Hey all,
I want to use a plasma tube for the end of my wand, but they seem to have become quite scarce. The only one I could find was this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/161658095815
Does anyone else have any other places to find these? And any idea why they are so hard to find?
Thank you!
They are super hard to find now. I think these were part of the ban that Obama passed on light bulbs, so I don’t think they are manufactured for US consumption anymore.
Don’t waste your time on ebay. I bought 3 from ebay, one was not even the same product, one was broken and one they sent the wrong length.
This is the one I got from Amazon, which is exactly what I wanted.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VGNGMR0?tag=gbfans-discourse-20
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LOL, I just checked your link and it’s the same seller. So I guess you’re good either way.
You were happy with it? It fit well and had a good plasma effect?
Yes, I’m very happy with it plasma effect is great. You’ll need to take it apart (carefully) to remove the circuit board and the glass tube from the outer clear plastic tube and black casing. The glass tube fits perfectly in the acrylic tube from gbfans and will extend into the front wand handle. Word of caution here, the circuit board is basically an DC to AC converter, so you can get zapped from the tube and circuit board when power is applied. It’s very high voltage, but low current, but it will definitely give you a good shock, best to avoid that! I enclosed the circuit board inside another small plastic project box.
I would also be careful if you are considering a pop mechanism to extend the wand tip. I’m not sure it would be able to sustain the impact and if it broke there are hazardous gases inside.
A nice visual effect coupled with a chance of electric shock? SOLD!!!
I’m ordering it right away. I’m running my whole pack off a single 11.1V LiPo battery. Will that be enough or will I need something else to power it?
Thank you so much for the tip!
I also have a 11.1v lipo and it works great. I tested it on a power supply and it still gives off a pretty good effect at only 9v. Apparently they give off a lot of electrical interference, so you may need to install a relay.
Check out this thread:
https://www.gbfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40186&p=4901026
I saw that thread. I’ve done a lot of trouble shooting so far on this build, so it will just be another thing to figure out.
Thank you again!
One more question: what do you think the lifespan is on these? If they are becoming rare, should I buy an extra one just in case?
That’s a great question. The life span of a standard neon light is 8 to 15 years, so I would imagine something similar to that, but I’m not sure. I would assume they would last pretty long as I can’t image you’d be blasting the plasma stream continuously like you would with a neon sign.
Also, I forgot to mention, the wires soldered to the circuit board were very brittle and I had to resolder a few connections. So be mindful of that. I thought I broke it when I first took it apart until I realize I had a few bad connections.
I mean, I suppose that’s good in theory, but I got most of my lights and sounds working yesterday, and I’ve played with it approximately 87 times since then. So I give this tube a year, tops.
Might as well get a backup. I might get another one too while they are still available.