12VDC 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. 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 ----- 1 100uf 25V Electrolytic Capacitor

• C2,C3 -- 2 0.01uf 25V Ceramic Disc Capacitor
• C4 ----- 1 0.01uf 1KV Ceramic Disc Capacitor
• R1 ----- 1 1K 1/4W Resistor
• R2 ----- 1 2.7K 1/4W Resistor
• Q1 ----- 1 IRF510 MOSFET
• U1 ----- 1 TLC555 Timer IC
• T1 ----- 1 6V 300mA Transformer
• LAMP --- 1 4W Fluorescent Lamp
• MISC --- 1 Board, Wire, Heatsink For Q1

Notes

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