Sunday, 24 June 2012

12 Volt DC Fluorescent Lamp Driver

A number of people have been unable to find the transformer needed for the Black Light project, so I looked around to see if I could find a fluorescent lamp driver that does not require any special components. I finally found one in Electronics Now. Here it is. It uses a normal 120 to 6V stepdown transformer in reverse to step 12V to about 350V to drive a lamp without the need to warm the filaments.

12 Volt DC Fluorescent Lamp Driver circuit diagram

Components List

C1 100uf 25V Electrolytic Capacitor
C2,C3 0.01uf 25V Ceramic Disc Capacitor
C4 0.01uf 1KV Ceramic Disc Capacitor
R1 1K 1/4W Resistor
R2 2.7K 1/4W Resistor
Q1 IRF510 MOSFET
U1 TLC555 Timer IC
T1 6V 300mA Transformer
LAMP 4W Fluorescent Lamp
MISC Board, Wire, Heatsink For Q1

Notes:
  1. Q1 must be installed on a heat sink.
  2. A 240V to 10V transformer will work better then the one in the parts list. The problem is that they are hard to find.
  3. This circuit can give a nasty (but not too dangerous) shock. Be careful around the output leads.

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