If you have a high-voltage DC supply, you can put a series resistor and milliamp meter in series. The exact value of the resistor isn't critical because its only there to limit the current. 47K is a good starting point. Next, slowly increase the DC supply. Somewhere around 100 volts, the current will start to increase. The voltage at the supply is the ignition voltage. You should be able to get a visible glow well below 1mA. It's hard to say how much current is safe, but I would keep it below 2mA until you find any datasheet info. Nixie tubes have a plateau effect where increasing the current produces very little observable change in brightness, and from what I've measured, this effect is within the recommended operating current. I think you can infer that bulbs are similar.
Beware of the phosphor-coated bulbs. I have green ones in my NIMO clock used as colons, and they definitely wear-out over time. You might get a few thousand hours from them, but they gradually get dimmer and the phosphor changes from white to shades of grey. They are great if you have spares; I like the colors. But they wont last as long as regular neon bulbs. On Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 2:00:27 PM UTC-7 Tidak Ada wrote: > Sorry, I forgot to tell they are from ‘*MELTZ*’, former Soviet Union. > > > > eric > > > > *Van:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *Namens > *Tidak Ada > *Verzonden:* dinsdag 29 oktober 2024 21:55 > *Aan:* [email protected] > *Onderwerp:* [neonixie-l] Russian coulored neon lamps > > > > Hi All, > > > > I got al time ago a set of nixie bulbs about what I liked to know more > data. > > I was in the mind that they were for 230V, but that resulted in a little > ‘bang’ and a electric defective bulb. > > I opened that bulb en as you cansee at the second photo one of the > electrodes is blown off. > > > > Is there anyone who has the necessary data to run the bulbs properly? > > Most important are the ignition voltage and the maximum operating current, > but any more useful data is highly appreciated. > > > > Kind regards, > > eric > > -- > 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/!%26!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAPDddShx705MuX20yCpp0vvCgAAAEAAAAF8bZssXY4NMk85XJ47GqwgBAAAAAA%3D%3D%40zeelandnet.nl > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/!%26!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAPDddShx705MuX20yCpp0vvCgAAAEAAAAF8bZssXY4NMk85XJ47GqwgBAAAAAA%3D%3D%40zeelandnet.nl?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/cc4d3114-a5a3-44bb-9a7c-86dbfd4301c1n%40googlegroups.com.
