Repair a CCFL tube

[bigben2k]

I had ordered a UV CCFL tube with dual inverter, and an extra UV CCFL tube from SVC, a couple of weeks ago.

The extra tube only lit up at one end, so I reported the defect. They promptly send me a replacement, but it turned out to be defective too. Reporting it again, they then sent me another tube, this time with another dual inverter.

I had offered to try to repair it, but they said that it wouldn't work.

Well, it does!

CCFL tubes have a thin (steel?) wire coming out from each end. In my case, it was accidentally cut, when they trimmed off the heatshrink.

So after much trial-and-error, I was able to file the end of the tube, drop a small ball of solder on the end, and extend the wire with an extra tiny piece of copper wire.

My next step is to epoxy it into place, because this repair is extremely fragile, but it does work!

So I now have 2 dual inverters, and 4 tubes:D

SVC was very prompt in answering my e-mails, and very prompt in sending me a replacement: I received all of this over the past two weeks.

[bigben2k]

JB Weld secured my "hack job". I'll now re-seal the acrylic tubes using the Devcon Plastic Welder.

From an OC thread, RIT makes a liquid "Whitener & Brightener", a simple product that one adds to their laundry of whites.

As pointed out by NeoMoses, it reacts under UV light, but is otherwise clear.

I'll be testing it with my 4 CCFL tubes, and comparing the results with a 15 Watt regular UV neon.

I've also got a couple of cans of that NeoClear spray paint that's UV reactive.

It should be interesting!

[TerraMex]

As long as you dont end up with something that looks like a christmas tree ... :D

http://www.metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/uv_drawing/index_eng

This could be a good ideia (for that extra pimp look).

[bigben2k]

Done!

I compared a 15 Watt regular UV neon, with 2 then 4 UV CCFL tubes, using the RIT whitener.

Conclusion: the 15 Watt neon is (very roughly) equivalent to 3 UV CCFL tubes.

I took some pictures, which I might post next week. Using the automatic exposure (what was I thinking?) won't show much, but the camera selected the following speeds, with an F4 stop:

2 CCFL tubes: 1/10
4 CCFL tubes: 1/20
1 15W neon: flickered between 1/10 and 1/15, but mostly 1/15.


The RIT "Whitener and Brightener" worked well with 5 drops in 1 cup of distilled water, and even better with 10 drops. 15 and 30 drops didn't make much of an improvement.

The label on the bottle glows quite nicely! (Are they using too much of their own product? :D )

It states that it contains "nonionic surfactants" and that it "Conforms to ASTM D-4236" (anyone?).

I'm concerned that it would react with my anti-corrosion agent: Silkolene ProCCA (http://www.customcooledpc.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14), which contains:
Highly refined mineral oil: 40 - 50%
Diethoxyethanol: <5%
Fatty Alcohol ethoxylate: <5%
Sodium Sulphonate: 5 - 15%


Does anyone have any thoughts on this? (a call for Alchemy!)

[bigben2k]

A couple more notes:

-The 15W regular neon had a built-in reflector, which was brightest at a 45 deg angle, beating 4 CCFL tubes. At 0 and 90 deg angle, refer to the results above.

-The UV CCFL tubes got warm very quickly! After about 5 minutes, I held my "stack", and was surprised. I might have to leave them on for an hour to get a more accurate picture here. The neon didn't warm up at all, but I'd have to test that for 1+hour also, just to make sure.

-The 15W neon was purchased at Wall-Wart, for about $25.

-The CCFL's were purchased from www.svc.com, on special, for 9.99 for one tube plus dual inverter, and an extra 3.99 for the spare tube, for a total of 13.98. Regular price is 14.99 plus 5.99, for a total of 20.98. Double the order (for 4 tubes), the CCFLs come out to 27.96 on special, and 41.96 regular price. The special is still on, but they're out of stock.

[Alchemy]

Originally posted by bigben2k
The RIT "Whitener and Brightener" worked well with 5 drops in 1 cup of distilled water, and even better with 10 drops. 15 and 30 drops didn't make much of an improvement.

The label on the bottle glows quite nicely! (Are they using too much of their own product? :D )

It states that it contains "nonionic surfactants" and that it "Conforms to ASTM D-4236" (anyone?).

I'm concerned that it would react with my anti-corrosion agent: Silkolene ProCCA (http://www.customcooledpc.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14), which contains:
Highly refined mineral oil: 40 - 50%
Diethoxyethanol: <5%
Fatty Alcohol ethoxylate: <5%
Sodium Sulphonate: 5 - 15%


Does anyone have any thoughts on this? (a call for Alchemy!)

Er. . . kay.

"Nonionic surfactants" suggests it won't go out of solution with your water/ anti-corrosoin stuff. So there's my equilibrium advice.

As far as reactions, there are so many possible that you'd need a dedicated organic chemist to be able to think them up off the top of his head. And even he would need to know exactly what was in your UV dye.

However, as an engineer, I would think that these components would be made specifically to be nonreactive. The ones you mentioned don't strike me as very reactive at all.

So, yeah. Not much technical advice, sadly. But if it were me, I'd take the chance.

Another note: I'm curious how your anti-corrosion stuff works. Most I know just have metal ions in solution to keep more ion atoms from entering solution. Perhaps those polymers disrupt the electrochemical properties of the fluid? Or simply alter its metal solubility?

Alchemy

[bigben2k]

Close enough, thanks for the tip, Alchemy!

I'll report results when I get the ProCCA.

In the meantine, I don't have an answer to the anti-corrosion properties of it, but I posted the MSDS for Redline's "Water Wetter" here (http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6220)

In short, Water Wetter's contents are:
Dilsopropyl alcohol ether: 1-40%
Tri isopropyl alcohol diether: 1-40%
Sodium molybdate: 2-10%
Tolyltriazole: 1-3%
Polysiloxane polymer: n/a

Where ProCCA contains:
Highly refined mineral oil: 40 - 50%
Diethoxyethanol: <5%
Fatty Alcohol ethoxylate: <5%
Sodium Sulphonate: 5 - 15%


Of course, following BillA's bad experience with WW, I'll avoid using it too (it left a thin slimy deposit).

[Marci]

Purple Ice also leaves the same deposit... UV Dye tends to leave a powdery residue in your tubes over time... and also stains them on the odd occasion (especially DangerDen's ClearFlex stuff... stains VERY easily with UV Dye) but I'm not sure if that's caused by the mix of Purple Ice with UV Dye in the coolant... never run the rig with just water and dye to see if same residue occurs... now it runs on just water & purple ice, but just to add confusion to the mix, my Brass inlet adapter for my 1250 pump has RUSTED! My water is currently a pleasant orange tinge until I can get the time to strip it out flush it all thru and re-pipe the system *groan*.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't PI supposed to prevent this from happening??! :rolleyes:

Think some of that Silkolene or whatever it was is definitely required! Just gotta find it in the UK now...

[bigben2k]

Actually, Silkolene is FROM the UK, so you shouldn't have too much of a hard time finding it. Since it's actually a motorcycle coolant additive, I'd concentrate on that. ;)

Otherwise, it looks like Purple Ice was a dud for you :(. I'd certainly avoid using it in an Alu/copper mix, since the voltage potential is much higher than a brass/copper mix.

[Marci]

Fortunately I don't have an alu / copper mix... it's a brass / copper mix, but the brass appears to be rusting.... the copper is absolutely fine...

I'll have a word with SoulJacker off my forums... he's the ex-British Champion Mini-Bike / Sidecar racer so will probably know where I can lay my hands on some... he's probably got a bottle of it in his toolkit already!