Guide CCFL from old scanner

Hopefully nobody has done this guide yet, but if they havent, this is a guide about making a cold cathode flourescent tube from a old scanner. I didnt actually plan on making a guide when I made this, so i have no shots of making it, but ill explain all the steps.

Tools and materials:
Old scanner
small box
screwdriver
soldering iron
solder
heatshrink tubing


Step 1: Get an old ( or new ) scanner.
2: remove the top piece with the glass plate on it.
3: remove the scanners moving thing
4: locate the tube on or in it.
5: unscrew or pop out this tube. its also recommended to take the reflective thing its sitting in, because its reflectiveness will be helpful in thefinished product.
6: unscrew the inverter, which should be nearby the tube.

once the tube and inverter are seperate from the rest of the scanner, do whatever you like with the rest of the parts.

7: cut the connector from the red and black wires on the inverter that connected to the rest of the scanner.
8: get a male molex connector and solder it to the 2 wires. place heatshrink wrapping over the soldering spots.
9: find a small box ( i used a empty pellet gun pellet box ) and cut small holes in it for the wires. the best thing to do is cut or drill right at the spot where the lid or opening side is, so that you can put the wires through without having to remove the connectors.
10: if the box does not have a latch on it, put electrical tape around it to hold it together.
11: place a side of velcro on the back of the 2 pieces, and the other sides on whatever you want it on. this way you can remove it easily if you want to change something on it, or move it elsewhere.

heres some pictures of my completed one:





Hopefully someone will make good use of this guide on how to get cheap white cold cathodes! thanks for reading!

Matt

 

ROFL, this is how I got my first CCFL in my case at least 3 months ago. Its still working great and was alot of fun. Although I didnt keap the mirror I just stuck it in there.

 

I have scrapped a couple of scanners, and all of them do not have an inverter that can be easily started outside the scanner, and most i have seen use 24V for the CCFL inverter.

The inverter i ripped last time had one 24V line that was allways on, and one 5V signal that trigged the CCFL to light.

 

well then this guide only applies to some scanners. the one i had worked perfectly for this project.

 

W00t for ghetto mods!! Good job man!

 

i never think about this ....

i like this guide

 

I did this once too, but I snapped the tube
I still have the inverter

 

Hah, good thing I gutted them out of 3 old scanners I had. I was thinking about doing this myself... good to see I wont die!




-CollinstheClown

 

my thoughts were the same at the beginning, hoping i wouldnt die from something. when i was turning it on i hid under a desk and stuck my arm around to flick the switch on the test psu. it was intense.

 

Don't spoil the fun of it! I was going to cover it in a metal casing.




-CollinstheClown

 

you find it fun to be afraid of death? i personally, havent developed a taste for it.

 

heh..

not to sound like a ass or anything. its a great little mod to do yourself, and have fun with. but i did that in my first computer when i was 14 (6 years ago) when ccfl kits where not available.

i just wish i was smart enough then to try and do somthing with the idea.

 

The inverters available inside scanners are quite diverse and come in a variety of voltage requirements. The bulbs on the other hand are universal.

 

Not quite the death part, but the thrill of modding something that isn't supposed to be even touched. Not many people do this kind of stuff, and its always a thrill doing things.




-CollinstheClown

 

ok, now your confusing me with your philisophical mumbo jumbo

 

yeah, did this meself once, just for kicks. bright as all getup... but it clashed horribly with my all blue setup, so oh well.

 

Hah, I'm not intelegant enough to be philisophical. See I can't even spell. lol




-CollinstheClown

 

Well despite how clever you are, I fail to see why you'd destroy a perfectly good scanner when you can just buy a white CCFL for about five bucks.

 

Way too ghetto for me I too would rather buy... actually I think ebuyer have them for £2.50 for two 12" tubes

 

Great idea! But white cathodes have become rather cheap these days... But will check if I still have that old scanner that nobody uses anymore. Hope the cathode isn't already broken.

L