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Simple RGB Cold Cathode Light

Simple RGB Cold Cathode Light
This project started because I needed a 90 degree HDMI adapter but just couldn't bear to leave Monoprice with only a $3 very boring widget. So, after combing around for a while I found these cold cathode tubes designed for lighting up your PC. I bought one each in red, green and blue and after about 20 minutes of assembly had a pretty decent little lamp. Total cost was about $25-30.

Shall we begin?
 
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Step 1Materials List

Materials List
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This is a very simple project so all you'll need is:

- Red cold cathode tube kit
- Green cold cathode tube kit
- Blue cold cathode tube kit
- 12V DC power supply
- Scotch tape
- Electrical tape
- Foam insulation tape
- Translucent tube of your choice

Notes:

The cold cathode kits I had included an inverter, a switch, and all the wiring. They're designed to simply plug in to your desktop's molex connectors so they should be all ready to go.

The red kit had 2 lamps included which worked out for building but gives the light a pinkish hue when in white mode.

The tube I used was from the center of a roll of large format printer paper. It is a translucent, whitish plastic with small striations along the length.
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Author:drips