The 4th batch of 6 green neon bulbs, obtained from a power strip removed from service inside server rack today. 3 good and 3 bad. One of the good bulbs looked completely new, since the corresponding switch on the power strip was extremely hard to push (very common problem on that brand), suggesting the slot may have never been powered. The other two good bulbs have some burn marks. This power strip may have been used for 8 years. These bulbs will be tested later but no video will be posted.
These marked fluorescent tubes are severely darkened at the electrode, but the tubes still work as usual because they are not burn marks, and the electrodes are also good.
My dad took down this red LED globe bulb from a shrine due to extremely low brightness, and replaced with an incandescent one. Instead of disposing the bulb, he gave me to use for parts. The outer bulb is made of plastic so I can cut it with pliers, then the six red LEDs are revealed, along with two resistors (560 ohms and 820 kohms) and a big capacitor on a simple circuit board. I suspected there was a failed LED to make the whole circuit to fail. This LED bulb was bought in 2021, but the appearance of the LEDs inside were looked very old-school, they looked like those from decades ago. I desoldered the LEDs and put onto an LED tester, they all lit and extremely bright, even 5mA would make it too glaring, proving that they were not old stocks. I also took out the resistors and both tested good, no burn marks and no abnormal resistances, so the failed part was the capacitor.
Parts for making this custom neon night light at home: 1. Socket base from a D-link wireless access point 2. Neon bulbs with ballast resistor connected x2 3. Transparent plastic film (must need for your safety) 4. Optional 100mA glass fuse
You can use any socket base (white recommended) which has enough space to install at least one bulb. The neon bulbs I use are salvaged from the power strips. I also modified the green bulb's ballast resistor from 150 kohms to 220 kohms, hoping to prolong its life. You can use a new bulb, but remember to add ballast resistor and shrink tube for insulation. The D-link wireless access point had stopped working in 2018 due to unknown hardware error and it was not recoverable. I disassembled the device and disposed all its parts, leaving this socket base.
Warning: Always take precautions when dealing with high voltage and related components.
Finding this neon bulb in power strip kept flickering, I disconnected the power strip and opened it for inspection. The bulb was the one that I replaced in 2016 (photo 1), it used to replace the previous bulb which was completely darkened and not lit. After over 8 years of use it was also darkened. Seems that a 220 kohms resistor is still too small for a neon bulb. I replaced the darkened bulb with the one that harvested from disused power strip. Not new, but it works very well. Photo 2 shows the removed bulb (left), comparing with the same type brand new bulb (right). Photo 3 shows the neon indicator in action after replacement. Photo 4 shows the bulb used as replacement.
This desktop sized 12 inch Christmas tree is bought from a houseware store in December 2002. It used to have two 2.5 volts wired flashing bulbs inside the base (one red and one clear), powered by 2 AA size cells. In 2016 I modified the circuit with 2 5mm color fading LEDs (150 ohms resistor is installed in series for each LED), and also the power supply to USB. In the photo the tree is powered by my Asus router's USB 2.0 port. Since the LEDs are the same model, which means both of them have the same color sequence, but the running speeds are slightly different. Last week I modified the circuit again by adding a simple SCR-based delay circuit to the slower LED, which delays the lamp to turn on by a second. Please refer to the second image for the circuit diagram. The gate resistor and capacitor controls the trigger time of the SCR, the resistor must be less than 100 kohms or the SCR will never turn on. For the output, a PNP driver transistor is recommended for more stable output; since the output is open drain only, NPN transistor will not work.
Today I found a 6-socket power strip having a non-working indicator bulb, before opening it I thought it was completely darkened but upon checking it was actually physically broken, and it broke into two pieces when being taken out. The bulb had two big cracks and the electrode rods were oxidized, suggesting it has failed for long time. Meanwhile I salvaged 6 ballasted (220k series resistor) amber neon bulbs from a power strip before disposing yesterday, all of them have not been tested but one has already darkened. I used one of these bulbs to replace the broken bulb and now it works perfectly. The first two photos show the power strip after bulb replacement, and the third photo shows the rest of the salvaged bulbs.
Not just the Christmas light sets, some of the decorations in use are also around 20 years old. Since they would worn out eventually, I still buy new decorations as replacement. The warm glow of colored incandescent bulbs is very comfortable to watch and is that LEDs cannot replicate.
These two EOL E12 incandescent bulbs were used in the bed light, having a rating of 250V 7W. The filament is very thin and fragile, a tap on the glass bulb might cause it to fail. Both bulbs died before 2014. The second photo shows a clearer view inside the burnt bulbs, the filament broke into few pieces and fell to the bottom of the bulb. It is still possible to buy these bulbs from hardware stores today.
It is the time to put on this Christmas light. This will be its 22nd year of use. Since the bulbs are really aged, their filament become more fragile every year, I need to take extra care to avoid shocking on the glass bulbs. After putting on and test, I found one red bulb not lit. Its filament broke at the moment when powered.
Rest in peace the red bulb (2002-2024), thank you for your years of servicing.
Chi Ho Fung
Chi Ho Fung
The 4th batch of 6 green neon bulbs, obtained from a power strip removed from service inside server rack today. 3 good and 3 bad.
One of the good bulbs looked completely new, since the corresponding switch on the power strip was extremely hard to push (very common problem on that brand), suggesting the slot may have never been powered. The other two good bulbs have some burn marks.
This power strip may have been used for 8 years.
These bulbs will be tested later but no video will be posted.
1 week ago | [YT] | 4
View 0 replies
Chi Ho Fung
These marked fluorescent tubes are severely darkened at the electrode, but the tubes still work as usual because they are not burn marks, and the electrodes are also good.
1 month ago | [YT] | 5
View 4 replies
Chi Ho Fung
My dad took down this red LED globe bulb from a shrine due to extremely low brightness, and replaced with an incandescent one. Instead of disposing the bulb, he gave me to use for parts.
The outer bulb is made of plastic so I can cut it with pliers, then the six red LEDs are revealed, along with two resistors (560 ohms and 820 kohms) and a big capacitor on a simple circuit board. I suspected there was a failed LED to make the whole circuit to fail.
This LED bulb was bought in 2021, but the appearance of the LEDs inside were looked very old-school, they looked like those from decades ago. I desoldered the LEDs and put onto an LED tester, they all lit and extremely bright, even 5mA would make it too glaring, proving that they were not old stocks.
I also took out the resistors and both tested good, no burn marks and no abnormal resistances, so the failed part was the capacitor.
2 months ago | [YT] | 2
View 1 reply
Chi Ho Fung
Parts for making this custom neon night light at home:
1. Socket base from a D-link wireless access point
2. Neon bulbs with ballast resistor connected x2
3. Transparent plastic film (must need for your safety)
4. Optional 100mA glass fuse
You can use any socket base (white recommended) which has enough space to install at least one bulb.
The neon bulbs I use are salvaged from the power strips. I also modified the green bulb's ballast resistor from 150 kohms to 220 kohms, hoping to prolong its life. You can use a new bulb, but remember to add ballast resistor and shrink tube for insulation.
The D-link wireless access point had stopped working in 2018 due to unknown hardware error and it was not recoverable. I disassembled the device and disposed all its parts, leaving this socket base.
Warning: Always take precautions when dealing with high voltage and related components.
2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 5
View 0 replies
Chi Ho Fung
Finding this neon bulb in power strip kept flickering, I disconnected the power strip and opened it for inspection. The bulb was the one that I replaced in 2016 (photo 1), it used to replace the previous bulb which was completely darkened and not lit. After over 8 years of use it was also darkened. Seems that a 220 kohms resistor is still too small for a neon bulb.
I replaced the darkened bulb with the one that harvested from disused power strip. Not new, but it works very well.
Photo 2 shows the removed bulb (left), comparing with the same type brand new bulb (right).
Photo 3 shows the neon indicator in action after replacement.
Photo 4 shows the bulb used as replacement.
4 months ago | [YT] | 5
View 0 replies
Chi Ho Fung
This desktop sized 12 inch Christmas tree is bought from a houseware store in December 2002. It used to have two 2.5 volts wired flashing bulbs inside the base (one red and one clear), powered by 2 AA size cells. In 2016 I modified the circuit with 2 5mm color fading LEDs (150 ohms resistor is installed in series for each LED), and also the power supply to USB. In the photo the tree is powered by my Asus router's USB 2.0 port.
Since the LEDs are the same model, which means both of them have the same color sequence, but the running speeds are slightly different. Last week I modified the circuit again by adding a simple SCR-based delay circuit to the slower LED, which delays the lamp to turn on by a second. Please refer to the second image for the circuit diagram.
The gate resistor and capacitor controls the trigger time of the SCR, the resistor must be less than 100 kohms or the SCR will never turn on. For the output, a PNP driver transistor is recommended for more stable output; since the output is open drain only, NPN transistor will not work.
4 months ago | [YT] | 1
View 0 replies
Chi Ho Fung
Today I found a 6-socket power strip having a non-working indicator bulb, before opening it I thought it was completely darkened but upon checking it was actually physically broken, and it broke into two pieces when being taken out. The bulb had two big cracks and the electrode rods were oxidized, suggesting it has failed for long time.
Meanwhile I salvaged 6 ballasted (220k series resistor) amber neon bulbs from a power strip before disposing yesterday, all of them have not been tested but one has already darkened. I used one of these bulbs to replace the broken bulb and now it works perfectly.
The first two photos show the power strip after bulb replacement, and the third photo shows the rest of the salvaged bulbs.
4 months ago | [YT] | 6
View 3 replies
Chi Ho Fung
Not just the Christmas light sets, some of the decorations in use are also around 20 years old. Since they would worn out eventually, I still buy new decorations as replacement.
The warm glow of colored incandescent bulbs is very comfortable to watch and is that LEDs cannot replicate.
4 months ago | [YT] | 3
View 0 replies
Chi Ho Fung
These two EOL E12 incandescent bulbs were used in the bed light, having a rating of 250V 7W. The filament is very thin and fragile, a tap on the glass bulb might cause it to fail.
Both bulbs died before 2014. The second photo shows a clearer view inside the burnt bulbs, the filament broke into few pieces and fell to the bottom of the bulb.
It is still possible to buy these bulbs from hardware stores today.
5 months ago | [YT] | 10
View 1 reply
Chi Ho Fung
It is the time to put on this Christmas light. This will be its 22nd year of use.
Since the bulbs are really aged, their filament become more fragile every year, I need to take extra care to avoid shocking on the glass bulbs.
After putting on and test, I found one red bulb not lit. Its filament broke at the moment when powered.
Rest in peace the red bulb (2002-2024), thank you for your years of servicing.
5 months ago | [YT] | 5
View 2 replies
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