my wall switches on 230V and I'm using 330K
   Always go as high as you can with resistor value.
   I've been running standard bulbs on 220K and they became luke warm to touch. This reduces the lifetime of the bulb and can cause blackening of the glass.
   
   
   

 On Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 1:52:34 AM UTC+1 philthepill wrote:
 


 
 
  I make my own lighted switches...
  I connect NE-2 lamps with a 20 K-ohm resistor at both ends of about 8 inches wire, drill a small hole in the switch face plate and push the end of the lamp thru just a little and hot melt glue it in place. If the face plate is white, you can just glue the lamp to the backside of the faceplate and it will shine thru. I wire the other ends of the resistors to the hot and neutral terminals that go to the light. When the light is off, the neon lamp lights, and when the light is on, the neon is off. You can find all the light switches in my house at night just by looking for the neon glow. They have never needed replacing. If you want to be super safe, you can use 4 x K-ohm resistors, two just next to the neon body and the other two at the other end of the wires. I use heat shrink over the resistor connections in both cases. Very cheap and effective but not UL or CSA approved.
  Pharma Phil 
  
 
 
  
   -- Original Message -- 
   From: Nick Andrews <
   nickja...@gmail.com> 
   Date: January 15, 2021 at 12:20 PM 

   
   

 Sweet! I've been thinking of looking for a lighted switch in the 'on' position for the attic lights we installed to maybe remind us to turn them off. Been up there a bit lately, running cable. More cameras, power, commo. New NVR has 10 cameras, I think have added about a dozen new duplex outlets, and so far 17 runs of cat5 through the house. More to come.


 


 Yes, some thermostats had mercury bulbs in them, the bigger ones having bigger bulbs. I grab those wherever I can find them, getting scarce now. There were also contactors with a fairly significant amount in them, but tricky to open for recovery. OLD ignitrons I think had a large amount in them. Sure mercury can be toxic, but it kills me to see the ridiculously idiotic overreactions to things like broken fluorescent bulbs in schools or places. I know a guy who built a box device to try recovering the mercury from old bulbs. It wasn't worth the hassle. A 4' flo bulb has what, about 1/20 of a drop of mercury in it? I've broken hundreds of them, and 8' ones too in my time. In high school we used them for lightsabers at the university dump.


 


 I use mercury in my carburetor sync gauge for my bike. I know they make some now with a little tungsten rod in them which are safer, and maybe I'll buy one some day. But for now, I'll hoard my little stash... 
 

   
   
   

 On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 9:15 AM martin martin < 
 mcve...@gmail.com> wrote: 
 


 Greetings all,
 
  
 
 
  These are no longer available in the US as of 40+ years ago. I found one in a box and had to put it back in to service!
 
 
  They were sold as "silent switches". Small tube of mercury to make the contact and the toggle switch has a large NE-2 for a nice looking night light.
 
 -- 
  You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 
  To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 
 neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com. 
  To view this discussion on the web, visit 
 https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/eab74d90-5a82-4b95-ac32-7d461e176485n%40googlegroups.com. 
 

   
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   To view this discussion on the web, visit 
   https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAJD4P-jHyrUMFQ3a1Mga9EcnLVJJmGZR8TATu0hqacdxBy7vfA%40mail.gmail.com. 
   
  
  
 

   
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[neonixie-l] Lighted switches.

[alb.001 alb.001]

 
  Tohan
   I was taught to use 47 K resistors for NE-2 on 110 volts AC when I started back in 1975.   My lamps may be  NE-2 probably - I bought them in bulk at surplus stores and they are unmarked. I have had 8 running in my house since 1987 and none show any signs of darkening and I cannot detect any significant warming in any of them.   If I needed to redo them I could certainly use higher resistors, the brightness is not really greatly affected .    
  Thanks   Pharma Phil
  
  
   -- Original Message --
   From: Yohan Park 
   Date: January 23, 2021 at 7:10 PM
   
   Phil, sorry I'm getting back at this but I think you're seriously overdriving these NE-2 bulbs.
   Even the high brightness versions need a 33K resistor.
   Regular NE-2 bulbs (which you most likely use as well) require around 150K
   I'm running standard brightness bulbs in my wall switches on 230V and I'm using 330K
   Always go as high as you can with resistor value.
   I've been running standard bulbs on 220K and they became luke warm to touch. This reduces the lifetime of the bulb and can cause blackening of the glass.
   
   
   

 On Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 1:52:34 AM UTC+1 philthepill wrote:
 


 
 
  I make my own lighted switches...
  I connect NE-2 lamps with a 20 K-ohm resistor at both ends of about 8 inches wire, drill a small hole in the switch face plate and push the end of the lamp thru just a little and hot melt glue it in place. If the face plate is white, you can just glue the lamp to the backside of the faceplate and it will shine thru. I wire the other ends of the resistors to the hot and neutral terminals that go to the light. When the light is off, the neon lamp lights, and when the light is on, the neon is off. You can find all the light switches in my house at night just by looking for the neon glow. They have never needed replacing. If you want to be super safe, you can use 4 x K-ohm resistors, two just next to the neon body and the other two at the other end of the wires. I use heat shrink over the resistor connections in both cases. Very cheap and effective but not UL or CSA approved.
  Pharma Phil 
  
 
 
  
   -- Original Message -- 
   From: Nick Andrews <
   nickja...@gmail.com> 
   Date: January 15, 2021 at 12:20 PM 

   
   

 Sweet! I've been thinking of looking for a lighted switch in the 'on' position for the attic lights we installed to maybe remind us to turn them off. Been up there a bit lately, running cable. More cameras, power, commo. New NVR has 10 cameras, I think have added about a dozen new duplex outlets, and so far 17 runs of cat5 through the house. More to come.


 


 Yes, some thermostats had mercury bulbs in them, the bigger ones having bigger bulbs. I grab those wherever I can find them, getting scarce now. There were also contactors with a fairly significant amount in them, but tricky to open for recovery. OLD ignitrons I think had a large amount in them. Sure mercury can be toxic, but it kills me to see the ridiculously idiotic overreactions to things like broken fluorescent bulbs in schools or places. I know a guy who built a box device to try recovering the mercury from old bulbs. It wasn't worth the hassle. A 4' flo bulb has what, about 1/20 of a drop of mercury in it? I've broken hundreds of them, and 8' ones too in my time. In high school we used them for lightsabers at the university dump.


 


 I use mercury in my carburetor sync gauge for my bike. I know they make some now with a little tungsten rod in them which are safer, and maybe I'll buy one some day. But for now, I'll hoard my little stash... 
 

   
   
   

 On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 9:15 AM martin martin < 
 mcve...@gmail.com> wrote: 
 


 Greetings all,
 
  
 
 
  These are no longer available in the US as of 40+ years ago. I found one in a box and had to put it back in to service!
 
 
  They were sold as "silent switches". Small tube of mercury to make the contact and the toggle switch has a large NE-2 for a nice looking night light.
 
 -- 
  You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 
  To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 
 neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com. 
  To view this discussion on the web, visit 
 https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/eab74d90-5a82-4b95-ac32-7d461e176485n%40googlegroups.com. 
 

   
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Re: [neonixie-l] Re: B7971's on the bay....

[Bill Notfaded]

I hope somone here bought them at least?

Bill

On Fri, Jan 22, 2021, 7:51 AM Nicholas Stock  wrote:

> Damn! Someone didn't do their research (or just wanted to be generous?).
>
> Anyone snag those here?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 22, 2021, at 02:40, fax_awd  wrote:
>
> 50USD for 1 used tested B7971, are we back to 2010?
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/233867007640
>
> M1在 2020年4月30日星期四下午2:58:10 [UTC+8]寫道：
>
>> Nothing wrong with that.  Heh.
>>
>> But, damn, that’s even more expensive than me.
>>
>>
>>
>> He should put up pictures.  People like to see pretty colors.
>>
>>
>>
>> Michail Wilson
>>
>> 206-920-6312 <(206)%20920-6312>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* neoni...@googlegroups.com  *On Behalf
>> Of *fax_awd
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 29, 2020 11:30 PM
>> *To:* neonixie-l 
>> *Subject:* [neonixie-l] Re: B7971's on the bay
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/303554502347
>>
>> USD3500 for 12x B7971...almost USD300 per 1...Please tell me this is not
>> true..
>>
>> --
>>
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>> "neonixie-l" group.
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>>
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>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/80145723-ad84-42c6-8ff6-978266d9623b%40googlegroups.com
>> 
>> .
>>
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> .
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