To All of You Modding With Cathodes

[fleeingpepper]

I have long been wanting to put some cathodes in my case, but this has changed my mind. Maybe posting this will save somebody's precious computer.

http://www.casemodgod.com/ccfl_inverter_rant.htm

I personally will never put a cathode in my case.

[Matt_Smi]

That was enough to make me shut mine off for now anyway. I may take them out, my case does not look nearly as cool but the thought of that happening while I am out (my computer is on 24/7) terrifies me. And also the fact that my inverter is mounted right near my hard drives and could potentially kill them. I will prob leave them in there and only turn them on once and a while to show off. Then again you have to wonder just how common this is, I have never heard of it until now, and I am sure tons of people have CCs in their cases. Mine have been running for over a year, but still it does not seem worth the risk.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Um..with anything in a pc you do take the risk of random malfunctions. If your THAT paranoid then you should bullet proof your pc case. And insulate your pc components.

Seriously. :rolleyes:

:p

[Stuey]

It might depend on the build quality. I mean, go with a non-brand crappy PSU and the PSU could take out an entire system.

Still, this is something to consider. I have a mod in progress and plan on using a few cathodes. I think now I'll reconsider my wiring to include a complete bypass switch to at least prevent my computer from burning up in the middle of the night or when I'm out. Besides, I'll only need them turned on when I'm taking pictures of the rig or showing it off or something.

So I guess the lesson here is to be wary of the brand (this may be a factor in this situation) you buy, and to implement a cut-off so that inverters aren't operating without supervision or at least someone in the immediate vicinity.

[Cricket]

Wow...those things might end up burning down somebody's house one day (if they haven't already).

:) Cricket

[blue60007]

Just watch the quality of parts you use. They didn't mention any specific parts, but I wouldn't be surprised if it cost $2...

[andper10]

I bought some cathodes on ebay. They were suppossed to be Logsys brand, but there were some off brand, Unicom I think. I hooked them up and they worked great. I switched the included switch off, and then back on a few minutes later, and my PC screen went dead, and my mobo started beeping. I turned the computer back on, and it worked fine. So, I switched the cathodes back on, and my computer switched itself back off. After that, I unplugged them and haven't touched them since. Everything has worked fine since then, but it still is reason enough for me to go without cathoedes from now on. Gosh, I feel sorry for that guy who's PC cooked itself while he wasn't watching.

[blue60007]

How much power do those things draw? I'm just wondering if they draw a lot of power...

Kinda sounds like you got some cheapo and/or faulty lights there...

[andper10]

Is there a way to tell how much power they draw without using a multimeter? Oh well, I don't care anyway, I will just live without them. They probably are faulty.

[Mr.Ferrari]

1 cold cathode takes about 3 watts.

[blue60007]

Oh, that's not too bad. I was thinking they were going to be power guzzlers...