IV-6 background variations

[Paolo Cravero]

Hello.

Today I received some assorted used IV-6 VFDs and two of them have a blue background. The lot spans from 1976 to 1992, so I am not surprised there have been variations in base materials, but I never saw them before as I haven't got many VFDs (yet). Maybe I am a bit disappointed because I got only two blue's :) I am wondering how common they are.

In the same purchase I bet on a lot of IN-16 sold as "for spare", which are obviously 100% outgassed even if visually intact. Can't raise a complaint, I've lost a bet, while I was hoping for some cathode poisoning. Besides smashing a couple under a hammer and testing fall against different floor materials, has anyone got a clue what do people do with dull Nixies?!

Paolo

[Nicholas Stock]

I have a lot of IV22 VFDs and IV4/17's. The differences in the backgrounds can be quite varied from what I've seen.....I don't think they were particularly bothered by it for their intended use case (behind a filter)?

I'd second your question with regards what to do with duff nixies....over 20 years, I've accumulated quite a few duds that I don't want to just chuck away!!

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[Paolo Cravero]

On Mon, Dec 7, 2020 at 6:52 PM Nicholas Stock <nick...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a lot of IV22 VFDs and IV4/17's. The differences in the backgrounds can be quite varied from what I've seen.....I don't think they were particularly bothered by it for their intended use case (behind a filter)?

Indeed Nick. Or as long as they were consistent within a production run nobody cared.

 

I'd second your question with regards what to do with duff nixies....over 20 years, I've accumulated quite a few duds that I don't want to just chuck away!!

Well, the seller from whom I got the IN-16's claims that people use them for clocks or re-gas them. For the latter you'd better look for an Alchimist and I don't think re-gasing small tubes makes sense as of 2020 (yet). As for building clocks with duff nixies, I realised that it is not about building "nixie clocks" but probably "clocks with nixie parts", like sticking their digits on the dial face! Given the small lot I've got I might begin using these digits to add a timestamp on my clocks :) Other uses would be as former USSR souvenirs, novelty items to visitors, ... at 50c a piece for IN-14 makes almost sense.

Deviating from the subject of the thread, few of those IN-16's happily react to HVAC with lavender/violet discharge. So, either Neon has outgassed leaving Argon alone (heavier atomic mass), or those tubes were never inflated with Neon (production error/end). The question is ... how much DC voltage should I need to light it up as a Nixie? 300V were not enough.

Paolo

[Yohan Park]

The blue ones I have (and looks like yours as well) also show brass in some places (top and bottom). I have over 100 assorted IV-6 tubes here and to me it looks like they're supposed to be brass color but some chemical reaction has turned them blue.

[gregebert]

I just got my first batch of these a few days ago, and I was surprised how little current they require. With all segments lit, the total current was under 7mA including the grid when running at 28.5V.

Well, another clock will have to be made now.....