A local club I'm involved with asked me about dimming a couple neon lamps. These are the typical neon fixtures you see hanging on the wall at a bar used for promoting a specific drink. I don't know, I haven't done anything with neons before. Is there a dimmer that will do the job?
You cannot dim the primary of an ordinary neon transformer. This is much like trying ot dim an ordinary fluorescent light ballast. It will "sorta work", but only over a very tiny range. It takes a special neon transformer to dim neon, and would be pretty darned expensive to refit into an older iron core transformer in a beer sign that was probably free to the club anyhow.
That's probably not much of a problem, we could add a dimmer to an in-line box. I think MD is on track though. These are the beer type though not old. One is brand new and to bright for the bar area. I guess I can take a look at the type of transformer.
The link MD supplied has a simple solution for the non-dim-able receptacle.
As a somewhat cheaper alternative, you might put something in front of the neon sign. For example, a neutral density theatre gel. These gels are resistant to high heat and come in 20x24 sheets. Metal screen would be another option.
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