IN-14 Nixie tubes

[Aztlanpz]

I need some help on how to generate 150 volts from a 12 power supply to power the Nixies tubes.



Thanks
Aztlan

[Paul Moir]

Sure, but what kind of help do you need?  I mean, what are your constraints?  What's important, size, power consumption, cost, speed of design, self-education?  I once made one from a 555, a backwards 120v:9v transformer, and a hand selected 1n914 that broke down reliably at 170v to provide voltage regulation.  Not optimal in many respects but it was built out of what I had on hand.

[Aztlanpz]

It for self-education I what to build a nixie clock; I have no constrains other then to keep it as small as possible to keep the price of the pcb down.



Aztlan

[kwass]

It for self-education I what to build a nixie clock; I have no constrains other then to keep it as small as possible to keep the price of the pcb down.

You need to give yourself some constraints, like: low power (high efficiency), minimal number of components, tight voltage regulation, needed current to be supplied at target voltage, etc..  Otherwise there are so many possible solutions that you'll be floundering.

Start with how many Nixie tubes will you be driving and will there only be one tubed powered at a time (i.e., multiplex) or all of them.  That will tell you how much current you need.  Next determine if the Nixies you're planning to use have a wide voltage range tolerance (most do) or a narrow one.  Will you be powering your clock from AC mains, or battery power (a large 12V battery can potentially power a Nixie clock for weeks).

[Psi]

You can get modules from digikey that output 72v (but are like 150v unloaded)
Input comes in 5v and 12v versions.

They are like $10 from memory.

Also isolated,  so you can series them

[matseng]

If you are serious about learning then these links will give you basically everything you need to know about designing and building power supplies for nixies.

desmith.net/NMdS/Electronics/NixiePSU.html
and jan.rychter.com/high-voltage-power-supply-for-nixie-tube-projects
and also this oldie by DP-Ian www.instructables.com/id/High-Voltage-Switch-Mode-Power-Supply-SMPSBoost/

[cimmo]

If you're brand new to working with Nixies, a pre-designed kit or prebuilt module is a good idea.
Search on eBay for "Nixie Power Supply" and you'll find several solutions, either pre-built modules or kits.

I have used this kit a few times and it works well:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261169220982
I doubt you can even get the parts for much less than the cost of this kit.

But if you want tiny, this prebuilt module also works well if a little expensive:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/140964710395

[krivx]

If you are serious about learning then these links will give you basically everything you need to know about designing and building power supplies for nixies.

desmith.net/NMdS/Electronics/NixiePSU.html
and jan.rychter.com/high-voltage-power-supply-for-nixie-tube-projects
and also this oldie by DP-Ian www.instructables.com/id/High-Voltage-Switch-Mode-Power-Supply-SMPSBoost/

I have built the circuit from that first link. The second looks similar at a glance (ie. MAX1771 based). They work, but I'm not super convinced that this is a great application for a boosting switcher. You are converting ~12V to ~250V which requires the controller to maintain a very high duty cycle to keep regulating (>95%). The MAX1771 can do it but it seems like a flyback converter is a better choice when the step-up ratio is this high, it would probably allow the use of cheaper controller ICs with larger minimum off-times.

[v8dave]

You can do this quite easily. The following has all the explanations etc. Be careful as although the current is small, it will sting you.

http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/nixpsu.html

I used a similar design but I didn't drop down the 12 to 5 as this circuit does and just fed 12V direct to the MAX771.

[kwass]

But if you want tiny, this prebuilt module also works well if a little expensive:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/140964710395

Substantially cheaper if you buy directly from Taylor:  http://www.tayloredge.com/storefront/SmartNixie/PSU/comparison.html

I've used this one in several projects at 6 volts in and it works very well. 

[T3sl4co1l]

Lop off the low voltage winding, and adjust the HV divider ratio to suit.  If you need more than 150V, adjust the turns ratio proportionally as well.

Tim

[Macbeth]

I believe IN-14's are designed to run from half wave rectified 240VAC. A USA 115VAC full wave rectified may provide enough voltage to strike the Nixie into life. However I recommend you totally ignore me and my insane methods of powering Nixies that belonged to the same era and stick to something much more modern and safer! 

I like to live a little dangerously sometimes.