[cyclometric]

I have 4 dual inverters and 8 new 12" UV tubes, which I really would like to wire to a single toggle switch. I have read about some issues people have had with using different brand inverters on a single molex, and wondered if that's something I need to be careful of. I know that at least 2 of them are different, but it's possible I have as many 4 different brands. Should I reconsider being able to wire these all together to one switch unless the inverter's guts are the same?

Also, I wondered if I needed to be concerned about having four inverters on a single molex, even though the total output is only around 14 watts (assuming my calcs are correct: 680V X 5mA = 3.4 watts per inverter)

Here's the wiring plan, but if using the same inverters is a real concern, I'll have figure something else out for now.

 

[sancho]

You shouldn't have any problem with the inverters. I've used Logisys and Case Mods together and no problems. I can't speak for every inverter, but should be no issues.

As long as they're wired in parallel like you have, you should be fine. I can't understand why you'd need 8 CCFLs, 2 is more than enough to light up your entire case. Are these 12'' CCFLs?

 

[cyclometric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sancho;13005859
You shouldn't have any problem with the inverters. I've used Logisys and Case Mods together and no problems. I can't speak for every inverter, but should be no issues.

As long as they're wired in parallel like you have, you should be fine. I can't understand why you'd need 8 CCFLs, 2 is more than enough to light up your entire case. Are these 12'' CCFLs?

Thanks, cool. I may only need 4 or 6, but currently in my Antec 900, I have had as many as 4 at one time (all 12") and it really wasn't enough to light up the case. It might be the bulbs aren't as they should be, or the inverters aren't working correctly, or that my window is fluorescent green acrylic (probably a mistake). So for my new case, which has already been painted with fluorescent green accents, I really want the UV to show up nicely. And I'll be cutting in a clear plexi window, which will probably help some, too. So maybe I'll only wire in 2 or 3 inverters to the switch.

I was able to pick up 8 new 12" UV cathode bulbs from Crazy PC when they were having their sale last week. . .

 

[radodrill]

You can easily wire the DC side of multiple inverters to a single switch regardless of brand of inverter; in fact the light tubes are also interchangeable between different brands of inverters as well, because internally the inverters are the same the only differences are the enclosures. There are also inverters with up to 8 outputs; these are essentially multiple inverter circuits on the same PC board sharing a common power supply.

The one thing I do not recommend is modifying the wiring between the inverter and light tubes, as this can have adverse effects on the performance; in some cases extending the wiring by a few inches can result in the lamps not being fully illuminated.

 

[SmasherBasher]

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11..._Inverter.html

The end.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[cyclometric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by radodrill You can easily wire the DC side of multiple inverters to a single switch regardless of brand of inverter; in fact the light tubes are also interchangeable between different brands of inverters as well, because internally the inverters are the same the only differences are the enclosures. There are also inverters with up to 8 outputs; these are essentially multiple inverter circuits on the same PC board sharing a common power supply. The one thing I do not recommend is modifying the wiring between the inverter and light tubes, as this can have adverse effects on the performance; in some cases extending the wiring by a few inches can result in the lamps not being fully illuminated.

Thank you. I had read somewhere it might cause problems, but that was probably a circuit with the inverters in series, or who knows what!?

I'll wire it like in my pic and hopefully there will be no issues. Though honestly, I am planning on having 8 tubes because I have had some pretty dim bulbs in the past, and bulbs not glowing brigthly after a very short time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmasherBasher http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11..._Inverter.html The end. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

Yeah, I wish... I already had 3 inverters so I already bought a dual inverter, so I've 4 dual total, 8 brand new 12" tubes.

I saw a thread somewhere about taking the PCBs out of the inverters and placing them all on a single breadboard for convenience of wiring/etc. which sounds like an interesting idea. There wouldn't be any harm in that would there be, as long as I make sure to prevent any shorts?

Thanks, guys,

 

[radodrill]

The reason why people often suggest taking the inverter out of the enclosure is that most of them have poor ventilation resulting in the inverter dieing very quickly.