Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[joshua dejaen]

I have an edwards e2m1 that I bought used for $200 which theoretically can 
reach .38 microns.

Its pumping speed however is slow and my rubber stoppers are not helping. 
My thermocouple gauge burned out unfortunately so I can't measure my 
current vacuum but I would not be 

surprised if I was achieving 5 microns or lower after extended pumping. 

A diffusion pump is not necessary in my opinion for experimenting, but 
probably is needed if you want to make a tube that will last for decades. 

Bombarding is an issue I have not solved, I currently just heat the tube 
with the torch for a while pumping to remove impurities and call it good.

This leaves the electrodes unprocessed however and will lead to a shorter 
life.

Simplifier and myself have both also both made functional Triodes using 
nothing more than a rotary vane pump, and he was able to achieve below 5 
microns with his generic Chinese 

pump.


Here is a link to Simplifier making a helium discharge tube using only a 
cheap rotary vane pump https://simplifier.neocities.org/discharge.html

And his Homepage https://simplifier.neocities.org/index.html

He has a whole list of vacuum and glass related projects and does them in 
the simplest way possible.






On Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 7:03:38 PM UTC-7 gregebert wrote:

> Did you need to use a diffusion pump to get below 10 microns ? Years ago I 
> researched doing neon tubes, but got discouraged by the high-cost of the 
> vacuum equipment and the dangers of bombarding.
>
> On Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 11:32:33 AM UTC-7 Chuck wrote:
>
>> I distinctly remember some of Dalibor's first tubes from mnay years ago 
>> when he first started experimenting.
>>
>> He made one that looked a lot like this one.   Nice Work!
>>
>> Chuck
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>>  Original Message 
>> From: "joshua dejaen" 
>> Sent: 10/24/2021 2:36:14 AM
>> To: "neonixie-l" 
>> Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube
>>  
>> Thanks for all the comments,  sorry I could not reply sooner.
>>  
>> I have added mercury to glow tubes in the past but I have not wanted to 
>> contaminate my new pump.
>>  
>> I could do it on my old pump but it is not able to pump below 1 torr and 
>> the tube would be left with impurities.
>>  
>> My electrodes consist of copper welded to tungsten with a nickel buffer 
>> and then the tungsten welded to nickel wire that forms the digits inside 
>> the tube.
>>  
>> The tungsten forms the actual seal to the pyrex glass and the copper 
>> provides a nice external lead.
>>  
>> I heat up the tube with the torch while pumping for about a minute and 
>> let it pump under high(ish) vacuum (5-10  microns) for 30 min.
>>  
>> I then open the bleed valve and adjust the pressure until the glow looks 
>> good and seal it off.
>>  
>> I also have made Triodes in the past and those require about 15 min 
>> heating with the torch on the pump along with an hour of pumping.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>
>> On Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 12:49:28 PM UTC-7 nickja...@gmail.com 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I don't recall for certain if it was NeonJohn or another guy, or even 
>>> what group it was in.  Could've been the old geigercounterenthusiasts group 
>>> on yahoo.  This was some time ago, when we were laughing about the insane 
>>> overreaction to breakage of CFLs in school classrooms.  I've never tried 
>>> opening a tube in a controlled fashion myself, but have seen tiny droplets 
>>> in broken ones, usually near the ends of the tube.
>>>  
>>> Been playing with glass laser tubes a little the last week.  Found that 
>>> Gammex patient positioners used both red and green HeNe before diodes took 
>>> over.  Got one that won't lase though the plasma tube is a nice bright 
>>> pink.  It hisses or buzzes continuously but no beam output.  The PS is good 
>>> as it lit up a couple of similar size d tubes last night when I tried.  I 
>>> need to completely remove it and try sighting through the bore.  It's 
>>> possible it's leaking and coming up in pressure slowly and is now dead.  I 
>>> was looking at the metal evac/fill tube where it's crimped off and 
>>> wondering about the possibilities of re-gassing...  I have a couple of 
>>> those metal tube ends with some defunct old tubes I got from Laser Sam a 
>>> couple years back for experimenting.  More interests, less time...
>>>
>>>  
>>> On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 2:37 PM Mac Doktor  wrote:
>>>
>>

Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[joshua dejaen]

Thanks for all the comments,  sorry I could not reply sooner.

I have added mercury to glow tubes in the past but I have not wanted to 
contaminate my new pump.

I could do it on my old pump but it is not able to pump below 1 torr and 
the tube would be left with impurities.

My electrodes consist of copper welded to tungsten with a nickel buffer and 
then the tungsten welded to nickel wire that forms the digits inside the 
tube.

The tungsten forms the actual seal to the pyrex glass and the copper 
provides a nice external lead.

I heat up the tube with the torch while pumping for about a minute and let 
it pump under high(ish) vacuum (5-10  microns) for 30 min.

I then open the bleed valve and adjust the pressure until the glow looks 
good and seal it off.

I also have made Triodes in the past and those require about 15 min heating 
with the torch on the pump along with an hour of pumping.










On Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 12:49:28 PM UTC-7 nickja...@gmail.com 
wrote:

> I don't recall for certain if it was NeonJohn or another guy, or even what 
> group it was in.  Could've been the old geigercounterenthusiasts group on 
> yahoo.  This was some time ago, when we were laughing about the insane 
> overreaction to breakage of CFLs in school classrooms.  I've never tried 
> opening a tube in a controlled fashion myself, but have seen tiny droplets 
> in broken ones, usually near the ends of the tube.
>
> Been playing with glass laser tubes a little the last week.  Found that 
> Gammex patient positioners used both red and green HeNe before diodes took 
> over.  Got one that won't lase though the plasma tube is a nice bright 
> pink.  It hisses or buzzes continuously but no beam output.  The PS is good 
> as it lit up a couple of similar size d tubes last night when I tried.  I 
> need to completely remove it and try sighting through the bore.  It's 
> possible it's leaking and coming up in pressure slowly and is now dead.  I 
> was looking at the metal evac/fill tube where it's crimped off and 
> wondering about the possibilities of re-gassing...  I have a couple of 
> those metal tube ends with some defunct old tubes I got from Laser Sam a 
> couple years back for experimenting.  More interests, less time...
>
> On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 2:37 PM Mac Doktor  wrote:
>
>>
>> On Oct 20, 2021, at 2:59 PM, Nick Andrews  wrote:
>>
>> A guy built a device to try and capture the mercury, thinking he could 
>> recover and build up a small supply.  He found that he never could get any 
>> significant quantity from the tubes.
>>
>>
>> Did he condense the vapor first?
>>
>>
>> Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
>> "The Mac Doctor"
>>
>> https://www.astarcloseup.com
>>
>> “...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, 
>> it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close 
>> up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", *Cosmos*, 1980
>>
>>
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>>  
>> 
>> .
>>
>

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Re: [neonixie-l] Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[joshua dejaen]

Striking voltage is 450 V, maintaining voltage is 300 V. What a joke!

The seals seem to be good, however it will be short lived.

I am already seeing signs of sputtering on the glass with less than 30 
minutes use.

Big difference between making something that works in the lab versus 
something that will work for

10 years in a clock.



On Monday, October 18, 2021 at 6:52:46 PM UTC-7 Pramanicin wrote:

> Nicely done! The inevitable questions...
>
> strike voltage? Any idea of longevity etc?
>
> Keep up the good work!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nick
>
> On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 6:46 PM joshua dejaen  wrote:
>
>> [image: nixiesnip3.PNG]
>> Hello, 
>>
>> I wanted to share a Nixie tube I made.
>>
>> It only has 3 digits and uses nitrogen for the glow instead of neon so 
>>
>> it is rather primitive, but I have plans for more complicated ones in the 
>> future.
>>
>> I made a video showing how I made it if anyone is interested.
>>
>> (warning, it is barbaric)
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7I61d27R3E
>>
>>
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>> .
>>
>

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