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. I finally found one in Electronics Now. 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.

Schematic

Parts:

Notes:

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.