IN-1 gets my vote for the worst nixie tube. If you want a truly outstanding Soviet-era tube, the IN-18 is the crown jewel.
On Friday, June 6, 2025 at 1:10:15 PM UTC-7 Jeff Walton wrote: > I’ve also experienced a higher failure rate on the IN16 tubes. Definitely > a leakage issue on all of the failures. I haven’t seen the bright pink > phenomena but partial digits from the bottom up is what I have > experienced. > > > > I have a PV clock that uses them and after multiple replacements of tubes, > the PCB is in tough shape to the point, I may not be able to make any more > successful replacements if another goes out. Unfortunately, PV does not > offer the kit anymore. My notes are that it has had 7 new tubes since it > was put into operation in May 2016. > > > > In the future, if I ever built another IN-16 clock, I would not use the > spacer/lead separator that comes with the tube. They make tube replacement > very difficult. I prefer to chop the leads from the tube and then > de-solder one at a time, which can’t really be done with the spacers in > place. On my particular clock, there is also a baselight LED to remove and > the PCB did not play well with the heat gun for doing a removal all at > once. > > > > Jeff > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On Behalf > Of *Nicholas Stock > *Sent:* Friday, June 6, 2025 2:15 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [neonixie-l] Fading out IN-16 > > > > My experience was a high rate of failure through leaks... the digits would > start to glow with a brighter pink intensity and then die.... > > > > Even though they're 'cold cathode' tubes, they do generate some heat.... > maybe after 40 seconds or so, thermal expansion of one of the anodes shorts > something out? Grasping at straws here... > > > > On Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 12:10 PM <[email protected]> wrote: > > Huh… I’m surprised to hear that Nick! I have another clock I made using > used IN-16s and it’s been going strong for about 8 months now. Granted > that’s not a long time in the big scheme of things, but I figured since > they appear to have that same mercury amulet as the IN-14s they would > last. I did have one of the used IN-16s go dead suddenly a while back, so > to your point, maybe I just haven’t had as much experience with them as you > have to better see their failure rate. > > > > That one went dead shortly after I built the clock and it had relatively > short leads — maybe 4mm or so — so I thought perhaps I may have stressed > one of them when installing it in the clock and caused the gas leak out > (although I could see no signs of distress where any of the leads entered > the tube). > > > > But this current tube was NOS. It’s just strange how it lights up on > power cycle and then fades out. But I don’t see how it could be a thermal > issue. > > > > > > On Jun 6, 2025, at 2:20 PM, Nicholas Stock <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > IN-16 tubes are *the worst*... I gave up making clocks with them as the > failure rate was so high (maybe I had a bad batch?). > > > > Tis odd that it keeps coming back to life on a power cycle though.... > sounds like it could be thermally related? > > > > On Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 11:18 AM <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi all, > I just built a 6-digit nixie clock using NOS IN-16 tubes. The clock was > working fine for about a day but then suddenly one of tubes went dark, > except for the right hand decimal which is used as a status indicator. > When the clock is power cycled, the errant tube comes back to life for > maybe 30-40 seconds and then fades out again. It’s in the seconds position > so I can see it sequence through each digit before it fades out. When I > swap it into another position on the clock, the problem follows the tube. > I’ve replaced it with another NOS tube and the clock is working fine again. > > Does anyone have any thoughts on why tube would come to life for a short > period of time when power cycled and then fade out? > > Thanks, > Randy > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/42E92C91-6240-4200-BBA2-3B2EE2B29F83%40gmail.com > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOX%2BRHJoQD%2B2nE%2B7Dsrr1xh4KWEGE-0GjtF4zAMac_%3DfR0jA-w%40mail.gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOX%2BRHJoQD%2B2nE%2B7Dsrr1xh4KWEGE-0GjtF4zAMac_%3DfR0jA-w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/9DB89D01-91D3-434B-AEDA-AF178B536BDE%40gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/9DB89D01-91D3-434B-AEDA-AF178B536BDE%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOX%2BRHLzupB75mJFydQXTZ2onE3H0Nmt8XLN4js5nOdVnappnQ%40mail.gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOX%2BRHLzupB75mJFydQXTZ2onE3H0Nmt8XLN4js5nOdVnappnQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 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