Richard,

 

Adding caps is not likely to improve things since your ripple current will 
increase, and only serve to make things hotter. If you suspect the caps (very 
possible) just replace them with the same value.

 

Bill

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On 
Behalf Of Richard Scales
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 12:51 AM
To: neonixie-l <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply

 

Hello,

 

I scoped the 5V and it all looked just fine, I am using the same 12V Buck 
converter that I have used everywhere else - I will try adding caps next.

 

The 12V supply is capable of delivering much more than the required current and 
it is also driving a 6 digit B-7971 device at the same time

 

I removed the HV enable/disable line - no difference.

 

I will report back once I have added some capacitors.

 



On Monday, 18 November 2019 12:00:16 UTC, Kevin A. wrote:

Richard,

 

The phenomena you describe seems to be quite interesting, and after thinking 
though the possibilities I have several ideas for you to try:

 

The 2 most likely scenarios I can come up with would be:

 

- Switching noise entering from the enable pin to the microcontroller. Try 
leaving the enable pin unconnected, and the power supply will stay on. If you 
find that this alleviates the problem, you can use an optocoupler to drive this 
pin and keep it galvanically isolated from your microcontroller. 

 

Or:

 

- Noise or large voltage ripple present on the 5V rail. I'm not sure which 12 
volt power supply you are using to drive the whole system, but the introduction 
of a large switching power supply could be taxing your 12 volt source and/or 
introducing unexpected noise. If you have a scope, see if you can probe the 12 
volt line and the 5 volt line with the NCH device installed, and then with the 
new power supply installed. If you see a lot of noise or higher ripple with one 
versus the other, try to smooth things out with some general purpose 220 or 
470uF electrolytic caps placed close to your circuits across power lines.

 

I would also recommend using a linear regulator for powering logic such as your 
micro and the smartsocket controllers. You can pre-regulate 12 volts down to 
8-6 volts, then use a high quality LDO (low dropout regulator) to provide clean 
power to your logic circuits. Switching power supplies can be very noisy and 
cause glitches just by output ripple present in normal operation. 

 

My suspicion is that the larger switching currents of the big supply may be 
inducing some noise on the low voltage side of your circuits, and seeing as the 
5 volts is running directly off of a switching supply this noise is making it's 
way to the logic and causing glitches. You already tried moving the power 
supply away from the smart sockets and observed the same glitches, so I cannot 
imagine EMI/RFI emitted from the device itself is the issue. 

 

Of course, let me know what your findings are. We will solve this! 

 

On Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 1:48 AM Richard Scales <[email protected] 
<javascript:> > wrote:

Just got to my desk after working away and have looked at the PSU's.

 

First test - connect to 12V and set the output to 170V   all good.

 

My clock build has ten ZM1350 smart sockets - though only using six at the 
moment - it has been running reliably for 1 month or so using one of the 
NCH6100HV power supplies to generate the 170V.

 

I removed the NCH device, mounted the new supply, connected GND and 12V on one 
side, then the 170V Output and the output control on the other side and fired 
the thing up - all looked good.

 

I have now had it running for almost an hour now and I am seeing some odd 
behaviour on the smart sockets in as much as occasionally some characters are 
corrupted or the seconds misses a single change (ie, displays 1 then 3,4) other 
characters display garbage and some transition effects change.

 

I have checked all voltages on the Smart Sockets and right now - the 5V is at 
4.995V and the 170V is at 169.9V so I would expect that to be OK for the logic 
and the display.

 

The display blanking (processor disabling of the 170V output) is working 
perfectly - I am just getting corruption.

 

I have NOT connected GND on the output side as it appears to be the same 
connection as GND on the input side.

 

I have a small BUCk converter generating the 5V for the logic and that line 
appears to be clean.

 

I have mounted the new HV supply on one side of a perspex panel on 15mm 
standoffs, the smart sockets are on the other side of the panel with the same 
15mm standoffs.

 

Is there any risk that some form of RFI is causing the issue that I am seeing?

 

I removed the PSU from its mount and moved it away from the smart sockets - 
around 20cm and the symptoms remained.

 

If I put the NCH6100HV back in the circuit then order is restored.

 

Could you suggest where I should be looking next?

 

 

 

 



On Tuesday, 12 November 2019 19:16:05 UTC, Kevin A. wrote:

Glad to hear it finally arrived! Looking forward to your feedback and seeing it 
in action on the ZM1350 project. 

 

On Tue, Nov 12, 2019, 1:46 PM Richard Scales <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Hello!

 

After nearly a month after ordering - I am informed that the eagle has landed! 
(I am informed by Parcelforce in the UK that it is a busy time of year!). I am 
working away all week but my wife sent me stage by stage pictures of the 
package being unwrapped!

 

moved the I am back Monday and will get it in to play on my ZM1350 development 
setup - Thank you for all your help. I look forward to reporting on progress.

 


On Monday, 4 November 2019 15:42:35 UTC, Kevin A. wrote:

So now the true reason for the delay reveals itself! Again, sorry for that; a 
customs check just seems to be the luck of the draw. 

 

On Mon, Nov 4, 2019, 10:11 AM Richard Scales <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Hello, yes, I just got the same notifications and now  Parcelforce in the UK 
seem to be accepting ownership!

My friend in HK is very pleased with his and has been sending me pictures of it 
all afternoon which has been fairly depressing - until now!

Lets see how long it takes Parcelforce to work out how much to fleece me for 
import charges!

 

 



On Monday, 4 November 2019 14:58:43 UTC, Kevin A. wrote:

Richard,

 

Good news, looks like there was a new scan today. Package should be on it's 
way! 

 

On Fri, Nov 1, 2019, 10:25 AM Richard Scales <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

All understood, thank you for your help.

Sent from my Huawei phone



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homebrew high voltage nixie power supply
From: "Kevin A." 
To: neonixie-l 
CC: 

Richard,

 

Just letting you know that I also reached out to parcelforce in the UK and 
submitted an inquiry with them as well. If none of the requests I've submitted 
turns up a result in one week's time (by November 8th, 2019), I'll be sending 
you a new package via. DHL.

 

Thank you for your patience, 

Kevin

 

On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 4:07 PM Richard Scales <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

I got my friend in Hongkong to place an order from the second batch and his 
have just arrived in HK, I suspect he might be seeing his before I see mine!



On Thursday, 31 October 2019 00:36:44 UTC, Kevin A. wrote:

After a lengthy phone conversation with USPS representatives, they submitted an 
internal request for an update on the package. Hopefully it is still in transit 
to you, and maybe forewent some local scans in the UK. I shipped another unit 
to Australia the same week and the tracking history looks similarly sparse, 
with the package arriving just today.

 

Of course, I'll keep you posted. Thanks. 

 

On Wed, Oct 30, 2019, 7:32 PM Kevin A. <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

I see that on my end as well. I do not send packages to the UK often, so I 
can't comment on whether this is normal or not. I did just submit a formal 
search request for this package through the USPS website and I'm calling USPS 
now. As it is after business hours, if I cannot reach anyone tonight I'll place 
another call tomorrow early in the day. 

 

I'll keep you posted with any updates. Worst case, if it is determined to be 
completely lost I can recover the insured value and send you another package 
(with a different carrier). 

 

Thanks,

Kevin

On Wed, Oct 30, 2019, 7:13 PM Richard Scales <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Thank you. Oddly USPS has it as having left London Heathrow on the 24th, no 
updates since. The UK handler Parcel force confirmed that it has not been 
scanned into their network ☹️

-- 
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] <mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/17eda207-03b3-4ad0-b178-d187660e2b27%40googlegroups.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] <mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/87edb651-2e62-4207-821b-a1baebd4fe4e%40googlegroups.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/87edb651-2e62-4207-821b-a1baebd4fe4e%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
 .

-- 
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/uqpK9r37Frw/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to 
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CALcVLK%2BTLtwzkvnSPkxqkLM031eHwwz2NTT_25LQAeLsKVjsGg%40mail.gmail.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CALcVLK%2BTLtwzkvnSPkxqkLM031eHwwz2NTT_25LQAeLsKVjsGg%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] <mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/4oohsg7ppnixpuhf0j-vsdyg8i3p6fxk0xqp8-tpjmwp-wss8p8-unlirc-1y5lreromxghnc76urc021mc-pm54gm-gmsnk4t6sxs8igo5r6v3c820-u2bx4p-gwnhro-yutxdv-uk4onqhfnsqs-doak3i.1572618301317%40email.android.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/4oohsg7ppnixpuhf0j-vsdyg8i3p6fxk0xqp8-tpjmwp-wss8p8-unlirc-1y5lreromxghnc76urc021mc-pm54gm-gmsnk4t6sxs8igo5r6v3c820-u2bx4p-gwnhro-yutxdv-uk4onqhfnsqs-doak3i.1572618301317%40email.android.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] <mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/506e82e7-46e5-4d98-8cbd-4007ebed530c%40googlegroups.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/506e82e7-46e5-4d98-8cbd-4007ebed530c%40googlegroups.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] <mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/b137f92c-b07b-43f8-b6e8-26015b93a47f%40googlegroups.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/b137f92c-b07b-43f8-b6e8-26015b93a47f%40googlegroups.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] <javascript:> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/7e12999d-ff30-4100-8526-8504ad6ac453%40googlegroups.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/7e12999d-ff30-4100-8526-8504ad6ac453%40googlegroups.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] 
<mailto:[email protected]> .
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/3fb7bfd4-b748-4b01-9d3a-0dea03b7ca16%40googlegroups.com
 
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/3fb7bfd4-b748-4b01-9d3a-0dea03b7ca16%40googlegroups.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 on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/005801d59f09%24bf6f92a0%243e4eb7e0%24%40gmail.com.

Reply via email to