Homemade Circuit Projects

Solve all your circuit-related queries through comments. More than 50,000 comments
answered so far.

Sponsored by
Open
jbctools.com

Neon Lamps – Working and

Application Circuits
Last Updated on January 1, 2024 by Swagatam (https://www.homemade-
circuits.com/about/)
A neon lamp is a glow lamp made up of a glass cover, fixed with a pair of
segregated electrodes and containing an inert gas (neon or argon). The
main application of a neon lamp is in the form of indicator lamps or pilot
lamps.

When supplied with a low voltage, the resistance between the electrodes is
so large that the neon practically behaves like a an open circuit.

However, when the voltage is increased gradually, at a certain specific level

where the inert gas inside the neon glass begins ionizing and results in
being extremely conductive.

Due to this the gas starts producing a radiant illumination from around the
negative electrode.
In case the inert gas happens to be neon, the illumination is orange in color.
For Argon gas which is not very common, the emitted light is blue.

How Neon Lamp Works

The working characteristic of a neon lamp can be witnessed in Fig. 10-1.

The voltage level which triggers the glowing effect in the neon bulb is termed
as the initial breakdown voltage.

As soon as this breakdown level is struck, the bulb is triggered into "firing"
(glowing) mode, and the voltage drop across the neon terminals stays
practically fixed irrespective of any kind of increase in current in the circuit.
In addition, the glowing section inside the bulb increases as the supply
current is increased, until a point in which the total area of the negative
electrode is filled by the glow.

Any additional escalation in current may then drive the neon into an arcing
situation, in which the glow illumination turns into a blue-white colored light
over the negative electrode and begins producing rapid degradation of the
lamp.

Hence, for you to illuminate a neon lamp efficiently, you must have sufficient
voltage for the lamp to "fire," and, and then, ample series resistance in the
circuit to be able to restrict the current to a level that will guarantee that the
lamp stays running within the typical glowing section.

Since the neon resistance by itself is extremely small soon after it is fired, it
needs a series resistor wit one of it supply lines, called a ballast resistor.

Neon Breakdown Voltage

Commonly the firing, or breakdown, voltage of a neon lamp could be
anywhere between approximately 60 to 100 volts (or occasionally even
greater). The continuous current rating is fairly minimal, generally between
0.1 and 10 milliamps.

The series resistor value is determined in accordance with the input supply
voltage across which the neon may be attached to.

When it comes to neon lamps being controlled with a 220 volt (mains)
supply, a 220 k resistor is usually a good value.
With regards to many commercial neon bulbs, the resistor could possibly be
included in the body of the construction.

Without any precise info given, it may be supposed that a neon lamp may
have simply no resistance while it is illuminated, but may have a drop of
around 80 volts across its terminals.

How to Calculate Neon Resistor

A proper value for the neon ballast resistor could be determined by taking
this benchmark into account, which is relevant to the precise supply voltage
utilized across it, and presuming a "safe" current of, approximately 0.2
milliamps, as an example.

For 220 volt supply, resistor may have to lose 250 - 80 = 170 volts. Current
through series resistor and neon bulb will be 0.2 mA. Therefore we can use
the following Ohm's law formula for calculating the appropriate series
resistor for the neon:

R = V/I = 170 / 0.0002 = 850,000 ohms or 850 k

This resistor value (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/standard-resistor-e-

series-values/) would be safe with the majority of commercial neon lamps.
When the neon glow is not quite dazzling, the ballast resistor value could be
reduced to drive the lamp higher across the typical glow range.
That said, the resistance must in no way be lowered too much which may
cause the whole negative electrode to be engulfed by the hot glow, because
this may indicate that the lamp is now inundated and getting close to the
arcing mode.

One more issue regarding the power of the neon glow is that it may typically
look a lot shiny in ambient light compared to in darkness.

Actually, in total darkness the illumination could be inconsistent and/or call

for an increased breakdown voltage to initiate the lamp.

Some neons possess a tiny hint of radioactive gas mixed with the inert gas
to promote ionization, in that case this kind of effect may not be visible.

WARNING: ALL THE CIRCUITS EXPLAINED BELOW INVOLVE MAINS

AC POTENTIALS AND ARE THEREFORE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
TO TOUCH IN POWERED AND UNCOVERED CONDITION. USERS ARE
RECOMMENDED TO EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION WHILE
HANDLING THESE CIRCUITS.

Simple Neon Bulb Circuits

In the above discussion we have elaborately understood the working and
characteristic of this lamp. Now we will have some fun with these devices
and learn how to build some simple neon lamp circuits for using in various
decorative light effect applications.

Neon Lamp as a Constant Voltage Source

Due to the neon lamp's constant voltage features under standard light
conditions, it could be applied as a voltage stabilizing unit.
Therefore, in the circuit displayed above, the output extracted from each side
of the lamp might work like an origin of constant voltage, provided that the
neon continues to work within the typical glowing region.

This voltage would be then identical to the minimal breakdown voltage of the
lamp.

Neon Lamp Flasher Circuit

Using a neon lamp like a light flasher in a relaxation oscillator circuit can be
seen in the image below.

This includes a resistor (R) and capacitor (C) attached in series to a supply
voltage of a dc voltage. A neon lamp is attached in parallel with the
capacitor. This neon is applied as a visual indicator to show the functioning
of the circuit.

The lamp almost performs like an open circuit until its firing voltage is
reached, when it instantly switches current through it quite like a low value
resistor and begins glowing.

Discover related topics

Neon Lamp Pdf

Radiation Detector Circuit Diagram

Neon Color Chart

Blinking

Neon Tube Driver Circuit

The voltage supply for this current source therefore needs to be higher than
that of the neon's breakdown voltage.

When this circuit is powered, the capacitor begins accumulating a charge

with a rate determined by the resistor/capacitor RC time constant. The neon
bulb gets a voltage supply equivalent to the charge developed across the
capacitor terminals.

As soon as this voltage reaches the breakdown voltage of the lamp, it

switches on and forces the capacitor to discharge via the gas inside the
neon bulb, resulting in the neon to glow.
When the capacitor discharges fully, it inhibits any further current to pass
through the lamp and thus it shuts down again until the capacitor has
gathered another level charge equal to the firing voltage of the neon, and the
cycle now keeps repeating.

Put simply, the neon lamp now keeps flashing or blinking at a frequency as
decided by the values of the time constant components R and C.

Relaxation Oscillator

A modification in this design is indicated in the above diagram, by using a 1

megohm potentiometer working like a ballast resistor and a couple of 45 volt
or four 22.5 volt dry batteries as the voltage input source.

The potentiometer is fine-tuned until the lamp illuminates. The pot is then
rotated in the opposite direction until the neon glow merely fades out.

Allowing the potentiometer to be in this position, the neon must then begin
blinking at different flashing rates as determined by the value of the selected
capacitor.

Considering the values of the R and C in the diagram, the time constant for
the circuit may be evaluated as follows:
T = 5 (megohms) x 0.1 (microfarads) = 0.5 seconds.

This is not specifically the true flashing rate of the neon lamp. It might
require a period of several time constant (or fewer) for the capacitor voltage
to accumulate upto the neon firing voltage.

This may be higher in case the turn-on voltage is over 63 % of the supply
voltage; and may be smaller if the neon firing voltage spec is lower than 63
% of the supply voltage.

Additionally, it signifies that the blinking rate could be modified by changing

the R or C component values, possibly by replacing various values worked
out to provide an alternative time constant; or using a parallel attached
resistor or capacitor.

Hooking up an identical resistor parallel with R, for instance, would likely

make the flashing rate two times more (since adding similar resistors in
parallel causes the total resistance to be reduced to half).

Attaching an identical value capacitor in parallel with the existing C would

likely cause the flashing rate to become 50% slower. This type of circuit is
referred to as a relaxation oscillator (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/10-
simple-unijunction-transistor-ujtapplication-circuits/).

Random Multiple Neon Flasher

Replacing R with a variable resistor could enable adjustment for any specific
desired flashing rate. This could also be further enhanced like a novelty light
system by attaching an array of capacitor neon circuits, each having its own
neon lamp in cascade as shown below.
Each of these RC network will enable a unique time constant. This may
generate a random flashing of the neon across the entire circuit.

Neon Lamp Tone Generator

Another variation of a neon lamp application as an oscillator could be a
relaxation oscillator circuit is shown in the figure below.

This can be a genuine signal generator circuit, whose output could be

listened through headphones or perhaps a small loudspeaker, by suitably
adjusting the variable tone potentiometer.

Neon flashers could be designed to function with random manner or

sequentially. A sequential flasher circuit is displayed in Fig. 10-6.
Additional stages could be included in this circuit, if required, by using the C3
connection to the very last stage.

Astable Neon Lamp Flasher

Lastly, an astable multivibrator circuit is revealed in the figure below,
employing a pair of neon lamps.
These neons will blink or flash on/off in sequence at a frequency decided by
R1 and R2 (whose values must be identical) and C1.

As a basic instructions on flasher timing, increasing the ballast resistor value

or the capacitor value in the relaxation oscillator circuit can reduce the
flashing rate or the flashing frequency; and vice versa.
However, in order to protect the working life of a typical neon lamp, the
ballast resistor value utilized must not be lower than approximately 100 k;
and finest results in very simple relaxation oscillator circuits may often be
accomplished by maintaining the capacitor value under 1 microfarad.

More Assorted Neon Circuits

Neon Twinkling Star

The next neon lamp circuit provides a lovely neon glitter shine light outcome.
In the past, I employed this design oftentimes for party decorations. Because
of the dissimilarities in lamp firing limits, the illumination sequence results in
essentially random therefore twinkling lights or "tiny blinking stars."
At any moment, a single (or sometimes a couple of) lamps tend to be
illuminated allowing the capacitors their charging routes. When the
capacitors charge, this exceeds the firing threshold for another neon, forcing
it trigger ON. Due to a commutation impact, some lamp in the lit up mode
subsequently turn off some other lamp which are previously lit up. These RC
and neon networks are basically relaxation oscillators.

For these oscillators to work, the resistors and supply voltage all need to be
selected to sit around the negative resistance portion of the NE-2 neon
curve. This often takes place within a somewhat large value range. Some
further experimentation might be required for something additionally
extravagant.
Resistors having the value in the range of one to four megohm can be
generally a good place to start. Precisely what is amazing is the fact that I
still have no idea how to implement this kind of illumination pattern using
LEDs which could turn out to be distantly as easy, as inexpensive, or as low
in energy consumption.

Neon Lamp Driver Circuit

With a 5- to 15-volt DC supply, the circuit above may be used either to

drive a neon light or for generating a low-current DC voltage of up to many
hundred volts. The 555 is set up as a 3-kHz astable multivibrator
(https://www.homemade-circuits.com/ic-555-astable-multivibrator-circuits/),
with its square-wave output supplied to the primary winding of the
indicated transformer T1, via the resistor R3.

Transformer Details
T1 in this circuit can be a tiny audio transformer with appropriate turns ratio
required to produce the necessary high output voltage. A 10 volt input
supply and a transformer having a 1:20 turns ratio will provide an unloaded
DC output of 200 volts peak in this circuit. With the help of a half-wave
rectifier and a filter capacitor, this AC power may be readily converted to DC.

6 V Neon Flasher Circuit

We've all seen those fascinating flashing neon signs, but getting the right
voltage to "trigger" the bulb into light has proved to be a major challenge for
do-it-yourself projects. You can make the neon N1 not only light up but also
flash erratically using the unique arrangement illustrated in the above
schematic, all while using a single 6 volt battery.

The main component of the circuit is, of course the transformer TR1. TR1
can be a 0-6V to 220V step-down transformer, which steps-up the six volts
to 220 V in order to power the neon bulb.

This transformer does not need to be a specific type; it can be almost any
available general type.
The setting of potentiometer R1 greatly affects how quickly the neon light
flashes. You'll notice that there is no power switch in this circuit; this neon
flasher circuit uses so little current that it can run on only four size -D
flashlight batteries for virtually a lifetime.

 Share 𝕏 Share  P 2 S 0

You'll also like:

1. Automatic Door Lamp Timer Circuit (https://www.homemade-
circuits.com/automatic-door-lamp-timer-circuit/)
2. Converting Ordinary Rice Bulb String Light to LED String Light
(https://www.homemade-circuits.com/converting-ordinary-rice-bulb-string/)
3. Remote Controlled Solar Lamp Intensity Controller Circuit
(https://www.homemade-circuits.com/remote-controlled-solar-lamp-
intensity/)
4. 2 Best Current Limiter Circuits Explained (https://www.homemade-
circuits.com/universal-high-watt-led-current-limiter/)
5. Smart Street Lamp Circuit using Motion Sensor (https://www.homemade-
circuits.com/smart-street-lamp-circuit-using-motion-sensor/)
6. Li-ion Emergency Light Circuit (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/li-
ion-emergency-light-circuit-with/)

About Swagatam
Swagatam is an electronic engineer, hobbyist, inventor,
schematic/PCB designer, manufacturer. He has more
than 15 years of experience in practical electronics. He is also the
founder and the author of the website: https://www.homemade-
circuits.com/, where he loves sharing his innovative circuit ideas and
Neon
 tutorials.
If you have any circuit related queries, you may interact through
comments, and get guaranteed replies from the author.

Have Questions? Please Comment below to Solve your

Queries! Comments must be Related to the above
Topic!!

! Subscribe !

$
@ "

77 COMMENTS Newest #

wayne " 3 months ago

hi Swagatam
Ihave a CRT Hung Chang oscilloscope with a CRT with lights at bottm of tube but no
beam.have noticed neon lamps on cct board glowing and arcing was wondering what
purpose they serve .and could this have something to do with the no beam problem.
please advise

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 3 months ago

# Reply to wayne
Hi Wayne,
I wish I could solve it, however, I have no idea why the neon is used and why it is
arcing, so can’t suggest much on this.

Reply
Julian Perry " 1 year ago

Hi Swagatam, I’m doing some experiments with capacitors and discharging them to a
battery using a neon bulb as a switch. My aim is to deliver most or all of the energy from the
capacitor (50-100uF) before the neon switches off and stops the discharge. My queries are
what sort of resistor would I need in series for this to work and will the capacitor discharge
completely or only partly? The cycle will be repeated every second or so. Thank you.

Reply

Julian Perry " 1 year ago

# Reply to Julian Perry

Thanks for that. Do you know roughly what voltage the bulb will extinguish at? So if a
capacitor was being discharged after the bulb started to conduct at around 95V then
what might the capacitor voltage drop to?

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Julian Perry

The bulb might shut of at below 70V. I suggested the parallel capacitor assuming a
resistor is already present in series with the neon bulb. The resistor value will
depend on the voltage supply value.
The capacitor will store input the voltage and supply additional voltage to the neon
so that it remains lit for a longer time. The ON time of the neon can be further
extended by adding a diode in series. First comes the diode, then the capacitor,
then the resistor, then the neon.

I am not sure about the second question you asked.

Reply

Julian Perry " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Actually, my aim is not to create a ‘blinking’ circuit but rather to dump the
charge and energy of a capacitor into a battery. I’m experimenting with some
interesting effects when this happens. A relatively simple circuit uses the Neon
as the discharge trigger. I don’t know if your comments will allow a link but
here is the proposed circuit on ImgBB: https://ibb.co/NV9cgJp. The inductively
generated HV pulses (500V but very small charge) easily charge up the 50uF
capacitor about once per second so about 0.005mC of charge is potentially
dumped over approx 5ms so the current is about 800mA.… Read more »

Reply
 Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Julian Perry

I don’t think the neon would blink since the supply is being cut off to the
neon intermittently.
Somehow the link you sent is not opening in any of the browsers.
In order to increase the neon ON time delay I was thinking of this type of
circuit:
https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/neon-
lamp-delay-circuit-with-diode.jpg (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/neon-lamp-delay-circuit-with-diode.jpg)

Reply

Julian Perry " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Copy and try this one:

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/neon-battery-charger-circuit.jpg
(https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/neon-battery-charger-circuit.jpg)

Im using the neon just as a ‘release’ for a charged capacitor. If I put in

series resistance then surely I will slow down the discharge which is
not wanted. A current if 0.8A will not damage the Neon would it?

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-
circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Julian Perry

OK this time the link opened and I quickly converted into my own
link. However there are a few things which are not making sense.
You are trying to dump a high voltage into a 12V battery which is
not good? Even if somehow the voltage is regulated the neon
would not allow sufficient current to the battery for optimal
Charging? Instead, the neon could be used as the trigger source
 for a triac or a transistor, and subsequently the triac or the BJT
could be used to dump the capacitor voltage to the battery. In any
case the voltage… Read more »

Reply

Julian Perry " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Ok thanks.

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Julian Perry

Hi Julian, I don’t think a series resistor can delay the switch OFF period of the neon.
Instead, a parallel capacitor might be able to do this. You can try putting a 1uF/100V
capacitor parallel to the neon and see whether that helps or not. Also, the discharge
time of the dump capacitor will depend on the battery condition. Initially, when the
battery is more discharged the capacitor will be able to discharge quickly, but as the
battery charges towards the full charge level, the discharging level of the dump
capacitor will keep getting slower and lower.
Reply

Allan " 1 year ago

Hi Swagtam, can you advise if a neon would be suitable as a test lamp in parallel across a
suspect diesel engine piezo stack high voltage injector please? I don’t have an
oscilloscope, but an exasperatingly minimal faultfinding process shows a scope trace of a
normal system has a spike of +80v and -40v. So I assume no point using two neons with
diodes to check both spikes present but was hoping one across the injector (with no ballast
resistor @ 80v) would at least indicate presence or absence of a +ve firing signal. The
pulses are probably as short… Read more »

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Allan
Hi Allan, yes, according to me a neon should be able to detect a short spike of 80 V
and light up instantaneously. It should be fast enough to detect the brief sparking. Try a
330K series resistor instead of 1M

Reply
 Allan " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Thanks for your advice which gives me a cheap but informative next step to try. B.
Regards, Allan

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Allan
You are welcome!
Reply

ERIC PAQUETTE " 1 year ago

I must be missing something. I don’t see any difference between the Sequential Flasher
circuit and the Twinkling Star circuit. Why does one twinkle randomly and the other operate
sequentially?

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to ERIC PAQUETTE

Yes, both the concepts are identical…

Reply

ERIC PAQUETTE " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
It seems to me that both CIRCUITS are identical. If you want the Twinkling Star to
randomly flash, you would have to put the capacitors across the neon lamps (in
parallel with them) rather than between them.

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to ERIC PAQUETTE

OK, got it, thanks for updating the info!
 Reply

Gary Davis " 1 year ago

Have you ever tried powering an NE-2 circuit with ten 9V batteries snapped back to back?
It works! I’d love to show you a picture but I don’t see that option. (send me an email and I’ll
send the picture). Aside from being fun, it’s much safer than using a “hot” AC-line
connection!

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Gary Davis

I haven’t yet but I agree with you. Surely, we will love to see the picture.
Would it be possible for you to upload the pic in the following website and provide the
image link to me?
https://imgur.com/ (https://imgur.com/)
While submitting the link please remove the https so that it does not land into the spam
folder.

Reply

Gary " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
I put the pictures on WeTransfer and you can d/l them here:
we.tl/t-65K69kKtOk

When I first assembled this battery I believe it was close to 100V (no load), but
after several years, it now measures 92.7V… which is apparently just enough to
power a 120V neon tester!

I purchased a “12-pack” of Amazon’s cheapest 9V batteries and used 10 –

obviously, you could use all 12 and get up to 120VDC.
–Gary

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Gary
Thank you for the pics.
 They look beautiful indeed. The brightness is also pretty good. Hope the other
readers here will like the pics as well.

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/neon-with-9-
v-batteries.jpg (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-
content/uploads/2022/12/neon-with-9-v-batteries.jpg)

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/illuminating-
neons-with-9-V-batteries.jpg (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-
content/uploads/2022/12/illuminating-neons-with-9-V-batteries.jpg)
Reply

Gary " 1 year ago

# Reply to Gary
Note that the neon tester is just touching the battery terminals based on the
spring-tension of its wires. For a slightly more permanent connection you could
use jumper clips, or you could use two 9V battery connectors (or carefully cut
one in half) on the far-end terminals. You could also wrap the whole assembly
in black tape, but it stays together reasonable well on its own!

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Gary
That’s correct! Makes sense!

Reply

Kyle " 1 year ago

Hello again Swagatam!

I have a question, the random multiple neon flasher circuit above can it be run on AC 120v
instead of 60-160v DC?

If so what would be the changes? Just the capacitor type? Film or ceramic maybe?

And the resistor value needs to be changed if I want to have say 20 neons in this circuit
correct?

Many thanks,
Kyle

Reply
 Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Kyle
Hello Kyle,

120V is between 60V and 160V so definitely it can be used for operating the
mentioned circuit. Capacitors can be PPC type. You can try experimenting with the
resistor a bit, or instead of a common single resistor, you can add individual series
resistors with each neon.

Reply

Kyle " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Hello Swagatam,

That sounds easy enough to do!

How big of a capacitance value should I use to get slow flashes? Im thinking
maybe 470uf with each neon having its own series resistor of 100Kohm like you
have mentioned.

Do you think that would work?

Many thanks,
Kyle

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Kyle
Hello Kyle,
I am not sure about the capacitor values, it will depend on the resistor value
actually. It will need some experimentation. Larger resistor values would mean
smaller capacitor values and vice versa….the resistor value should be at least
680K or 1meg.

Reply

Kyle " 1 year ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Hi Swagatam,

I have tried the above random flasher circuit on AC voltage, and it does
not work. The neon does not light up.
 I was able to get the neon to light up by adding a diode in series with the
circuit but then only one electrode in the neon lamp lights up.

Is there a flashing circuit that runs off 120v AC?

Many thanks,
Kyle

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 1 year ago

# Reply to Kyle
Hi Kyle,
Is your circuit flashing with a diode? If yes then probably you can try
increasing the value of the capacitor and decreasing the value of the
resistor.
You can also try using a bridge rectifier instead of a single diode.

Reply

Dennis Joiner (N9XFX) " 1 year ago

Hello, I’m a Ham Radio operator and I am fiddling with an old MFJ-1026 RF Noise
Canceling unit my dad had years ago. I’m fight RFI from outside my house and thought I’d
give this device a try. I popped the top off to tighten up a loose RCA jack on it and noticed
that there two Neon bulbs (only one is connected) between the Aux Antenna input center
pin and the circuit board (labeled Bulb) on the board. My question is what function does the
Neon serve in this circuit? This is a receive antenna connection. Looks like dad… Read
more »

Reply

Phil Landmeier " 1 year ago

# Reply to Dennis Joiner (N9XFX)

The neons are there as transient suppressors that hopefully protect the receiver from
damage from nearby lightning strikes. There are gas discharge devices made
specifically for this. Neons are an inexpensive way to get some protection.
Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Dennis Joiner (N9XFX)

 Neons are normally used for indicating an AC supply. Not sure why it is used with an
antenna in your circuit? Maybe the neon is used like a high power capacitor since they
have two parallel isolated plates inside the glass which can work like a very reliable
capacitor also.
Reply

Bill Costa " 1 year ago

Many years ago I followed a simple schematic using three NE-2 bulbs to create a simple
three prong outlet wiring fault detector. The pattern of the lit bulbs indicated if the outlet was
wired correctly, or had a wiring fault, such as a missing safety ground, or the hot and
ground reversed, or if no lit bulb, a dead outlet. I should be able to puzzle out how to do it
again, but was hoping to find that schematic here. Perhaps one to be added?

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 1 year ago

# Reply to Bill Costa

Yes I remember. It was from an old elektor electronics magazine. After a lot of
searching I could finally find it. Here is the schematic that you are looking for:

https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/mains-wiring-
tester.jpg (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/mains-
wiring-tester.jpg)

Reply

Terry " 2 years ago

I have a similar issue, installed LED ceiling fixture on three -way switch.
When the light is off half of the 12 LED chips are faintly lit.
Saw somewhere on the Web that Neon indicator could absorb the residual voltage.

Reply

Terry " 2 years ago

# Reply to Terry
Fixed my problem . Wired small light bulb pigtail with bulb in parallel with LED
fixture. The small light bulb does not light but keeps LED lights
from coming on when the 3-switches are off. When one of the 3-switches
is on , both the LED and the pigtail bulb are lit. But the pigtail is
inside fixture , cannot see it from outside fixture. Not a great solution.
Reply
Bob " 2 years ago

Just replaced T9 9 in fluorescent ceiling fan bulb with an 8 in non dim led. The ceiling fan
and light are remote controlled so it is running off one switch on the wall. When the fan is
on and light is off (via remote control) the LED has a little voltage on it and therefore it
glows. Is it possible to use a neon indicator to absorb this voltage so the LED doesn’t light
up? If so, would it be connected in series with the bulb in line with the line or neutral wire…
or would it be in parallel… Read more »

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 2 years ago

# Reply to Bob
It should be connected in parallel to the LED, however I am not sure if the neon bulb
would be able to absorb the residual voltage, but it is definitely worth trying. Another
option could to attach a 0.1uF/400V capacitor parallel to the LED leads, this might also
help to neutralize the LED glow while it is turned OFF.

Reply

Bob " 2 years ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Thanks for the quick response; not sure this thread would still have life, haha.
Gonna try the neon indicator. Will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again!

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 2 years ago

# Reply to Bob
Sure, no problem.

Reply

Jeff H. " 2 years ago

Jeff H. asks: I would like to (re)create a basic 80 volt sawtooth relaxation oscillator, like the
above “more assorted” one, fig.A, where the neon lamp would simply be replaced by some
other type of 11-18 volt driven component, in order to steadily drive an automotive ignition
coil. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Reply
 Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 2 years ago

# Reply to Jeff H.
If you replace the neon with any other load, the oscillations would stop. It is the neon
which is actually causing the oscillations.

Reply

JeffH " 2 years ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Thanks for answering. But isn’t there a solid state device, such as a reverse
biased diode or x-sistor, that can function and exhibit the same characteristics of
the neon lamp, but at a lower 11-18 volts???

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 2 years ago

# Reply to JeffH
You can use a diac, however the firing voltage of a diac is normally around
30V. Nevertheless, the capacitor value could be adjusted accordingly to get
the desired frequency output
Reply

Paul Hess " 2 years ago

I made the Neon Lamp Driver Circuit using a 120v to 9v AC adaptor. The turns ratio is
about 13:1 with primary and secondary hooked up in reverse to make it a step up
transformer and I used a 12v battery. I was only able to make it work by connecting R1
across pin 7 and the voltage supply. I found this out on accident.

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 2 years ago

# Reply to Paul Hess

The transformer here is an audio transformer which has a very high number of turns
for the secondary winding…R1 should be exactly where it is shown since the
configuration is a standard astable circuit design….nevertheless if the modification is
working for you then three’s no problem in keeping it.

Reply
 Paul Hess " 2 years ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Could you recommend a transformer to use that I might find online? Thank you.

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 2 years ago

# Reply to Paul Hess

If you search it online you may find many reliable sources, according to me.
Reply

Harry " 2 years ago

A DUMB FARMERS QUESTION;

I have an electrified cattle fence. Puts out about 5000 volts in short pulses.
How can I ballast a miniature neon bulb so I can install a permanent indicator that the fence
is functional and getting its power? I will install several of these at various sections of the
fences.
A simple circuit diagram please…..
Thanx for any possible help..

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 2 years ago

# Reply to Harry
You can probably try connecting 3nos of 330k in series with each terminal of the neon
and connect them across the supply wires. If the resistors show burning tendency, you
can connect more such resistors in series and check the response!
Reply

Mike Fox " 2 years ago

Can we make a 120vac neon panel lamp flash at about 60 IPM with just a resistor and
capacitor?

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 2 years ago

# Reply to Mike Fox

 that maybe possible by selecting the RC network appropriately…
Reply

Phil Landmeier " 2 years ago

Hello Swagatam. I’m glad to see people still playing with neon lamps. They’re a great
learning tool that’s fun. In addition to blinkers, chasers, flip-flops (toggle and S/R), etc. they
are great for playing with static electricity, detecting RF fields, even displaying when the
atmospheric voltage gradient is high enough to light them up. Anyway, I had one comment
about your Random Multiple Neon Flasher schematic. Notice that C1, C2, and C3 are
connected in parallel. ! There’s only one capacitor needed for this circuit, which I once
built 60 years ago. Lol. I made mine with one R, one… Read more »

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 2 years ago

# Reply to Phil Landmeier

Thank you Phil, for your valuable feedback, hope the readers will find them useful.
Reply

s.sathananthan. " 3 years ago

Sir, now I am clear that neon led doesn’t have polarity in strict sense but I have a rice
cooker with three functions with three neon led indicators. The circuit has connections for
diodes in series with one terminal of the bulb and other terminal is in series with a resistor.
The cooker is powered with AC. I wish to know that in this circuit the leds are working in DC
and not AC. Please answer.

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 3 years ago

# Reply to s.sathananthan.
s.sathananthan, the LED is working with half wave DC!

Reply

s.sathananthan. " 3 years ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Thanks a lot for the information that clears my question well.

Reply
 Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 3 years ago

# Reply to s.sathananthan.
You are welcome!!
Reply

Jesús Fernández de Velasco " 3 years ago

I was looking for that information a very long time ago, thanks God I’ve found your site and
let me tell you this… SOOOOO COOOOOOL! Thank you very much!

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 3 years ago

# Reply to Jesús Fernández de Velasco

You are welcome!
Reply

Edward " 4 years ago

i became interested in gaining knowledge with your projects. I wish all your endeavors wold
be successful and that would help the people at large.

Reply

Matrix " 4 years ago

# Reply to Edward
Thank you Edward, I appreciate your thoughts.
Reply

ULHAS SAWANT " 4 years ago

Very Good Tutorial on Neon Lamp

Reply

Kumar " 4 years ago

I have seen green neon bulbs in Geisers. What might be the gas inside? Where can we get
different colour neon(Tiny) Indicators

Reply
 Phil Landmeier " 2 years ago

# Reply to Kumar
I believe I can answer this one. Years ago there was a wide variety of gas discharge
lamps and in different sizes. Neon was just one. Another common version was filled
with argon and glows purple. Argon is the better choice if you want to use a gas
discharge lamp as a voltage regulator. A neon bulb will also regulate, just not quite as
well as argon. It’s hard to find these things now because it’s all been replaced by LEDs
and solid state. If I’m not mistaken, the green neon bulbs you saw looked like they had
a white… Read more »

Reply

Atef " 2 years ago

# Reply to Phil Landmeier

????
Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 4 years ago

# Reply to Kumar
Sorry i have no idea about it.
Reply

Ali Khayri " 4 years ago

Dear Swagatam,
Thanks a lot for these information, but I have a comment on “Neon lamps only working on
DC”
In practice I have many circuits that works on AC the simplest is the Screw driver voltage
tester.

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 4 years ago

# Reply to Ali Khayri

Thanks Ali, neon bulb will also work with high voltage DC as suggested in the above
article.

Reply

SStark " 2 years ago

# Reply to Swagatam
 Not getting critical here but … I to am an Electronics Engineer (40 Plus Years). I
used to play with neon bulbs when I was a kid in the 60’s. Radio B batteries were
to expensive so we just used a cast off power cord and AC line voltage to build our
creations. Neon Bulbs will work with either AC or DC. That’s the wonderful thing
about them, it does not really matter. With that said I agree with you approach
here… the novice experimenters probably should not be connecting up to AC line
voltage with out an isolation Transformer… Read more »

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 2 years ago

# Reply to SStark
Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
Reply

Abdul " 4 years ago

Great, useful

Reply

Author

Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/) " 4 years ago

# Reply to Abdul
Thanks for the feedback!

Reply

David " 2 years ago

# Reply to Swagatam
Very good info in your article. Similar to SStark, I am EE and played with neon
lamps in the 60s. Three comments.
1. When neon lamps hooked to ac, both electrodes glow. Only need resistor on 1
leg.
2. Even with isolation transformer, there is still high voltage. So experimenters
must be careful!
3. Having fuse is a very good idea. Best to employ a fuse of a 10 mA (milli-amps).
Choose 125 or 250 voltage rating, as appropriate for the application.

Reply

Author
Swagatam (https://www.homemade-circuits.com/about/)
" 2 years ago

# Reply to David
Thank you for the valuable information. Much appreciated!

Reply

© 2024 · Swagatam Innovations