Re: [neonixie-l] Help with IN-8 tube mount for Threeneuron's 6 digit clock

[Roddy Scott]

Hi Jason,

the sockets are held tight as you say by this method. Have a look at the 
Assembly  
instructions 
for the Spectrum kit from PV Electronics for details.



On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 3:41:49 PM UTC+1, Jason Perez wrote:
>
> Roddy,
> I will try that for pin straightening. I like the plexiglass, so the idea 
> is that holds the sockets tightly closed?

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Re: [neonixie-l] Help with IN-8 tube mount for Threeneuron's 6 digit clock

[Jason Perez]

Roddy,
I will try that for pin straightening. I like the plexiglass, so the idea is 
that holds the sockets tightly closed?

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Re: [neonixie-l] Help with IN-8 tube mount for Threeneuron's 6 digit clock

[Roddy Scott]

Skewed in one direction means they were pulled out at an angle and this can 
lead to seal damage. Without a tube straightner you can gently straighten 
them with flat jawed needle pliers by applying as little force as possible 
to get them perpendicular again. I have done this without causing any 
compromise to the seal on quite a few tubes. The thicker the pin, the more 
likely the damage to the seal.
When Nixies were common place and replacements were widely available less 
care was taken with them in inserting and removing them by hamfisted 
individuals. Now that you have to pawn an arm or a leg for some tubes more 
care is taken!

I have Z566s on a PV Electronics board with the plexiglass mounts and these 
give a good grip on the pins and support to the nixie. I have used the same 
sockets without the plexiglass as 'flying' connections but only after 
shrouding them in heatshrink to stop them splaying open and causing poor or 
loose connections.

This thread has raised some very interesting points in regards to tube 
fitment.

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 3:37:05 AM UTC+1, Jason Perez wrote:
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 12:32:51 PM UTC-4, gregebert wrote:
>>
>> A solution to the inflexible socket-pins soldered to the PCB is to 
>> custom-fit each tube. Assign a unique number to each tube and socket. Place 
>> the pins onto the tube, then solder the pins to the PCB (almost like 
>> soldering the tube in-place). Remove the tube, clip-off the extra leads on 
>> the PCB. 
>>
>> The tube can be inserted almost effortlessly, and with far less force 
>> than a conventional socket. My last clock has 18 sockets for IN-18's. 
>> "Only" 14 are actually populated, though. I found that even though each 
>> tube is custom fitted to a particular location, it's fairly easy easy to 
>> interchange them because the pins are manufactured with reasonable 
>> consistency. Most IN-18 pins are soft and easily bent, so be extra careful 
>> when handling, socketing, straightening, etc. Nevertheless, I do keep each 
>> tube in it's assigned socket.
>>
>> If you have a 3D printer, make a socket-cap to slip over the soldered 
>> pins. It will provide some mechanical protection for the pins, and it makes 
>> insertion of tubes much easier. It will have the same appearance as a real 
>> socket.
>>
> I will keep this in mind for assembly. I did notice all of the pins are 
> skewed in one direction on a couple of the tubes I ordered. Not sure 
> exactly how you're supposed to straighten them, I saw a tube straightener 
> on ebay but it was $150 or something..for a piece of metal? There has 
> to be an easier way.  
>

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RE: [neonixie-l] Re: b7971 segment current

[Jeff Walton]

Greg – my 1971 clock with Burroughs CK8754 nixie tubes ran 27/7/365 for over 35 
years with no tube or digit failures.  It used 74141 drivers driven at ~170 
volts by a rectified line voltage doubler circuit using recommended anode 
resistors from the example circuits out of the Texas Instruments data book.  
During the life of the clock, there were a couple failures of the caps in the 
voltage doubler but no failures in the tubes or chips.  The clock was basic 
with no steps to prevent cathode poisoning and the tubes were actually soldered 
with wrapped wire around the pins.  The entire clock was point to point wiring.

 

While I can’t attest that the brightness was the same as in the beginning, the 
display tubes were still perfectly viewable with full digit coverage and easily 
visible in a room with windows.  In the early life of the tubes, I did note 
that there were occasional blue arcs that occurred with reducing frequency as 
the tubes “broke in”.  I think the arcing stopped sometime within the first 
year.

 

I came to the conclusion that a well designed nixie, which had good seal 
integrity, the right gases/doping and was operated within the specs could last 
a good long time. 

 

 

 

From: neonixie-l@googlegroups.com [mailto:neonixie-l@googlegroups.com] On 
Behalf Of gregebert
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2016 12:25 AM
To: neonixie-l
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: b7971 segment current

 

> I built three clocks with a total of 18 tubes.  So far, after 40+ years, 
> there have been zero tube failures. 

 

40 years ? How many hours per day are you running your tubes ?

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[neonixie-l] Re: b7971 segment current

['jf...@my-deja.com' via neonixie-l]

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 10:25:09 PM UTC-7, gregebert wrote:
>
> 40 *years* ? How many hours per day are you running your tubes ?
>
Mine has been running 24x7x365.25, with brief exceptions for things like 
moving to a new home, power outages due to earthquakes (California!) and 
weather, etc.  The other two were gifts, but I have not needed to replace 
any tubes in those (and I get to check on them occasionally).   It was a 
basic design typical of the 1970s: linear power supply and a CT7001 clock 
chip.  It did not have the additional circuitry that would have been 
required to dim the bulbs or turn them off.  At $1/tube, there was no 
incentive to complicate the circuitry in an attempt to "extend" the life of 
the tubes, and as the experiment has demonstrated, it would have been a 
waste of time and effort.

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