> But I reckon for light bulbs you need a much better vacuum than for Nixie > tubes, right?
Not really. Many light bulbs contain various gases (nitrogen, argon, xenon, bromium, iodine, etc.) and work just fine. Most gases won't harm a light bulb, even if there's some residual oxygen, it'll oxidize some tungsten and that will be that, the bulb will still be fine. Fluorescents are less tolerant, as they depend on a mercury/argon (or krypton) discharge to work, so a little (say) carbon dioxide will make the arc unstable, leading to bands or swirling. Nixies are similar, they also depend on a gas discharge to work, but instead of using the anode column, they work using the cathode glow. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about plasma physics to determine which gases and how much would disturb their operation or in which ways. The hard one is vacuum tubes - they really require an excellent vacuum to work (soft tubes excepted). Luckily, you're not attempting that. > I mean, I am just beginning here and trying to get something glowing. Happily, impurities like that probably won't impede getting tubes working at all. In general, they'll slowly outgas as the tube operates, and make it work less well. But you should be able to get at least something with the equipment you have. I'd suggest heating the glass and electrodes (RF heating is ideal for this) while pumping, then seal off while everything is still pretty warm. This is easier/cheaper than a vacuum kiln. Our own John Armond sells a very nice RF heating rig, either complete or in kit form - it's also open source, but some of the bits require a fair amount of effort to make/obtain. http://www.neon-john.net/Induction/heater.htm http://www.fluxeon.com/ I'd also suggest investigating the possibility of a getter, to help clean up the (intentional) gas in your tubes, and prolong their life. - John -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
