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Sunbeam CCFL Kit


Date
: 07/19/03 – 11:37:41 AM

Author
:

Category
: Misc

Page 1 : Introduction

Introduction

For the most part, O² has dedicated many reviews towards motherboards, video cards, CPU's, cases and heatsinks, but today we will deviate from this and take a look at a another computer component. What I'm talking about is case lighting, more specifically Sunbeam Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp Kit. Lighting is definitely an accessory and really serves no meaningful purpose unless you like them. To some people it's a complete waste of money, but hey, they look cool!

There are many methods of lighting up a single case, and with a combination of them, any case can be considered a light show on there own. Casemodders today have opted for the CCFL's for several reasons. They are affordable, bright, efficient, reliable, long lifetime, low heat, vibration proof and come packed with dual inverters.

Today, I bought myself 2 single 12" red CCFL's. Unfortunately, I could not find a single dual lamp kit, but the total cost wasn't all too much. There is really only one thing left for me to do, let's see how these bad boys perform.

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

Let's take a quick little look at the specifications of one lamp:

Diameter:
3.0 mm

Supply Voltage:
620 v

Lamp current:
5 mA

Brightness:
29,000 cd/m²

Average lifespan:
30,000 hours

The one I bought from Canada Computers was a 12" red CCFL, however there is quite a variet" of CCFL's, starting from the simple single kit working all the way up to the dual lamp with sound control.

Here is how package may be packed:

- Kit or Lamp
- Single or Pair
- Front Switch or Back Switch
- Solid or Sound Control

Just for clarification sakes, the difference between kit and lamp is with a kit you get everything you will need to install and turn on your light. As with my package, which was kit, I got some Velcro for the inverter (70x25mm), more Velcro for the ends of each lamp, a wire harness, a 12 volt inverter, and a 4 pin Molex power connector. A lamp only includes the lamp. ? There are different ways to activate the lamps, with front switch; you get a little 1 inch diameter on-off button, very simple and styling. A Back switch will probably include a plate to screw into an empty case slot. My lamps are solid, as in they don't fluctuate, unless the power goes out as opposed to the Sound Controlled lamps which move to the beat of your tunes.

There is quite a variety of color and size for these lamps. Looking at my packaging there is three different sizes and ten difference colors. The sizes are 100mm, 200mm and 300mm. The colors are blue, red, green, purple, yellow, white, Ultraviolet, Blue-Red, Blue-Green, and Red-Green-Blue. A pretty colorful rainbow can be created in your case if you have the room!

Page 3 : Installation

Installation

Installation is quite a breeze. I've decided to install both of my lamps to one inverter, this will eliminate a lot of excess wires, which I really don't need. There are 3 wires to connect, the two lamps to the inverter and the power cable to the inverter. You really can't screw up, the plugs only go in one way, so don't apply too much force.

Here's the copy and paste of the real mounting instructions:

1. First of all, turn off your computer or turn off the switch.
2. Make sure to plug one or two lights and wire harness into the inverter with three/two pitch connector.
3. Plug the male 4-pin molex connector into power supply.
4. Peel off the backing of the two with adhesive backed magic tape(small), and find a suitable location for Mounting CCFL.
5. Mount inverter in a concealed location with adhesive backed magic tape (70×25).
6. Install the front switch/sound control module by drilling hole on faceplate or back switch on back slot.
7. Turn on the computer and switch.

Once you get the cables into the inverter, they aren't as easy to remove. Mine got pushed in a little bit and it took a bit of work to get it back out. Maybe it would help if there was a little handle attached to the plugs. I didn't have to use a flat headed screwdriver or a needle nose pliers or anything, but nonetheless. This should have also been hassle free.

Now that the cables are in, fiddle around in your case to see where you want to position the lamps. There is a lot of wiring, so unless you have a full tower case you shouldn't have too much trouble moving the wires to hide them. I chose the top and bottom of my case, hoping this would illuminate my entire box. Once that step is done, add the Velcro tabs to the lamp, and to the case. Apply a little pressure when you're actually mounting it to the case so they form a nice bond.

I had a little problem with my lamps, whenever I think cold; I really mean cold – no heat! That actually isn't the case with these lamps. They do produce a tiny bit of heat, which isn't a big deal to me. The biggest problem was the bond between wires and the shell of the lamp. This is crappy glue, and my lamp physically slid out of the case. The result, one burnt finger. Not cool at all!

I resealed the joint with some hot glue and I hope this misfortune doesn't happen again or to anyone else.

Page 4 : Intensity

Intensity

When I bought the Sunbeam Cold Cathode Light Kit, I really wasn't sure what to expect. How bright they were, I don't know. What exactly does 29,000 cd / m² mean? So let's hit up some brief physics for a second. The units cd / m² is the measure of luminance and it actually stands for candelas per meter squared. That probably doesn't help anyone, so let me whip out a table showing some relative comparisons. Source from Cornell University

cd/m² – Conditions

30 - Subdued indoor lighting
60 - Display only workplaces
120 - Typical office
240 - Bright indoor office
4800 - Very bright, precision indoor tasks
960 - Usual outdoors
1920 - Bright afternoon
29,000 - Sunbeam Specifications

Clearly then these CCFL's are extremely bright and I probably don't need two of the same colors. Although it's a little too late, we'll see how the really perform. Just to show how bright two lights can perform, I took the next shot at midnight with both lights and one monitor on. It's bright enough for me to read in.

If you actually visit the Sunbeam website, you can preview pictures of 12" CCFL's. A single 12" performs as follows.

I tried to simulate similar dark conditions for a photo. Getting a pitch black room at night is easy; getting enough surface area to see how bright the lamp is was a tad harder.

For the sake of comparison, I took a photo of one 6" blue Bubble Light that I received from The TechLounge. Clearly, the single ultra bright LED is no comparison to the bright fluorescent lamps.

Well, there really isn't much left to discuss about these CCFL's. All that's really left is a few pictures and the conclusion. The next four photos show my case with the top light on, the bottom light on and then with both lights on at night and during the day.

Page 5 : Conclusion

Conclusion

I'm definitely not disappointed in the performance of my newly acquired : Sunbeam Cold Cathode Light Kits. There are clearly some flaws that I experienced but apart from those, this is a great product. Mixing colors to get that perfect effect is easy, and I really don't think I can ask for all too much more from these lamps. They also kick the butt out of the blue six inch dual bubble light cold cathodes I have.

Good

- Affordable
- Lots of variety in color and size
- Extremely bright
- Easy setup

Bad

- Not exactly cold, but not the shell isn't hot.
- Lamp can be removed from the shell when powered