How to disassemble tubes

[mjrippe]

Nixies do not produce unnecessary heat - they are called cold cathode tubes for a reason. Despite the warm looking glow, they are generally cool to the touch. Certainly cooler than vacuum tubes for audio.

[autodidactic]

Heat was only one (perceived) disadvantage. Alphanumeric tube displays are difficult to source and expensive. I can get 50-100 used tubes on ebay for $50 and the VFDs are only $1-2 a piece.

[The Real MC]

Vacuum Tubes are not meant to be disassembled. The elements in the tube are designed to work in a vacuum sealed off from open air. If the seal is broken then the tube is toast. They're called vacuum tubes for a reason.

[Matt Syson]

Hi
You used to be able to get glass 'cutters' so you could make old wine bottles into attractive ornaments (a 1970's fashion idea!!). The glass of valves is very thin however and the chances of simply cracking them is pretty high.
How about thin perspex tubes with the displays inside, and mock them up to look 'valvey'?
Matt S

[mjrippe]

VFDs are available in tube form. For alphanumeric, search ebay for IV-17. You can get 6 for $25 plus shipping.

[autodidactic]

Perfect! Thanks for the tip. The only place I found that had alphanumeric were selling them for $30 EACH!

[Lotus 7]

Unless you have other plans for what data to display you might consider making the display into a clock. An IV-18 can be driven by a fairly simple driver in several modes. The possibilities are endless.

Have Fun!

[autodidactic]

Originally Posted by Lotus 7

Unless you have other plans for what data to display you might consider making the display into a clock. An IV-18 can be driven by a fairly simple driver in several modes. The possibilities are endless.

Have Fun!

That's an interesting proposition. The purpose of the tube displays are to give visual feedback when the computer is running headless. They will interact with scripts on the desktop via arduino. The IV-18s are interesting because they are a lot cheaper but using the IV-17s would offer a more authentic look.