Looking for Tubes!

[John Olivero]

Hello All,

I am in the beginnings of a very large nixie project and I am on the prowl for some very specific tubes. I am looking for:

Burroughs B-50317 (Y,V,K,D,A,M,E,O,S,C) This is apparently a variant of the 5031 but I really cant find any information on it (Other than the company) or where to source these. Really the only place I have seen this is here:

http://www.jb-electronics.de/html/elektronik/nixies/n_b50317.htm

Unitras Dolam LL-553 (Z,H,F,S,W)

If anyone can give me any information, leads on where to find or people to reach out to it would be most appreciated. Also If you would like to know more details about my project I would be happy to elaborate.

Thanks!

[gregebert]

If these are related to the 5031 (the round dome is a dead-giveaway), be careful.  I have several 5031's that are non-functional, perhaps due to cathode contamination. I have been unable to recondition them, even with higher current. Only the internal bondwires will glow.

The later generation 5092 is a very reliable tube, and none that I own show any defects, nor do any of the 18 I have in operation in other clocks.

Yes, we'd like to hear some details about your clock plans!

[SWISSNIXIE - Jonathan F.]

It seems kind of rare, maybe even "custom made", somewhere in a burroughs catalog i've read that "all combinations of numbers and symbols can be produced to customer requierements"

Here is a link, it looks like they have B50317B, but its very expensive. You could try to contact them and maybe get a better price.

LL-553 Data can be found here
http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/data/LL-553.htm

Yes, would be nice to hear about your ideas.

[John Olivero]

I appreciate the info on the possible cathode contamination and will take that into consideration. The question I would have going forward would be, do the 5092's come with special characters? The reason I was looking at the 50317 was because it was the correct sizing I needed and it contained the special characters O,S,E,C. If the 5092's dont come in special characters would you have a possible recommendation of where I may be able to find a tube that contains the characters I need? In my research I havent found too many that contain those specific ones. 

As far as the clock build goes... its going to be quite the production. Originally I was going to do a standard clock with six digits and separators with larger tubes. However, I couldnt really find any large tubes available that I liked. So I decided to go all out and do something I have never seen before in the Nixie clock world. I am going to make a clock that can spell out the time for you, using the special characters. In doing this because of the limited character sets available within the tubes I will need... get ready for it... 36 tubes. I have found and sourced a good amount of the ones I need already but the hard work has not even come close to being started. As far as the total tubes I need and quantities they are as follows:

B-50317 (Y,V,K,D,A,M,E,S,O,C) x6 Will probably be rethinking these now...

LL-553 (Z,H,F,S,W) x4

LL-555 (L,C,T,Y,R,N,B) x10 (Found/Bought)

LL-556 (S,P,M,U,G) x3 (Found/Bought)

LL-557 (E,J,A,V,F,H) x6 (Found/Bought

LL-558 (D,W,K,Z,X,L) x4 (Found/Bought)

NL-5016 (+,-) x3 (Found/Bought)

The Orientation of the tubes will be over three rows with 11 in the first, 13 in the second and 12 in the third.

Please feel free to ask any specifics and I will answer the best I can!

[John Olivero]

After doing some digging I believe that was my assumption on the 50317 as well is that is was a custom one. Unfortunatley I didnt want to believe it. However I didnt get the link to where you had found that one. Could you resend it? Also thank you for the link on the 553's. As far as the clock ideas please refer to the response to gregebert.

Thanks!

[Nick de Smith]

I have 4 X 50317 NIB in stock - contact me off list if you are interested...

Nick

--
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[mjrippe]

Hi,

Might have at least one B-50317, probably at least one LL-553 as well.  I "specialized" in letter and symbol tubes for a short while.  Will try to look this weekend.

Mike

[John Olivero]

If you could take a look for me that would be fantastic. As Im sure you know these are relatively hard to come by, so any and all help is appreciated.

[mjrippe]

Sent you an email. (2) 50317, (2) LL-553, (2) LL-557, (2) LL-558.

Mike

[John Olivero]

Replied to you! Thanks Again!