Horological Meandering

PuristSPro moderator Patrick_y explores the world of the M.A.D. Gallery’s [Original] Nixie Machine and Nixie Machine II, created by Berlin based artist Frank Buchwald. Photo Credit: M.A.D. Gallery A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE ORIGINAL NIXIE MACHINE In January ...  

... Nixies, one at home and one at work. Totally short of these pieces of art but still.... Cheers, HSTE

I didn't know what they were until I saw the original Nixie Machine back in January 2015! Thank you Max Busser for that introduction and insisting that I visit your store! But they're certainly addictive and I've been learning more about them over the pas... 

.... two very simple single-tube nixie clocks (see pic below). A Buchwald would be a grail! Cheers, HSTE ...  

I like this clock! The Nixie tube supplier for "blub" is currently also Dalibor Farney, the same gentleman who makes the tubes for the Nixie Machine II. Awesome clock. I just googled blub and I think that's a fantastic concept. I might just have to treat ... 

I have one in the bedroom for many years now - perfect lume for night time It is much sharper than it looks in this crappy picture. ...  

That's a cool clock! Do you have the scroll setting activated on yours? How long have you had that? That looks great!

it has been lighting up my bedroom for about 15 years.

Ever have to replace any bulbs? I assume the clock itself is on 24 hours a day and the tubes are activated 24 hours a day? Just wondering about the lifespan of the bulbs.

Never had to replace a bulb which surprised me. All 10 digits perfectly working on each of the 6 bulbs. It's been on all the time I never turn it off.

I wonder if larger Nixie Tubes are more likely to need replacement than smaller ones. I imagine larger tubes are more likely to leak gas than the smaller ones.

And in any case, I bet it won't be as crazy expensive as with the MB&F model. It does look like a million dollars, but costs like it too

I'm not sure but I think it's approximately 28,800 CHF for the Nixie Machine II. The Original one was around 24,800 CHF or thereabouts. It's pretty expensive, but not totally bonkers crazy. When I first saw it back in 2015, I was thinking it'd be more tha... 

Nice post, thank you. Vte

Thanks for reading!

Just to share my experience with a few clocks I had over the last 13 years or so. First one, bought online from Germany, had an issue with a bulb after a year or so. Got them replaced and the clock lasted a good 10+ years before the ECB failed. This clock... 

Got any photos of your clocks? Thanks for sharing. So it seems that the lack of the random scroll effect doesn't seem to make too big of a difference. Did your tubes fail completely? Or did just some numbers within them fail? Sometimes just the single num... 

In the recent purchase where the tubes failed. The whole tube failed. At the beginning the tubes will lose luminescent on each of the digits. E.g. Maybe the digit 7 will have the top part cropped off with no light. So each digit will have some parts missi... 

Maybe the gas leaked out partially and thus the top part got cropped off and wouldn't glow since there wasn't enough gas? Thank you for sharing your experience!

The min hands first digit 3&4 dying. Eventually the tubes won't light up. ...  

I'm not an experienced expert, but if it's gas leakage, then the neon gas has leaked out (likely from the bottom) or the ambient has leaked in. Eventually, there won't be enough neon gas to glow and the tube will slowly fade probably from the bottom up. T... 

Just need to replace the tubes. So that brings me back to my first clock. Will the Circuit Boards outlast the tubes? Cause if the board fails it will be tough to fix, just like my first Nixie Clock. Cheers

Circuit boards are generally very reliable. On computers, the circuit board is probably the longest lasting component. Power supplies, hard drives, and definitely microprocessors can all fail. But a circuit board which has no moving parts, doesn't have ma... 

Hope is the answer. Cheers

Thanks for taking time to make this great report Something to bookmark for sure Cheers D

I'm glad you like the post like I did!

Looking forward to getting my hands on one of the tubes soon!

NT

NT