Only lights up when the room lights are on?! Strange Behavior from Old Neon Indicator!

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Properties of a discharge lamp will change as it ages. A couple percent of argon is added to the neon to improve starting characteristics (Penning Mixture), but the glass envelope slowly absorbs argon, deteriorating the lamp's ability to strike over time. This one's reached just the right age where it works as an avalanche photodetector when excited by an outside source of light. Heard about this but haven't seen it before! Freezer was about 15 years old when this video was taken.
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Опубликовано:

4 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 13

@theirisheditor 6 лет назад

I came across a similar spooky neon indicator while staying in a hotel while visiting Colorado. When I switched off the room light while laying in bed, I could see a random orange flicker and that was quite irritating. Each time I turned on the light and walked around, I couldn't find anything flickering, yet the moment I laid down and turned off the flight, that spooky orange flicker was back! I then got up and walked around with a torch, thinking I'd find the culprit easier, but yet again couldn't find any flickering light source. Finally, I tried walking around and briefly turned off my torch every few steps . Sure enough I spotted the rogue neon indicator next to a wall-mounted hair dryer. When I switched on the torch, the neon was lit. However, once I switched off the torch, the neon went out and started randomly flashing every second or two. I never saw a neon do this here in Ireland, probably due to the higher 230V mains voltage.

@MetaphysicalEngineer 6 лет назад

Sounds about right. With 230 volt mains, there is always plenty of voltage to strike the tube, and a higher value ballast resistor keeps the current in check once it conducts. The indicators must have a ~100V striking voltage when new, which rises as it ages until the striking voltage approaches or surpasses the 120 volt mains.

@uK8cvPAq 6 лет назад

On 230v the lamps like to blacken with age, go short and cook the series limiting resistor because they always use little 1/4 watt ones.

@MetaphysicalEngineer 6 лет назад

Glad that doesn't seem to happen on 120 volts!

@uK8cvPAq 6 лет назад

Its a wonder how they don't cause fires, last one I found was a shorted 30 year old neon (blackened)and the 1/4w series resistor had lost all its coloring and turned into bare metal. It measured 100k and was dissipating over 1/2w and got very hot, needless to say I removed it as I'm a chicken for that sort of thing!

@pyrojason 6 лет назад

I've seen something like this before in an old basement and was severely confused. Great description and explanation with the voltaic avalanche analogy!

@mr.dahliaking.202 5 лет назад

I forgot how this behaviors is called, but I know why it happens. Some old fluorescent tube starters that are designed for low voltage do this too. That is why vintage starters with metal casings have a big hole at the top - to let in a small amount of light , for the external photons hit the dormant inert gas atoms to make them release energy and start ionizing and heating the contacts that have voltage applied to them. This Neon lamp in the video is doing the same thing. It for some reason can't ionize the gas from electrified contacts inside the lamp, and it needs external light photons to hit the gas atoms and initiate ionization of gas. But for some reason the arc can't sustain itself, probably a defected tube.