i am currently bored so i decided to do some stuff to my room. so i am just messing around and i decided i want accent lighting. i want to get some cathodes off oznium.com and somehow wire them up in my room to one switch if possible. i plan to hook up a rocker switch in my nightstand and wire all the cathodes up to that. i just need to know how i can power them. can i take a computer power supply and just lay that under my bed and run all the wires to that? thanks in advance for any replies

Cold cathodes need transformers. Pretty much neon tubes.

Ther run very little amperage and very high voltage.

They would run fine off of a computer power supply, most come with the molex connector so its just a plug and play

so could i use this and not need a motherboard or anything...

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/cate...-511&type=store

or would i be better off with something like this...

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/cate...1534&type=store

if you just cut the wires that go from the switch to the cathode, mount the cathode whereever, run new wires, and solder them in place while using the rest of the stuff, plus an old computer supply, you should be golden.

this one comes with the switch, and a sensitivity knob (and it senses music too)

http://www.oznium.com/cathode-kit-15

$7+shipping

great deal if you ask me.

just cut the wires you see here, and extend them to wherever you need them to go - 16awg speaker wire should be perfect. and the other side should plug right into the power supply. but you will have to leave the power supply on 24\7... you might wanna try and find some way to switch it on\off from where the lights swich will be mounted. i know how to do this, but i strongly dont recommend opening a powersupply like this without knowing what the hell you are doing :

they contain capicators that could discharge and not feel too good.

so could i use this and not need a motherboard or anything...

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/cate...-511&type=store

or would i be better off with something like this...

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/cate...1534&type=store

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Using the 15V power supply will probably cook those cathodes

ok thanks. i'll either get that first computer power supply or go to goodwill. what i thought about doing is taking out the switch on the power supply and extending the wires and just switch the power supply instead of the lights. that possible? also i ordered green and UV lights and i am wanting to mix the colors. can i cut off 1 green light and 1 UV light and switch them to the opposite color so you have a green and a UV connected to the same transformer?

or go to goodwill.

good idea right there

what i thought about doing is taking out the switch on the power supply and extending the wires and just switch the power supply instead of the lights. that possible?

yes, just dont kill yourself. they can still hold some serious power

also i ordered green and UV lights and i am wanting to mix the colors. can i cut off 1 green light and 1 UV light and switch them to the opposite color so you have a green and a UV connected to the same transformer?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yep. shouldnt be any problems.

alright. thanks for all the help. i should get the cathodes within a few days.

ok well i got my cathodes in and i got greedy and put them in my car instead of my room, well, some of them. i still have 4 pair left.. anyways, i just happened to find a computer case, all it has is the power supply and i was gonna use this for my actual computer case but i thought temporarily i would hook the cathodes up to the PS. so i hook up the power cord to the PS and hook up the cathodes to the molex connectors and all that, should work. i flip the switch on the PS and nothing. do i have a bad PS? blown fuse? whats goin on? did i do sumthing wrong?

Could be a bad connection or just a bad PS

Try it out on another one, like your computers

not bad PS, all i had to do was short out the green wire with the black wire on the power connector.