See what voltage you need for the tube to strike in a dark room. If you run the tubes at too low current, you risk cathode poisoning. It won't appear immediately, but takes time. Weeks or months. What you'll eventually see is only partial illumination of the digits. Positive neon ions hit the lit cathode, sneding that cathode's metal flying. That metal covers its unlit neighbors. When those unlit cathodes have their turn at being ON, they can shake of that crud, but only if the current is high enough. If too low, that crud builds up, causing dark unlit splotches on the cathodes.
So, if the current is too high, you just ear out the cathodes too quickly, but also if the current is too low, you won't allow them to clean themselves. Operate in the recommended current range for that tube model. Other tube model thoughts. If the nixies are to be ON 24/7 such as in a clock, then only use long life tubes, containing mercury, for those. Of the Russian devices, those are: IN-8-2, IN-12 (A & B), IN-14, IN-16, IN-17, & IN-18 Save the non-mercury tubes (IN-1, IN-2, & IN-4) for items that are on transiently, like meters and games. -- 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 post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/509cd541-0fda-4b1b-8424-831ccebeb553%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
