Average longevity of Nixie tubes varied from about 5,000 hours for the earliest types, to as high as 200,000 hours or more for some of the last types to be introduced.
Why are Nixie tubes so expensive?
The reason is that nobody is making nixie tubes on a commercial basis nowadays. As old tubes get used up, they also become more expensive. The tiny tubes used in watches are especially rare because they were rarely used in the nixie display age. The thing is that tubes were not popular in clocks until recent years.
Do Nixie tubes use a lot of power?
Although the voltage is high, the amount of current flowing is very small, so the clocks do not use much power. They only consume about 3 to 4 Watts of power, and consequently generate almost no heat. The tubes are not hot or even warm to the touch.
What voltage do Nixie tubes run on?
Nixie tubes require high voltages (>170 volts) to illuminate. A single anode is connected to a high voltage source via a dropping resistor and cathodes shaped like numbers are grounded to make them illuminate. Drivers, then, must be capable of withstanding the driving voltage.
Are Nixie clocks safe?
Yes, it is safe to power nixie tubes all the time, the power consumption is below 1W per tube, they stay at room temperature. Our clocks are powered from power adaptor which is able to deliver only 24W, in case of short-circuit of any kind in the clock/tube, the power adaptor cuts off the power.
Why did they stop making Nixie tubes?
In the 1970s, Nixies were eclipsed by LEDs, which were not only much cheaper to make and use but also more versatile. The tubes might have died the lonely death of countless other obsolete devices—and yet they did not. Some Nixies lingered on in legacy equipment, of course.
What is the largest nixie tube?
CD47
The largest Nixie tube, the CD47, now sells for around US $1,000; back in 2000, it could be had for $100 or less.
Are Nixie tubes efficient?
Efficiency ranges from around 65% for 3.7V in, up to around 80% for 5V and 12V.
Are Nixie tubes a fire hazard?
No risk of setting surroundings on fire. Another safety feature is a PTC fuse in the clock itself, it also cuts off power in case of short.
Are Nixie tubes poisonous?
For the iN-4 Nixie tubes, the 0,4,3, and 9 are susceptible to cathode poisoning if the digits are displayed even the same amount. In this case, it is important to adjust the display time to offset this nonsymmetrical behavior. This is done during a burn-in procedure each evening.
Can you buy new Nixie tubes?
Unfortunately, nobody actually manufacturers new Nixie tubes anymore, and everything you can buy is simply old stock from decades ago — stock that’s going to run out. Every ZIN18 Nixie tube will be freshly-manufactured, making it the only real option if you want a brand new Nixie tube.
Do people still make Nixie tubes?
The last nixie tube was made in the early 90s, when this beautiful technology was replaced by lower-cost alternatives. But production has now resumed in the Czech Republic.
Is there an Arduino version of the Nixie tube driver?
November 2019 Update – Note that there is now an Arduino version of this project. Most Nixie tube drivers require the obsolete and hard to find 7441 or 74141 TTL decoder driver ICs, or else high voltage driver transistors.
Where can I find a nixie driver?
Many companies produced Nixie drivers, but today they are no longer on their catalogs. That being said, you can easily find “new old stock” on eBay or any other place. These chips are 5V logic and transform a 4 bit input (0000 to 1111) into a given output pin.
Can I use the max6922 to drive a nixie?
The MAX6922 is a serial in, parallel out, 32 bit source driver, capable of handling 60 volts, which is sufficient to drive Nixies. Nixies actually require a sink driver, not a source driver, but the MAX6922 outputs can sink enough current to drive smaller Nixies such as the Russian IN-16s that I used in my project.
What is the purpose of pin 5 on a Nixie tube?
The resulting number is converted from binary to BCD which in turn is used as an entry in to a lookup table to determine the correct lines to power on the Nixie tubes. Pin 5 is now configured as an output for serial data to the display driver (with pin 3 configured as an input again), and the line select data is shifted out to the display driver.
