nixie clock problem

[dave evans]

i bought a nixie clock a few months ago and it worked fine until I reset clock for DST recently. It was ok for several days, but then started shutting down every few hours. When I unplug it and plug it back in, it displays correct time & date, but then will shut down. I know very little about electronics, and would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

 

[(*steve*)]

Was it a retail purchase? Have you contacted whoever you bought it from?

 

[dave evans]

I purchased it thru Etsy from a company called Elecronico. They replied to an earlier request for clarification about how to set the time, but now do not respond to any of my emails. Am unable to find anyone locally who knows how to repair Nixie clocks.

 

[(*steve*)]

What was involved in setting DST?

 

[dave evans]

Steve: Thankss for reply. I can send you copy of user manual, with steps for setting time, if I know your email address. Dave

 

[(*steve*)]

Post a copy here, out send it to me via PM if it's not appropriate to post it here.

The main question I have is whether this process could have damaged the clock.

If there procedure required some combination of button presses vs opening up the unit and soldering a jumper, I'd probably start looking in different directions.

One basic question is whether the problem is there high voltage power supply turning off, or the clock output being turned off.

Depending on what you had to do to set DST, perhaps you could have done something to affect the power supply or changed some config for a display timeout. Or indeed, something else.

And maybe the failure is independent of what you did.

If you have a link to the device web site shorting the unit, it's capabilities and specs, that would help too.

We will probably need pictures as soon as we have some sort of idea of how to progress.

An early thing I'll ask will probably be too measure the HV when the clock is operating and when it has shut down. Do you have a multimeter and are you comfortable measuring dangerous voltages (around 180V DC)?

 

[dave evans]

I do not have any electronic equipment, and would not how to go about any testing, soldering, etc. I had hoped that the problem was caused by my pressing buttons in wrong sequence while changing the time-- perhaps activating some periodic "sleep mode" or whatever, and that someone who understood the user manual better than I do might spot the likely misstep so I could go back and fix it with the controls. If you want to, you can access the user manual at unusualelectronics.co.uk/wordpress, under the title "Nixie clock kit user manual."
Thank you for your efforts. Dave

 

[(*steve*)]

According to a manual I read (your url went to a non-existent page) if the clock is configured to turn off the digits, a short press of either of the config buttons will display them again for 1 minute.

Does this happen on yours?

I found the manual for a nixie clock with 2 digits. http://unusualelectronics.co.uk/products/dyadnix/?v=6cc98ba2045f If this is not yours, try again with the url.

 

[dave evans]

2 digit clock is not what I have. Go to unusualelectronics.co.uk and to "products." Select six-digit nixie tube clock. If you scroll down you can see a place to download the user manual.

 

[(*steve*)]

Ok, got it.

Try the reset option

 

[dave evans]

Steve: Have reset, and entered current time into clock. Is functioning normally at present. Will keep you posted. Dave

 

[(*steve*)]

Fingers crossed. I'm hoping that when you set DST you also accidentally set something else which caused the "fault".

The recommendation in the manual is that you note down all the values in the settings. This sounds like good advice. After making a change (say DST again) you can confirm that no other settings have changed.

 

[dave evans]

will do. thanks again. Dave