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Trouble with neon indicator lights (Read 7882 times)
tony2345
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Trouble with neon indicator lights
Nov 14th, 2016, 7:54pm
 
None of the neon indicator lights on my power circuit work. That is on 2 connector units, one double pole switch and a trailing socket. Nor does the neon light on the separate cooker circuit.

Have these all died or is there something wrong with the wiring? They have not worked for years - I cannot remember whether any of them did work originally.
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Lectrician
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Re: Trouble with neon indicator lights
Reply #1 - Nov 15th, 2016, 6:19am
 
I would say they're faulty.
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CWatters
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Re: Trouble with neon indicator lights
Reply #2 - Nov 18th, 2016, 4:57pm
 
That got me looking at the neons in a pair of extension leads I've had powered up for about 5 years - both have "failed".

Google says the expected lifetime is "years" but it depends on the current put through them. That in turn depends on the series resistor used with them.

Apparently material is given off by the electrodes and this coats the inside of the glass so eventually the light can't escape. You can't clean it off as they are sealed.

This application note..

http://static.vcclite.com/pdf/Neon%20Application%20Information.pdf

..says that a high brightness neon can be expected to loose half it's brightness in 8000 hours (about a year) and a standard brightness bulb in 25,000 hours (under 3 years).

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Natedog
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Re: Trouble with neon indicator lights
Reply #3 - Jan 12th, 2017, 6:51pm
 
you can massively increase the lifespan by putting a slightly higher value resistor in series with them, and still have surprisingly little effect on the light output
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