Enough air circulation for this Nixie clock on book shelf cabinet?

[Dman777]

I just got this 6 digit ZM5660 clock that I love. The middle part gets quite warm. I keep it on about 10 hours a day. I was wondering, is keeping it in this bookshelf bad for it? Is there enough air circulation in this location? There are some vents in the plastic case but they are on the bottom. I would like the electronic parts to last many of years and I know that heat is the worst enemy. 

Thanks,

-Darin

[gregebert]

Are there any other holes in the case besides the bottom ? If so, you will get some convection air-current thru the case as long as the bottom vents aren't blocked. Most of the heat should be generated from the tubes.

The '2' and '5' look a lot nicer on this clock than your previous one

[Dman777]

Thanks! No, other than  the 3 back buttons....only vents on the bottom. 

-Darin

[gregebert]

Easiest thing to do is place a small fan behind the clock.

The only true way to determine if you will have a thermal reliability problem is to find out if heat-sensitive devices are running at or over their rated temperature. One method is to measure the case-temperature of devices, estimate the power-dissipation of the device, find the thermal impedance from the datasheet (theta-JC) then calculate the junction temperature. It's a pain, because you have to place a thermal probe on components, close-up the case, and let it stabilize.

[Niek]

Hello, 

Do you have the schematics for this clock? This may show whether or not some effort was put into designing an efficient (cool) power supply.