Multicolor CCFLs
erco
Posts: 20,260
Regarding those wonderful·three-color CCFLs at http://www.parallax.com/Store/Components/Optoelectronics/tabid/152/ProductID/629/List/0/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName,ProductName
Do those have external green red blue filter tubes to give those colors, or are there three different·internal phospors yielding different colors? A really distinctive look.
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·"If you build it, they will come."
Do those have external green red blue filter tubes to give those colors, or are there three different·internal phospors yielding different colors? A really distinctive look.
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·"If you build it, they will come."
Comments
I put a 12V 7AH SLA battery in my fanny pack and wired everything up. WOW! This shirt really glowed at the party! I even had to become a greeter for arriving guests. I got no less than three Burning Man invitations and made a bunch of new friends. The only real problem with this shirt is it gets kinda hot inside. Thankfully I don't sweat too much - else I could have burned the heck out of myself by causing a short if I had any exposed wires (was careful to provide correct insulation with heat-shrink everywhere). To combat the heat I just turned the shirt off once in a while in order to cool down.
But to answer your question, I really don't know. Looking closely at these multi-colored CCFL tubes I can see no difference in the physical appearance where the colors change - not even a baffle or other divider. There must be some sort of baffle to prevent the gases from mixing, as I believe they provide the colors. I've put these CCFL tubes in the hands of several serious experimenters and nobody has explained the multiple color aspect.
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
The colors are a function of the phosphors that coat the inside of the tube. They look white in their latent state, but when they're excited by the UV from the gas discharge, they glow in their characteristic colors. If your were to illuminate an unpowered tube in the dark with a blacklight, you may see these same colors, assuming the UV from the blacklight can get through the glass and plastic shroud. Of course, that still begs the question: how did they manage to deposit two different phosphors in one tube with such a fine line of demarcation?
-Phil
Very cool tech on those CCFLs since they are all white in the off state. I would have been disappointed if they used a cheesy multicolor cellophane sleeve slipped around a white tube. But it looks & sounds just like what I need to pimp out my Poor Cousin robot! I'll save an i/o pin to switch them on & off. Wouldn't several of them be dandy "relay on" indicators in my H-bridge? Or better yet, have them flash along with the wheel encoders. Hmmm.......
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·"If you build it, they will come."