Let’s see some Tube Glow!

245

Comments

  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,043
    invalid wrote: »
    1yag0bu96x22.jpg
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    Those are beautiful looking tubes all lit up. I have a pair of 6895 mercury vapor tubes (the largest one on the left) and I can only wish I had the knowledge to get them to light up. I bet they'd make a great looking night light. c4n46gg89qdi.jpg


  • invalid
    invalid Posts: 1,271
    invalid wrote: »
    1yag0bu96x22.jpg
    m8gr9e7miwf4.jpg

    Those are beautiful looking tubes all lit up. I have a pair of 6895 mercury vapor tubes (the largest one on the left) and I can only wish I had the knowledge to get them to light up. I bet they'd make a great looking night light. c4n46gg89qdi.jpg


    That is a big tube, it probably needs 5 volts and 10 amps on the filament.
  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,043
    Ok then; now how does one go about making steampunk night lites out of them? I'd love to see them lit up.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,929
    edited November 2021
    Well, you need a transformer with a 5.0 V @ (better than ) 10 A secondary. Probably not hard to find.
    The anode needs 20 VDC to ionize the mercury, apparently.
    You'll want to wear sunglasses to attenuate the UV produced by the mercury plasma -- although the glass envelope of the rectifier itself should help. The spectral line at 254 nm is intense (especially at low pressure).

    nsdtogc6zab7.png
    http://lamptech.co.uk/Documents/M3 Spectra.htm
  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,043
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    Well, you need a transformer with a 5.0 V @ (better than ) 10 A secondary. Probably not hard to find.
    The anode needs 20 VDC to ionize the mercury, apparently.
    You'll want to wear sunglasses to attenuate the UV produced by the mercury plasma -- although the glass envelope of the rectifier itself should help. The spectral line at 254 nm is intense (especially at low pressure).

    nsdtogc6zab7.png
    http://lamptech.co.uk/Documents/M3 Spectra.htm

    Thank you for the detailed advice. Now there's a little voice in my head telling me that I should not attempt this and enjoy those works of art as they are.
    Installing a kt88 one pin off is still fresh in my memory. That got my attention as the tube started vibrating, instantly turned green and then let the magic smoke out of the amp. Yes I'm thinking I'd be wise to listen to that little voice.
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    msg wrote: »
    I like blubs.
    Parks Audio Budgie Tube Phono Preamp
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    That's a great pic, Scott B) Does this mean you have finally fired your vinyl system back up?
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,929
    edited November 2021
    Light a normal vacuum tube's filament - safer and easier. Even better: put a string of tube filaments in series and use it on your holiday tree. :) Maybe use an isolation transformer, just in case. The filaments will get warm but not hot -- in most tubes, any way. :)

    pgoox1q0ipvm.jpg


  • 4fq54uamgz9f.jpg
    SDA SRS 2.3TL's
    Silk Audio MS-90-BT integrated tube amp
    Yaqin MS-20L integrated tube amp
    SDA 2B TL's
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,929
    edited November 2021
    ... another easy way to get cool visual effects -- get (or make*) a plasma ball. :)

    dhv6e71g0s6l.png

    Probably goes without saying that our son took that photo, albeit a long, long time ago. :)
    https://www.deviantart.com/icouldbeahero/art/plasma-2-technicolor-28456036
    We still have the plasma ball; it's in the basement. Imagine that?! ;)

    _______________
    * see, e.g., https://www.instructables.com/Make-a-Plasma-Globe-out-of-a-Light-Bulb/ It's not exactly hard, but not quite easy, either. ;)
    *

  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,310
    jdjohn wrote: »
    msg wrote: »
    I like blubs.
    Parks Audio Budgie Tube Phono Preamp
    j1fbrx0s4z1i.png
    That's a great pic, Scott B) Does this mean you have finally fired your vinyl system back up?

    Hehe, unfortunately, Jody, that's just a poseur pic from a while back, probably back from before we started talking about those cart searches!
    I disabled signatures.
  • invalid
    invalid Posts: 1,271
    Ok then; now how does one go about making steampunk night lites out of them? I'd love to see them lit up.

    I wouldn't use Mercury rectifier tubes as a night light, to easy to bump into and break. It would be a lot easier and safer to use a voltage regulator tube like an OD3 or something like that.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,929
    invalid wrote: »
    Ok then; now how does one go about making steampunk night lites out of them? I'd love to see them lit up.

    I wouldn't use Mercury rectifier tubes as a night light, to easy to bump into and break. It would be a lot easier and safer to use a voltage regulator tube like an OD3 or something like that.

    Good call. The "glow discharge" voltage regulator tubes are filled with one of noble gases (argon, krypton, neon, perhaps others) which are benign (in fact, more or less chemically unreactive).
    I had to look up what gases these "cold cathode" tubes use :p so I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this -- but it sounds about right.

    https://www.tdpri.com/threads/0c3-voltage-regulator-tube-questions.314897/#post-3955886

    Pretty pictures, too :)

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  • jbreezy5
    jbreezy5 Posts: 1,141
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    @ZLTFUL - what a show!
    CD Players: Sony CDP-211; Sony DVP-S9000ES; Sony UDP-X800M2 (x2); Cambridge Audio CXC

    DACs: Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III (x2); Denafrips Ares II (x2)

    Streamers: ROKU (x3); Bluesound Node 2i and Node N130 w/LHY LPS // Receivers: Yamaha RX-V775BT; Yamaha RX-V777

    Preamps: B&K Ref 50; B&K Ref 5 S2; Classe CP-800 MkII; Audio Research SP16L (soon)

    Amps: Niles SI-275; B&K ST125.7; B&K ST125.2; Classe CA-2300; Butler Audio TDB-5150

    Speakers: Boston Acoustics CR55; Focal Chorus 705v; Wharfedale Diamond 10.2; Monitor Audio Silver-1; Def Tech Mythos One (x4)/Mythos Three Center (x2)/Mythos Two pr.; Martin Logan Electromotion ESL; Legacy Audio Victoria/Silverscreen Center; Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1; SVS SB-1000 Pro; REL HT-1003; B&W ASW610; HifiMan HE400i

    Turntable: Dual 721 Direct-Drive w/Audio Technica AT-VM95e cart

    Cables: Tripp-lite 14ga. PCs, Blue Jeans Cable ICs, Philips PXT1000 ICs; Kimber Kable DV30 coaxial ICs; Canare L-4E6S XLR ICs; Kimber Kable 8PR & 8TC speaker cables.
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,903
    msg wrote: »
    I like blubs.
    Parks Audio Budgie Tube Phono Preamp
    j1fbrx0s4z1i.png

    I believe that Budgie is out of production now, but very well sought after still. Hold on to that puppy.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
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    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    Dust much? :p
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • hochpt21
    hochpt21 Posts: 5,423
    edited December 2021
    Dust much? :p

    I’m doin mah best ova here

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    :p:p:p
    2 ChannelTurntable - VPI Classic 2/Ortofon 2M BlueAmplification - Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II, Parks Audio Budgie PhonoSpeakers - GoldenEar Triton 17.2 Home TheaterDenon AVR-X3300W; Rotel RMB-1066; Klipsch RP-280F's, Klipsch RP-450C, Polk FXi3's, Polk RC60i; Dual SVS PB 2000's; BenQ HT2050; Elite Screens 120"Man CaveTurntable - Pro-Ject 2.9 Wood/Grado GoldAmplification - Dared SL2000a, McCormack DNA 0.5 DeluxeCD: Cambridge AudioSpeakers - Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary; LSiM 703; SDA 2A
  • Faustin wrote: »
    Bottlehead Paramount monoblocks with 300b tubes and the 5670's replaced with an adapter and 6SN7's. Aric Audio Transcendent pre with phono stage.

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    Nice! I’m a HUGE fan of Aric’s gear! I have three of his preamps. Motherlode II, Unlimited,and an old 3.5.
    See my profile for list of gear.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    hochpt21 wrote: »
    Old reliable

    Dared SL 2000a

    qbupfy16obr2.jpeg

    I have an early 50's Brimar for that.
    If you're interested.
  • Faustin
    Faustin Posts: 1,149
    Dared SL 2000. My first piece of tube gear.
    Sigh. Punches way above it's price point.