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By the way, I'm open to recommendations on a different clock kit that will use my IN-18s. I haven't had much luck finding another make.
Kiran
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Sorry, corrected link below. Phones are fun...
Kiran,
PV Electronics makes a nice kit. Their "Spectrum" model uses the IN-18 nixies and accepts a GPS and also has a motion sensor that turns off the high voltage when no one is around to extend the life of the tubes. Really nice feature!
They also have a couple different cases available for the Spectrum model.
I recently bought one and would recommend them. It runs nice and cool.
From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kiran Otter
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2015 12:51 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: Need help with a tubehobby clock overheating
By the way, I'm open to recommendations on a different clock kit that will use my IN-18s. I haven't had much luck finding another make.
Kiran
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Here is a direct link to PV Electronics "Spectrum" clock kit that uses the IN-18 tubes:
http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18&products_id=157
Jeff W
From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kiran Otter
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2015 12:51 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: Need help with a tubehobby clock overheating
By the way, I'm open to recommendations on a different clock kit that will use my IN-18s. I haven't had much luck finding another make.
Kiran
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I've had a Tubehobby clock for several years, the NCV2.1 with the IN-18 tubes. In the past Jonas has helped, and I even shipped him the main board for him to repair, but he hasn't responded to my last request for help, so I thought I would ask here.
Recently, I started to notice that other digits in the tubes were partially lighting up, and eventually the fuse blew. My assumption was that the K155ID1 drivers had started to go, so I ordered six of them off eBay, and tried replacing them.. which isn't hard, everything is socketed. Well it didn't help, so I contacted Jonas. Jonas suggested replacing C6, which I did and it appeared to fix the problem.
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----- Original Message -----From: Kiran OtterSent: Sunday, March 29, 2015 8:53 AMSubject: [neonixie-l] Re: Need help with a tubehobby clock overheating
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Sorry, corrected link below. Phones are fun...
Kiran,
PV Electronics makes a nice kit. Their "Spectrum" model uses the IN-18 nixies and accepts a GPS and also has a motion sensor that turns off the high voltage when no one is around to extend the life of the tubes. Really nice feature!
They also have a couple different cases available for the Spectrum model.
I recently bought one and would recommend them. It runs nice and cool.
http://www.pvelectronics.co.uk
Jeff Walton
From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kiran Otter
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2015 12:51 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: Need help with a tubehobby clock overheating
By the way, I'm open to recommendations on a different clock kit that will use my IN-18s. I haven't had much luck finding another make.
Kiran
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Kiran,
If you get your scope running, check the output of U1 (7805 regulator) and look for a very flat DC. If you see any type of sawtooth or superimposed oscillation, replace C1. You can use a any higher value than 10uF as long as it physically fits and has a high enough voltage rating. Any visible oscillation superimposed on the output pin could cause the overheating and also could cause the phantom digit illumination as well as other issues. Just as was mentioned in a previous post regarding C6, C1 could also have dried out and a heated board in the same area will accelerate the dryout of any nearby electrolytic caps. C2 is also filtering the input to the 7805 and in the direct vicinity of your hot board. If it is dried out, it will also cause unwanted behavior.
Jeff Walton
From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kiran Otter
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2015 12:56 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: Need help with a tubehobby clock overheating
Something I want to note about how I used a heatsink; I epoxied it to the tops of the cases of M1 & U1; traditionally you'd bolt it to the back of the component but at the time I couldn't figure out a better way, and I had heatsink epoxy, so I just plastered it to the tops of the two components. It's been like that ever since I built the clock, and never did it get so hot that you couldn't touch it. Warm, yes.
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Hi folks, glad to find this group!
I've had a Tubehobby clock for several years, the NCV2.1 with the IN-18 tubes. In the past Jonas has helped, and I even shipped him the main board for him to repair, but he hasn't responded to my last request for help, so I thought I would ask here.
Recently, I started to notice that other digits in the tubes were partially lighting up, and eventually the fuse blew. My assumption was that the K155ID1 drivers had started to go, so I ordered six of them off eBay, and tried replacing them.. which isn't hard, everything is socketed. Well it didn't help, so I contacted Jonas. Jonas suggested replacing C6, which I did and it appeared to fix the problem.
Maybe a month later, I started to notice the left most digit was faintly showing numbers, and seemed to be influenced by the next to right digit. So I thought perhaps the drivers I got from eBay weren't good, so I swapped them around, trying to see if it made any difference. Unfortunately, I trashed the two original driver chips that came with the kit. So far swapping the drivers around among the six I have, hasn't changed anything.. or if it has, the digits lighting that shouldn't be have moved from tube to tube.
Well I let the clock run like this for a week or so, and one day I just happened to feel around the voltage regulator U1 (L7805CV).. and it's blazing hot. I put a temp probe on it and it's running at 140F in open air, and when I built the clock, I epoxied a heatsink to it. It never ever used to get this hot. In fact the clock has run for years in a closed enclosure with very little ventilation. It just never produced much heat at all. I swapped both driver chips for two others, and it still gets just as hot.
When the clock shuts off the display at night, the temp drops to just above room temperature.
So my guess is has to be one of two things I replaced; C6, or the driver chips. I think it's the drivers, and I'd like to get a pair from somewhere reputable so I can at least rule them out as the problem. I've seen some that appear to be ceramic, instead of plastic cased.. claimed to be 'milspec' but I donno if that's BS or what.
Any help is appreciated!
Kiran
Kiran,
A sawtooth waveform would point to a bad C1. A waveform of a much higher frequency would be from an oscillation and more superimposed on the DC.
As long as you are going to do some soldering anyway, you should just replace the 7805 with the drop-in switcher that you received from Tayloredge. It is MUCH more efficient. You could also replace C1 at the same time since you are already working on it. Saves you the work later if it is deteriorating. Bypass caps are also a good practice for circuits with high frequencies. Many modern board layouts that work with much higher frequencies (probably not in your clock) build-in circuit traces that are engineered to act in the same manner as a bypass but it won't hurt anything in a clock design to add the bypass caps to a power rail.
Many years ago, during my time with Texas Instruments, I sold hundreds of thousands of the little 78xx and 79xx series regulators into a lot of different applications. They were a new and novel solution for cheap and dirty regulation and efficiency was not a big deal back them. Today, the small drop-in replacements for the 78xx series are a much more modern and elegant solution when there is a small power budget.
Jeff Walton
From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kiran Otter
Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2015 1:52 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: Need help with a tubehobby clock overheating
I should have said if I see oscillation from the 7805 that Jeff mentioned, pointing to a bad C1. I may just replace it regardless.
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Dan,
For IN-18 tubes, the Nocrotec Blue Dream Clock or the PV Electronics Spectrum 18 clock are both very nice. Both are direct drive and run nice and cool. The Nocrotec clock has a stainless case available and the PV Electronics clock has three different cases with choices of clear or smoke grey acrylic. Among the differences - the Nocrotec clock is blue backlit, whereas the PV Electronics clock has programmable colors on the tube backlighting and also has a very nice motion sensor option to save the tubes when no one is around. Both have similar fading effects on the digits but the Nocrotec clock also fades the colons to match. The cathode protection option on the PV Electronics clock is more interesting as the digits cycle independently of each other rather than exactly the same. Both have good GPS support. If you have daylight saving time, the PV Electronics clock has a one button DST control for easy changes. Both have robust menus.
I've built both and like both clocks very much!
Jeff Walton
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