Single tube Nixie clocks? Been there, seen that. A single tube Nixie clock with sculptural wiring that exposes dangerous voltages? Now that’s something you don’t see every day.
[Andrew Moser]’s clock is clearly a case of aesthetic by anesthetic — he built it after surgery while under the influence of painkillers. That may explain the questionable judgment, but we won’t argue with the look. The boost converter for the Nixie lives near the base of the bent wire frame, with the ATmega 328 and DS1307 RTC supported in the midsection by the leads of attached passive components and jumper wires. A ring at the top of the frame supports the octal socket for the Nixie and a crown of driver transistors for each element.
In the video after the break, [Andrew] speaks of rebuilding this on a PCB. While we’ve seen single tube Nixie PCB clocks before, and we agree that the design needs to be safer, we wouldn’t ditch the dead bug style at all. Maybe just throw the whole thing in a glass bell jar or acrylic tube.
Very similar ( even the same name) as my old design “Lethal Nixie Cube” that have been published at Make and other places…. ;-)
https://youtu.be/06-RMMxYA1Q
He mentioned that it was inspired by yours at 4:47
Cool! Thanks vor letting me know. I didn’t listen to it yet since I’m currently on a very noisy subway but will do that for sure when I get back home again. I did look at the video description at UT, but it didn’t say anything so I just ASS-umed no mentions ;-)
That is a fantastic looking device.
It could easily be some sort of unit from a retro futuristic movie.
Can anything be done about the power cable though? Even if it was just covered in a fabric sheath would be a huge improvement in the look of the piece.
I remember that one… we definitely covered it! http://hackaday.com/2012/10/11/nixie-clock-without-a-pcb/
You made that?
I’ll have you know that I used to show a picture of that contraption to scare my freshmen students when they complained about breadboards.
Only goes to show time is our mortal enemy.
True now more than ever it would seem, especially with people hellbent on weaponizing it :P
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.
Bit over the top saying it is lethal. Nixie Tube 170VDC is hardly go to tingle.
No one have died from the 110/127 volt mains in US?
Many have. But there’s a huge difference between 120v at high current levels and 170v with probably only a few milliamps behind it. You’ll know you touch it, but unless you have a pre-existing heart condition it’s very unlikely to do you any actual harm.
There is a huge difference between DC and AC on the skin also. Unbroken and dry skin has trouble passing DC. AC passes way easier due to capacitive properties.
Even though ElectroBoom does fake stuff for comedic value he does touch the 170v DC and he hardly feels it.
https://youtu.be/snk3C4m44SY
Capacitive issues at 50/60 hz will make for better conduction thru the skin? Sounds interesting, I’ll have to read up about that.
BTW, naming my design “lethal” was just a tounge-in-cheek joke, and I guess that this guy did the same.
ZAP!!!
Casting it in resin or spraying it with some form of clearcoat would preserve the aesthetic while making it significantly safer. Great build!
That’s a very good idea.
+1
Won’t there be heat issues in resin or don’t nixie tubes get hot enough for it to be a problem?
Unlike vacuum tubes that have a filament (heater), Nixies are cold cathode tubes filled with neon gas. The glow is from the gas, not heat.
While that is true they still uses up to like half a watt of energy. (170 volts at a few mA). If the resin is a bad thermal conductor it would get pretty toasty in there after a while. I guess the heat would then also discolor the clear resin.
Another possible problem would be that some epoxies and resins slightly change size during the hardening process, this might very well crack the thin glass envelope or the evacuation nib at the top… :-(
Not quite as impressive as this beast:
http://techno-logic-art.com/clock.htm
Too many people have a totally unreasonable fear of electricity. I mean, seriously: how many people are actually ???????????????????????? by it versus those who are simply knocked on their asses? Lighten up and have fun, folks! Think of all the crazy Russians who post videos of death-defying stunts on YouTube! Don’t you want to be famous like them? Now that America is embracing Russia, let’s go all the way and join their wackiness!
*sigh*
I can’t find the clip of Charlie Day getting shocked…