[neonixie-l] Re: What voltage/current to run tubes at

['threeneurons' via neonixie-l]

On Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 9:50:59 AM UTC-8, kitehman wrote:
>
>
> so i should shoot for just under the 2.5ma current rating and go for 
> lowest striking voltage? higher voltage for a brighter display?
>

Yes, I would aim at 2.5mA. Exact value +/- not critical. You will find, 
that once they strike, the maintaining voltage, is relative constant, as 
you change the supply voltage. They are gas filled cold cathode tubes, and 
just like neon bulbs, and tubes like the 0A3 and 0B2, they act as voltage 
regulators. Very similar to a zener diode. So if you increase the supply 
voltage, the neon voltage will increase ever so slightly, while most of the 
voltage change will be across the anode limiting resistor. Since the 
current is the voltage across that resistor divided by the voltage, then 
the current will increase, and so will the brightness.

Its been suggested earlier, that you should look at pulse width modulation 
(pwm). to adjust brightness. That is use a fixed value for supply voltage 
and anode resistors, to get roughly 2.5mA per tube. But add a pass 
transistor to your supply so you can turn it ON and OFF at a rate faster 
than your eye can perceive flicker. For most people this is faster than 
~30Hz. What exact frequency is not important. On the low end, visual 
flicker is your boundary. At the high end, its the turn ON time of nixies. 
It takes time for a nixie to ionize. I ran experiments on speed a tad over 
10 years ago. The fastest I could get a nixie to turn ON, was a ZM1000, 
with its primer electrode always ON, and a 200V supply. I could get it to 
turn ON in 7uS. 20 to 30 is typical for most nixie tubes. 50uS nominal 
worse case.


Nixie Details 

So, in practical terms, I would set the minimum ON time for about 200uS. So 
if you pick a PWM frequency of 100Hz, you'll get max brightness at 10mS 
(0.01sec, 1uS), and minimum at say 200uS, for a 50:1 brightness range. 
Your eyes don't see linearly, though, so as you view it, that 50:1, will 
look more like 5.6:1 (almost 6:1). 

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[neonixie-l] Re: What voltage/current to run tubes at

['threeneurons' via neonixie-l]

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. 

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[neonixie-l] Re: What voltage/current to run tubes at

['kitehman' via neonixie-l]

On Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 12:42:22 PM UTC-9, Roddy Scott wrote:
>
> Dieter's http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/nixie-tubes.htm has data 
> sheets on all common tubes available.
>
> The data sheets 
>  on this tube 
> recommend 2.5mA. Tubes should be operated within the values supplied 
> otherwise you will have either low levels of brightness or if exceeded, 
> short tube life. The typical strike voltage is 170v and the maintaining 
> voltage typically 133v at that current value from the data sheet.
>
>
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 6:22:36 PM UTC, kitehman wrote:
>>
>> finally got a power supply and am wondering what to run my IN-1 tubes at
>>
>> IIRC your supposed to use current to change the brightness right?
>>
>> i set the supply to 140v and am using 10K or 20K ohm resisters on the 
>> cathode and get 1.01-1.24ma at 10Kohm and 0.65-.083ma at 20Kohm
>>
>> what the target? lowest voltage or lowest current?
>>
>

with the adjustment turned all the way down (137v it strikes just  fine, 
and maintains at 121v) and takes 0.67ma is there anything wrong with 
running at lower voltage levels other than brightness?

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[neonixie-l] Re: What voltage/current to run tubes at

[Roddy Scott]

Dieter's http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/nixie-tubes.htm has data 
sheets on all common tubes available.

The data sheets  
on this tube recommend 2.5mA. Tubes should be operated within the values 
supplied otherwise you will have either low levels of brightness or if 
exceeded, short tube life. The typical strike voltage is 170v and the 
maintaining voltage typically 133v at that current value from the data 
sheet.


On Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 6:22:36 PM UTC, kitehman wrote:
>
> finally got a power supply and am wondering what to run my IN-1 tubes at
>
> IIRC your supposed to use current to change the brightness right?
>
> i set the supply to 140v and am using 10K or 20K ohm resisters on the 
> cathode and get 1.01-1.24ma at 10Kohm and 0.65-.083ma at 20Kohm
>
> what the target? lowest voltage or lowest current?
>

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