The idea is that the tubes are run at full brightness for a while, every so often to drive off deposits from the cathodes.
I haven’t seen any experimental results indicating how successful this is. However I have certainly witnessed complete glow coverage being restored when cathodes are driven at a greater than normal current (in the space of minutes), so there might be something to it. > On Jan 5, 2018, at 10:41 AM, Nobutaka <nobut...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > El jueves, 4 de enero de 2018, 11:38:01 (UTC+1), Nobutaka escribió: >> >> Hello people. >> >> I recently discovered the Nixies, and instantly falled in love. >> >> I decided to make my first Nixie clock, so I bought 6 IN-18 Nixies, a Nixie >> tester/Healer from fleabay and a Nixie clock kit from PV Electronics. >> >> The idea is to quickly build a Nixie clock (I've gotta have one!) so that I >> can start toying around with the Nixies. >> >> At the same time I would like to design my own clock device, so I already >> started to devour information about Nixies, and then, oh man, is when >> questions arise. >> >> First I will try to explain my objectives and backgrounds, and I will leave >> the questions to the end. >> >> I plan designing a clock: >> using IN-18 tubes (the largest that I know of, if you don't take into >> account the ones made by Dalibor, which are unfortunately out of my reach). >> using a RasberryPI to control everything, including NTP time synchronisation >> and even creating a web-based configurator for the clock. I feel very >> confident using linux and C/C++ as I use them (not R-PIs) on a daily basis. >> Nixie tube lifespan is an absolute priority. I would like to design the >> watch so that it wouldn't require periodical tube changes, as they are very >> valuable and getting harder to source. >> I studied electronics in university (20 years ago) and since then I >> basically worked with computers (banking, nothing to do with electronics), >> but I liked very much electronics (digital electronics better), and I >> thought doing Nixie projects could something cool and rewarding. >> >> So, after some reading, I got some questions: >> Direct drive or multiplexing? Multiplexing seems to be the most common >> solution; it uses lower power consumption, but on the other side some people >> complain about 'noises' and nixie flickering. Direct power supply means >> more power consumption and brighter Nixies, but lifespan should be reduced >> as well, so I think my design should use multiplexing too. I think this is >> an eternal debate in these forums that now I will have to face too. I think >> multiplexing/direct drive is not as important as... >> power supply? For what I read, even though IN-18 are rated to be cathode >> powered with 180V, some recommend lower voltage ratings (170V or even 160V) >> in order to improve lifespan. Also there seems to be a dramatically >> importance in the mA constantly supplied by the power source. For what I >> could learn, an insuffient power supply that could not provide a stable >> amperage, would lead Nixies to cathode poisoning problems. I would like to >> control the powersource voltage from the raspberry (to increase/reduce >> voltage to make the Nixie brigther/dimmer), any hints on where to start >> looking would be appreciated. >> Other big size Nixie recommendations? As I found trouble finding IN-18, >> maybe there is a better Nixie alternative, specially if I want to test and >> abuse the nixies. Something that can be easily found and that is not going >> to have supply shortage in the near future... >> I hope my questions don't offend anyone. I tried to answer them by myself >> but got a bit stuck here. >> > > Assuming my nixie clock won't be hacked by cyberterrorist, and that the RPI > isn't affected by the Intel-gate (LOL), I continue my investigation. > > In order to increase the lifespan of the Nixies, I would like to include a > 'cathode poisoning' prevention routine. People usually refer at it as the > 'jackpot machine'.... > > What would be (the idea) of such an algorithm and what time would it be > necessary to be doing this. I guess at night I could just simply switch it > off, or maybe increase the frequency of this anti-poisoning prevention > routines. I know the ideal is to use all the digits the same amount of time, > but if using a 12 hour time, or a 24 hour time, the digit indicating the tens > of hours will be always off, marking 1, or 2 (for example)... > > Any advice on this point? > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google > Groups "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/neonixie-l/WIK2UWjMHPI/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/130f2c0e-53c4-429c-afff-84b76c2894dc%40googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 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