Nixie tube life span

[Mysion]

I've been working on making a nixie clock lately but I can't find any good information on the tubes life span. I don't want to build a clock and have the tubes die a year later, that would be disappointing....  

Is there anyone here that has experience with them and how long they last? Any body with clocks a few years old hopefully still going strong?

[calexanian]

Lots and lots of years. Typically they die from mechanical damage. Heat is also the enemy. Should they get hot enough to outgas inside they can go dim or gassy, but this is typically not a problem.

[coppice]

I assume any nixie tubes you have are ancient, even if they have never been used. If they work well now I guess that eliminates any basic envelope softness issues, which tended to plague nixies. They are basically neon lamps, and their lifetimes are pretty much like neon lamps. Some work well for years. Others go dim, often very unevely, or start flickering erratically. I think the formed character types had more wear issues than the 7 segment and starburst ones, but that might just reflect the behaviour of the particular models I have used.

[Mysion]

Thanks for the responses. The take away seems to be that Nixie tubes have a a minimum a few years of life. I'll probably proceed with the clock then. Maybe build in a motion sensor to extend the tube life even more.

[doctormord]

Well, Nixies are supposed to "die" faster when running in a multiplexed setup.

[deephaven]

There is quite an active Nixie group here https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/neonixie-l You'll get a lot of help and advice there if you need it.

[Chris Jones]

If you don't use some of the numerals in one tube but do use the other ones (like 3...9 and 0 in the tens-of-hours digit) then the unused numerals could get coated with crud deposits, and then won't work if you later want them to. I have read that it is good to run through all the digits occasionally to clean them.

http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/different/cathode%20poisoning/cathode-poisoning.htm

[VK5RC]

I have had a nixie tube clock kit (PV electronics QTC kit with GPS locking) running for a few years now and 1 tube has slowly died.
 I get lots of great comments (its at work - so its Tax deductible!)

[linux-works]

my eight has left the room! ;(



this is (was) a clock and its ten's digit never went thru the 8 or even the 9.  the 9 is actually ok, oddly enough, but the 8 is nasty!

I wonder if I can undo this, via a voltage 'tickling' trick?

else, I have to learn my lesson and not do this again (ie, cycle thru things at night).