vacuum fluorescent display

[Overclocked]

How would I hook it up to make it work? I just want to see if it runs, ive salvaged some from microwaves and VCR's

 

[Someone Electro]

You have to hock it up to an low voltage suply for the heater and an high voltage suply to control it.

The heater is about 2-5V the high voltage can be from 10 - 100V.

I have one that runs on 3V and 50V

to make an segmet light up you have to conect the high voltage to the grid and segment.

 

[Overclocked]

Im mostly looking for a diagram on how to hook it up. its the Numerical Kind, 7 segment display.

I remeber the filiment got 5v with a .47ohm resistor in series with it(we did a lab in electronics ) and used 12V to light up a segment.

 

[k7elp60]

I salvaged some of the displays from some circuit boards from microwaves also. I found that this type of display works very much like
a vacuum tube. I built a digital clock with a 4 digit Futaba display in 1996.
Looking at my notes this is the way it was connected.
The filament F1 to ground
F2 thru a 125 ohm 10 watt resistor to +10V.
Segments A thru G to the A thru G drive from the clock IC. The segment
output is a + going gate.
Grids 1 thru 4 connected to the outputs of a ULN2004 driver. This driver
has open collectors so there is also a 1k pull-up resistor on each
driver output to +10V.
Inputs to the driver come from the digit drive from the clock IC. These signals were a negative going gate.
Hope this helpls

 

[Overclocked]

correct me if Im wrong, ( I will ve using 12 and 5v)

5v to the filiment (with resistor of course), Grid that I wanted lighted up would get 12v, and the segment I want lighted up would get 12V also correct?

 

[Someone Electro]

Not all VFDs work on 12V the older ones may need higher voltages.

In order to light up an segment you have to apply the HV to to grid(To pull the electrons of the filament) and the segment you want lit(Draws the electrons from the vacum on its self).

Its a litle like an CRT display but here no electromegnets are used.

 

[Overclocked]

Well considering this came from a DVD player that used 12 and 5V, Im going to say it used those voltage (and there was no inverter on board either)

The ones from the microwave are probably the same too..

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Well considering this came from a DVD player that used 12 and 5V, Im going to say it used those voltage (and there was no inverter on board either)

The ones from the microwave are probably the same too..

I see a LOT of these displays in various items I repair, it would be very uncommon for it to work off only 12V - certainly in the microwave ones, they use a multi-tapped mains transformer, providing the higher voltage for the display.

The DVD ones I've seen usually have extra windings on the switch-mode transformer as well, to provide the higher voltage, and usually a seperate heater supply as well.

If you're taking them out of appliances, why not measure the voltages and draw out the connections before you remove them?.

 

[Overclocked]

Half of the electronics are already broken or dont work, but I do have the transformer from the microwave that supplied Power