Some questions about Cold Cathodes

[VulsaviiK]

The window on my case, being tinted currently hides everything, it screams lighting. Looking at comparisons between Cold Cathodes and LEDs, I have to say that Cathodes look much more appealing, at least to me. However, I've read some stories of people who have had the inverter for the cathodes explode in their case. So, question time:

 

1. What causes this to happen, cheap PSU/inverter in the first place or something else?

2. Where would be the best place to mount them. Considering that I'm going to have radiators in the top and bottom of my case, am I going to be able to hide them in behind the radiators, since they look quite thin.

3. Has anyone had this happen to them?

4. The light switch on my case has a molex connector on it for LED strips. Can I plug the inverter into this to power the cathodes and have some means to turn them off, assuming I run into a time where I need to leave my PC on overnight and sleep.

5. Anything else I should be aware of running cathodes? Considering I only by slight chance happened to stumble across the exploding inverter thing while looking for something else.

[acidydragon]

1. I've never heard of this, but maybe it's just me. I've only heard of them dying out.

2.They generally come in a box shape, so you can mount them in edges really well, like beside Radiators.

3. No, I haven't.

4. I would imagine this would work fine.

5. The converters are bulky, and almost always Blue. They are a light bulb, so they will die out eventually.

[Hoppa]

5. They're not cold, they get quite warm.

[W-L]

Cold cathode inverters can have capacitors, inside and if the capacitor is inferior or a bad quality they can pop and but should not explode.

 

As for a switch you can get ones for the inverter like this:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/22120/ele-1261/Logisys_Cold_Cathode_Replacement_Inverter_w_PCI_Slot_Power_Cable_Harness.html?tl=g6c449s1142

[`br4dz-]

LED's are better than cathodes, simply put. You can buy a huge 16.4ft roll of multicolor LED's for ~$20 and solder up wires to them for whatever color(s) you want.

[WyzeGye]

LED's are better than cathodes, simply put. You can buy a huge 16.4ft roll of multicolor LED's for ~$20 and solder up wires to them for whatever color(s) you want.

 

 

got a link for one of those rolls? I've been buying 12" LED strips for cars at 10 bucks from walmart.

[W-L]

got a link for one of those rolls? I've been buying 12" LED strips for cars at 10 bucks from walmart.

Best bet is ebay they have a lot of that stuff but mostly from Asia so shipping may take a while. 

 

Since you live in Canada try this place:

http://www.123inkcartridges.ca/?format=html

[WyzeGye]

Best bet is ebay they have a lot of that stuff but mostly from Asia so shipping may take a while. 

 

Since you live in Canada try this place:

http://www.123inkcartridges.ca/?format=html

While I didn't find the LED thing I was originally scoping out... I did find this, and am ordering it right now.

 

Thanks for the heads up, haha

[W-L]

Here this should help, and yeah they have alot of random stuff you can find at times   

 

http://www.123inkcartridges.ca/catalog/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=led+strip

[`br4dz-]

got a link for one of those rolls? I've been buying 12" LED strips for cars at 10 bucks from walmart.

 

http://www.amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT-Waterproof-Flexible-300leds-Changing/dp/B00ASHP1CM/ref=sr_1_21?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1395447203&sr=1-21&keywords=led+strip

 

I prefer Zitrade's LED rolls though, but they are more expensive for some reason. Single color LED rolls are also cheaper for obvious reasons. I used an entire 16.4ft roll for under my desk, behind my TV, inside of my computer, and still have a few feet left over. You can use them for any application so long as you know how to solder. The adhesive sucks on pretty much all LED stripping though, so I generally get a big roll of scotch molding tape.

[TheNinjaNextDor]

got a link for one of those rolls? I've been buying 12" LED strips for cars at 10 bucks from walmart.

Get icemodz LEDs from icemodz.com

They are RGB and can be changed with the controller. They can also be cut to size.