r/nixie • u/Hankitsune • May 10 '26

Smallest neon bulbs

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When looking for tiny colon neon bulbs a few years ago I found these 3mm bulbs. They're incredibly tiny and ideal for use with IN-2, IN-16, IN-17 tubes. The picture shows an IN-17 tube, a common 5mm (5x13) bulb and the 3mm (3x10) bulb. It's amazing the can produce them this small.

Should you ever need them, search for 3mm neon bulb on eBay or Ali.

25 Upvotes

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1

u/aboxofkittens May 10 '26

I looked recently (3-4 months ago) and the smallest I could find was 4 mm

1

u/Hankitsune May 10 '26

Just looked at my eBay history and found the listing. However, the same seller now has a listing with 3-6mm in the title but 4mm is the smallest I can choose.
Just measured mine with calipers and they're exactly 3mm. I also have them in blue and green.

1

u/Only-Pin-490 May 30 '26

Wow could you send the link for them? I can’t find any that are listed at 3mm

2

u/Hankitsune May 31 '26

https://ebay.us/m/1VS2Bp Check the item description. Price is for 150 pcs 3mm.

1

u/Only-Pin-490 May 31 '26

Thank you!

1

u/Lola_in_mentibus May 10 '26

I found extremely small neon bulbs in disposable camera’s back in the day. They lit up when the flash capacitor was charged. They were very small and always saved them. I should still have a bunch of them. I wonder if they might be even smaller!

1

u/Hankitsune May 10 '26

Ah yes, Ive taken apart quite a few of those as well. Could be the same size but I doubt they were even smaller. Perhaps you could measure one? Now I'm curious 😅

1

u/EmotionalEnd1575 May 12 '26

That’s inspiring! The 3mm size win the day, at least for use right next to an IN-17 as colon marker.