I want to put some lights onto my desk... cold cathode probably, I've got uv reactive paint for my desk so I'm just wondering where I should get the lights from and what to use to connect them up etc. I don't know much about stuff like this and I'd like to put a rocker switch in with it all so I can turn the lights on/off (going to put ~5 lights on)
Lots of places (gadget shop etc.) sell large UV tubes, or else you can get 4-12" ones from modding places or computer shops. If you're considering painting the whole desk, don't. It'll glow so brightly you'll think it's on fire But I'm guessing you just want to light parts?
suppose you could use cold cathodes. the way i'd do it is to extend a molex cable and run it out of a spare pci slot then mount the switches somewhere on the desk and stick the cathodes where you want them. i was planning to do that with white ones under the edge of the desk the light up the keyboard
Ive already got a big tube fitted to the desk, but now I want some smaller tubes to light the parts the main light doesn't get to How would I do this - any guides you could link to for me?
There wouldn't be a "guide" per se. All you need is a molex cable extender long enough to reach where you want it to, run it through a hole on the back of your computer, and plug the CCFL into it.
heres a sort of how to keeping im mind i've not done this so its mainly guess work what you'll need male and female molex connector (one of each) red, yellow & black wire, or just one colour (not sure on the type maybe someone else can help there) cold cathodes (how ever many you want) some tape (double sided, masking, gaffer & electrical) something to cut and strip the wire 20mm spade drill (optional) dremel (optional) some kind of sheet material (mdf, perspex or the desktop)(optional) heat shrink (you can also use electical tape) 1. get all your equipment together 2. open up your case and find a pci slot your not using and remove the cover, i'd probably use the bottom one for this 3. find a spare molex inside your case and using a piece of wire to help measure tape it to the molex with masking tape and run it thru the pci slot to where you want to mount all your power converters for the cathodes now measure the wire taking it off the molex in the case and cut another 3 pieces of wire to the same lenght making 4 in total 4. strip the ends of your wire and atatch the molex connectors then wrap some tape around the wire every 3-4 inches to keep it tidy, id use the electrical tape for this the poke the female(?) end into your case 5. use some masking tape to stick the other end of your extention to your desk then using the sticky pads that should be included with your cathodes or some double sided tape stick your cathodes where you want them, if your not sure yet stick them inplace with some masking tape 6. now its time to test your lighting. make sure your pc's turned off and attach that molex inside the case. now attach all the molex plugs from the cathodes and switch on your pc. check all the cathodes are working and the switches are too and if your happy with the placement of your cathodes remove the masking tape and stick them inplace properly and switch off your pc and unplug the molex 7. using double sided tape stick the power converters from the cathodes near your molex from the case making sure you have the side with the holes on it exposed to the air (dont worry about the double sided tape being too weak after it get heated up by the converters it'll be like superglue, almost) 8. now to mount the switches. you should have everything inplace now and know where/how you want to mount the switches. if your mounting them this is where the 20mm spade drill comes in. drill a hole where you want the switch disconnect the wires from the back (you might need have a bit of troube getting the connectors off the switch so do what i did and using a small drill bit 1.5-2mm iirc drill the rased bit off the connector thats keeping it inplace) and test fit your switch, if its not big enough use a dremel or some sand paper to make it big enough. if the wires dont reach the switches once their inplace just extend them by cutting them and soldering in some extra wire then either heat shrink it or cover it with electrical tape 9. plug everything back together and check it still works then using masking or gaffer tape tidy up your wires be sticking them to the desk 10. sit back and admire your work it sounds alot more complicated than it is it'd probably take an 30mins to an hour tops
Hah, perse means ass in finnish ... But to the subject : I suggest, that you get somewhere some old ide cables etc.. With whta you can test your skills
Hahahaha! Really!? Oops! It's an old latin phrase that's used regularly in english...now I know not to use it in a finnish forum, though!
If you want the desk to light up, independent of the computer, you could always build or buy a 12V power supply.
i was gonna do something on the lines of that and light up my desk so i could see my keyboard. i was thinking of getting some tubing and running leds every 5 cm out ov holes or just inside the tube, iuno ill do it eventuly
i've got two ccfl's underneath my table ( blue and green) Powered directly from the computer. The only thing i did was just extended the wires, and that's pretty much it. Since the ccfl's came with a switch, i had no real need of getting a new one. So if you want to get lighting for your table, i suggest that you get a proper ccfl or whatever kit you want. Check the length of the wires and accordingly try to fit. If short, then extended it. Try to get kits with a switch. One more thing, if you want try to stick inverter out of the case, preferably close to your table. So if you decided to add more ccfl's in the future, it won't be much of a hassle.
