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. 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.
Parts:
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
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.