B-7094 Clock

[Art Yorel]

I'm a newbie but have been lurking here to learn a little about nixies. I had no idea there was a whole world of these

 types of tubes and followers out there. I'm in my 80s and have a technical background even though its kinda dated as well.

I have two B-7094 nixie tubes made by Burroughs and need the specs for them. I tried google but only found that 

these tubes are hard to find and of course Burroughs is out of business.

I need the pin-out, the firing voltage, the sustaining voltage and whatever else you think I might need. Also, I tried to 

remove one of the tubes from the socket and chipped the bakelite mounting hole. Should I soak the tubes and socket 

before trying again or just try to fire them after more than 50 years together. If I can figure out how, I will try to attach a photo.

If I can get two more of these tubes I want to make a steampunk clock like I've seen on here. If not maybe I can make 

a thermometer. Or maybe just put them on E-bay. I'm too old to start a new hobby anyhow.

Art

[Kevin A.]

I've attached a Burroughs brochure with the technical data for several of their tubes, including the 7094. The specs for these can be found on Page #8 under "Large and Jumbo Tubes". 

As far as removing the tube from the socket; I'd be very careful not to pry with anything metal or narrow-bladed. Try using something flat like a credit card and see if you can first wedge it carefully between the tube and the socket. If you can get the tube to start lifting, keep working your way around in a circle. Be careful not to push it too hard into the tube/socket gap from the side; you don't want to stress the sealing area where the pins meet the tube glass. 

Once you've got a card-sized gap I'd transition to something like a flat plastic spatula, and twist it in the wedge while working my way around to carefully lift the tube on all sides. The pins and the bottom facing glass nipple are often the most fragile components; so definitely take your time. If something is not moving with a gradual but strong effort, do not keep forcing it. Try another side or angle. I would work with my hands over a bed or a soft surface; if you drop the tube while prying or it pops out, you wouldn't want it to fall and shatter. Especially not these beauties. 

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any concerns. 

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Kevin Aghaei

Rutgers School of Engineering

Class of 2018

[Bill Notfaded]

If you wanna sell some I'll buy em. They're nice. Make sure you use a resistor inline with the current... Don't want to burn them up. A buddy of mine has a dozen b-8091 that I think he wants to sell after we test them all. Not sure what the $ damage is yet... My guess they'll test good hopefully. I guess I'm a little younger than many here but I'm by no means a kid. I graduated college in late 90's.

[Paul Andrews]

Spray the socket with deoxit or WD40 and leave it to soak. Try and keep it on the pins so you don’t make everything slippery. If you get it on the socket or tube, clean it off with isopropyl alcohol, but be careful not to rub any markings on the tube, they can come off pretty easily.

Those are great tubes and very rare. You would find no shortage of buyers if you chose to sell them!

BTW, I have a one tube clock that can drive them, including a socket. I don’t have any of those tubes myself, but I made the socket for a friend. I’ll see if I can post a picture of the clock with a different tube plugged in. Contact me if you are interested in buying one.

[Paul Andrews]

This is one of my clicks running a NL8091, which has the same pinout. For the 7094 I just change the anode redistor, which is part of the socket.

[Kevin A.]

Any more pics/info on that clock? Looks like a nice little design. 

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019, 5:59 AM Paul Andrews <pa...@nixies.us> wrote:

This is one of my clicks running a NL8091, which has the same pinout. For the 7094 I just change the anode redistor, which is part of the socket.

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[Paul Andrews]

There is a summary on my web site here: https://www.nixies.us/projects/one-tube-clock/ and more information than you could ever want on hackaday.io (there is a link from my web site).

It has undergone several (minor) revisions since I documented it on hackaday.

On Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 9:57:13 AM UTC-4, Kevin A. wrote:

Any more pics/info on that clock? Looks like a nice little design. 

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019, 5:59 AM Paul Andrews <pa...@nixies.us> wrote:

This is one of my clicks running a NL8091, which has the same pinout. For the 7094 I just change the anode redistor, which is part of the socket.

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[Kevin A.]

Nice work! With the HV5523 you could drive up to 3 tubes. If there was a finer-pitch nixie adapter (say a 1.27mm pitch as opposed to the 2.54mm one you are currently implementing) you could definitely make it a 2 tube clock. 

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[martin martin]

Those are are fine displays!  I am a Burroughs fan from way back.  I have a 6 shooter Nixie from CathodeCorner.com using model B-5092.  They are bright, clear and last a long while.

-martin

[Bill Notfaded]

I've got a few NIB B-6091 that might go into a clock.  Those are the biggest round top facing I could find anytime recently.  Does anyone know a modern clock kit that takes the B-5092?  It might work for the B-6091 I think. They used the B-6091 for the mission timers on the space program back in the day.  They used 3 digits for day off the year, 2 for each for h/m/s.  That would be neat a new 9 digit clock spaced like 3-2-2-2 like the old mission timers.

Bill

[gregebert]

I have clocks with both tubes (5092 and 6091). The 6091 should be operated at higher current (3mA vs 2.2mA), and has a larger diameter than the 5092, but is otherwise electrically equivalent. I do my own designs, so I dont know if kits exist.

While the 6091's are bigger, I dont think they are as robust as the 5092's. My own experience with 5092's is that with 3 clocks * 6 tubes running 24/7 for the past 7 years, none have failed or even degraded. The 5092's are excellent tubes.

My big clock has 15 of the 6091 tubes, and so far 3 have failed after about 6 years running 24/7. Though I must admit the 6091's are being treated more harshly because they display a single digit whereas the 5092's are cycled. I'm not convinced running a static number on a tube cuts it's lifetime to 1/10 of what it would otherwise be, because cathode sputtering is not the only wearout mechanism.

Another clock, which is in the garage, serves as a test-fixture and a final resting place for near-dead tubes (5031's, and one 6091). I put the worst of my still-somewhat-usable-tubes in that clock to save the others as spares. I hope to find out how nixies actually die, but it sure is taking a long time.........