120 -> 180 volt howto?

[bonxer]

I'm wanting to start playing around with Nixie tubes, but before I do, I would like to figure out what all I'm going to have to do to power them. I've read that they need 170-180 volts to work. Do they need this in AC or DC, or does it matter?

Being that I'm in the US, I have 120 volt AC outlets, and would need to step it up to 180. All the transformers I have found go down to 9 or 12 or 25, etc... I haven't found any that go up. I've found some that I can order online that will go up to 240, but they are rediculously expensive compared to every other transformer I've gotten.

If need be, could I use two transformers? One would be a 120 to 9, the other would be a 120 to 6. Being that 9:6 is 3:2, could I connect the first transformer's 120 primary to the main outlet, and its seconary 9 output to the other transformer's 6? Since I'm giving it 3:2 what it's expecting there, would it maintain the 3:2 ratio and output 180 instead of 120? Is this possible? Is this safe?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If need be, could I use two transformers? One would be a 120 to 9, the other would be a 120 to 6. Being that 9:6 is 3:2, could I connect the first transformer's 120 primary to the main outlet, and its seconary 9 output to the other transformer's 6? Since I'm giving it 3:2 what it's expecting there, would it maintain the 3:2 ratio and output 180 instead of 120? Is this possible? Is this safe?

It would work, but it does mean you are stressing the insulation at double it's design limits! - which probably isn't a good thing!.

You need a transformer intended for valve/tube equipment, which a nixie tube is really just a 'varient' of - well at least from the same era!.

Have you been given some nixie tubes?, they were pretty well killed off by filament tubes, then LED's.

 

[bonxer]

No, I do not have them yet. I was thinking about getting some from ebay or somewhere that sells them like www.sphere.bc.ca. I like the way they look when they glow, how they're rounded digits and look like real numbers. I've never actually seen one in real life, just pictures. I would love to just make a clock or something with them, just for the wow-effect, like "I haven't seen something like that in 30 years" or in my generation's case, "wow, I've never seen tubes in use before ever, that's awesome."

 

[Oznog]

The Nixie takes DC, not AC. When you rectify 125v RMS, the cap will charge to the peak value, 177 volts.

Probably not a coincidence. I believe the tubes were intended to be run in an uncomplicated setup off of 120vac just like this. Unless you have one built for a foreign voltage they're logically going to be designed for simple driving.

There are many plans on the net for driving Nixies. Don't go over-the-top trying to figure out how they work when the info's readily available.

 

[k7elp60]

Oznog, is right about the voltage. The filter capacitor will charge up to the peak voltage(RMS x 1.1414). I would recommend using two low voltage transformers back to back for isolaton, which will provide potection against the direct connection to the line voltage.
Connect the two low voltage windings together. Connect one primary to the line voltage and connect the other to a bridge rectifier and filter capacitor power the nixies. The nixies are large neon bulbs, with a common anode and mulipule cathodes.
By running them on DC only one element of the two active elements will glow. Whereas on a neon bulb both elements will glow when activated by AC.

 

[jbeng]

... The filter capacitor will charge up to the peak voltage(RMS x 1.1414).

I believe you meant RMS X 1.414. The constant in your formula gives a considerably lower voltage ...
JB

 

[Juglenaut]

or divide by 0.707

 

[k7elp60]

jbeng is correct, I made a error in typing. Thanks.