Not nixie - Electromechanical clock

[Robert]

Has anyone else made or bought a clock using these old petrol pump displays

This type of display is still available new https://flipdots.com/en/products-services/small-7-segment-displays/

[Mike Mitchell]

I've used those displays for a clock, see here:

https://youtu.be/hpNliVxZr00

I've included a photo of some documentation on the displays.

Mike Mitchell

[gregebert]

I didn't see any prices posted. What are these selling for ?

[Richard Scales]

I have a few of these - has anyone got a useful schematic for driving them? I understand it's all about energizing a particular solenoid one way or the other for the flip and that that displays are usually organized in some kind of matrix so it's just a matter of applying the right volts to one particular row and one particular column in order to flip the desired display. 

From the spec sheet it looks like even the smaller displays are going to need almost 0.5A to flip so my simplistic idea of a bunch of high and low side switches based on MPSA42/92 wont quite cut it!

From what little I have read (and I understand even less) - some form of 'H' bridge drive might do it. A 4 digit device would have at least 28 solenoids (or 32 if the displays had DP's) so arranging these in a some kind of matrix seems to make good sense.

A bit more reading reveals ideas based on multiplexed half-bridge implementations.

Has anyone implemented a this successfully?

- Richard

[Michail Wilson]

I was buying them for about $8.50 each.  Likely much more with tariffs.

 

Same displays I used in a couple of projects….

https://youtu.be/M998Kwmhe74

 

https://youtu.be/pDBbZ0BBrpY

 

Michail Wilson

206-920-6312

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[Richard Scales]

Are you willing to share details of your drive method?

- Richard

[Mike Mitchell]

 
I used https://coytbarringer.com/flip-display-clock/ for ideas when I built mine.

Instead of discrete drivers I'm using L293D H-bridges.  There's still 56 diodes for the multiplexing matrix.

I'm including my hand-drawn schematic section.

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