Assembling IN-16 Nixie Clock Marcel by Mr. Nixie

Transcription

1 Congratulations for purchasing this stunning IN- Nixie Clock Marcel. For successful assembly of the clock please read the following helpful hints. This kit is designed for someone who has advanced experience with assembling electronics - especially working with very fine "filigree" parts. If you believe that the kit is too complicated for your skill level please do not try to assemble it - this generally ends up with a device that is not repairable and results in you being very frustrated. Please contact the provider and they can offer you other options that will end in a more fulfilling result! Take your time - this kit should take - hours to complete if uninteruppted. ssembling the kit in a hurry will lead to frustration and the troubleshooting afterwards takes three times as long. Ensure your work area is well lit (daylight preferred) and clean. Electronic tools, such as pliers, small side-cutters or tweezers should be handy. You will also need a T (Torx) or SW llen screwdriver for the housing assembly. soldering iron with a mm round tip (maximum) and a. mm (maximum) fine electronic solder (lead-free) is required. For the intermediary function test you need a multimeter with at least VDC range. loupe to read the small device markings is often helpful. ssemble the board in the order as stated here - this has been proven and will minimize mistakes. It is assumed that you understand that semiconductors (diodes, ICs, transistors) or electrolytic capacitors are polarized components. ppropriate markings are silkscreened on the PCB and shown on the board schematic. Together with this construction guide you get some additional helpful documents: The schematic of the clock very useful colored landscape hard copy of the parts placement. You should keep this handy during construction to refer to. ll positions of the resistors, capacitors and most of the semiconductors are shown in different color footprints. For example, when you are fitting all the ohm resistors, first have a look at the chart. These resistors are shown in green color. You only need to look for the green resistor footprints in the hardcopy and you can place them instantly on the PCB in the right position without having to search for "that damn R". This provides a huge time-saving advantage. printed operation manual for your Nixie clock. Please keep this manual handy. Safety precautions: During assembly, operation, measurements and maintenance extra precautions must be taken. The generated high voltage of V is dangerous. ssemble the circuit at your own risk. The functionality cannot be guaranteed when assembled by the customer. No responsibility can be taken for any personal claims and damages during assembly and commission, especially for damages based on insufficient technical knowledge. The clock may only be operated in a solid and moisture-proof enclosure. The person who completes the kit and assembles this board into an enclosure for operation is considered by the German directive VDE as a manufacturer and is required to indicate their name and address including all documents when selling the clock. Ready-to-go devices, which are assembled from kits, are counted safety-related as an industrial made product. Page of

2 Okay, and now, Ladies and Gentlemen, start your soldering irons! Have you gone over the assembly document yet in its entirety? The assembly and soldering of this board and components is a bit unconventional. Why? You will see later!. First we will add spacers to the PCB of mm and mm using the spacers in Bag (see picture below).. Second we will insert LL the resistors from the Bag before soldering. Go from the bottom up while looking at the "parts list" i.e., first place all ohm resistors, followed by the k ohm resistors, etc.. Now we solder all the resistors at once from the TOP of the PCB!. We don't solder anything on the bottom of the PCB yet.. Next open Bag and place all the diodes in the board. Start with the red BT, then the yellow N diodes. On the board the cathode of the diode is marked and matches up with the markings on the diodes. Ensure that you don't confuse the UF (qty ) with the Ns (qty ) - they are visually the same except for the tiny lettering on them. The same applies for the V (qty ) and the BTs (qty ). The Zenerdiode is fitted standing UP as shown in the picture below just above C (capacitor ) on the right side of the board.. Solder all the diodes from the TOP as well. For the V Zenerdiode you can obviously only solder the bare anode from the top - you will need to solder the cathode from the bottom. It is critical that the Zenerdiode be installed as shown below - there is only.mm clearance from the board to the top of the enclosure. Ensure that the loop is no higher than that. Printed Circuit board with spacers, resistors and diodes installed. Now turn the board over and cut all the leads from the components very short. Solder and then trim the Zenerdiode's cathode terminal. Now you understand why we soldered all the resistors and the diodes from the top of the board? Think about how difficult it would be having everything soldered on the back in such a tight space - the chance of a short between pads would be very high. It also allows us to trim the leads much closer to the board the help with the bottom clearance. This seemed like a great project to do things "differently" from convention! Do you agree? Page of

3 . Now populate the LEDs in the board. The longer lead is the anode and should go through the hole on the board marked with an "", the cathode is marked with a ring. Insert the LEDs all the way so they are flush with the board. Bend the wires on the back just enough so that the LEDs do not fall out easily. Do not solder them yet!. From Bag we will be inserting all the multi-pin IC's - the MC step-up converter and the Russian KИД decoder. Do not fit the pin PICF yet. The pins tend to be splayed slightly wider than the width of the socket on the PCB. Gently fold the pins inwards a little until the two rows lie parallel with one other. The easiest way to do this is to hold each end of the ICs between thumb and forefinger, then with one row of pins pointing away from you and resting on a hard surface, gently rotate the IC thus folding all the pins down one side inwards together. ll ICs are supplied with no sockets due to the height limitation of the case - they must be soldered directly to the board. But what happens if you need to replace an IC or a tube? I ve used a trick here! Notice that all the holes for the multi-pin components (ICs, MOSFET (except the drain), and tubes) are designed as if it were a one-sided PCB. There are no pads or lands on the top of the board. Therefore in case of board maintenance these components can be removed simply by using a solder braid on the bottom of the board and easily replace the components.. From Bag we will install the coil (L). pply a small amount of solder to one of the corners of the pad (shown to the right). Then put the coil on top of this and heat the pad again allowing the solder to flow and hold the coil in place until the solder solidifies. Solder the remaining corners of the pad to complete the circuit and make it look symmetric.. Next we install the MOSFET IRFD - pay attention to the drain. The drain is the one side of the MOSFET that has the leads connected together physically. The MOSFET must be installed so this thick "single" leg is at the top/back of the board. Please solder the drain both from top and the bottom of the board for additional heat dissipation. Go ahead and solder the other leads (gate and source) from the bottom.. Next we install the crystal (Q) and the two TO- voltage regulators - L (IC) and the LM (IC). Be very careful not to mix these two up! Install the LM not in the direction marked by the "E" on silk screen, but reversed. During installation of voltage regulators and transistors: Press these components as close to the board as possible - there can be no more than mm of space between them and the board to ensure that the overall height within the enclosure is no more than.mm.. Install all MPS NPN transistors from Bag (you will be left with a spare).. Install all MPS PNP transistors from Bag (you will be left with a spare).. Now you will use the rubber feet from Bag along with () x screws to assemble a quick "anti-slip" surface.. Now is finally the time to turn the circuit board over and solder and trim all the components up to this point (ICs, tube LEDs, crystal, voltage regulators and all MPS transistors).. Next we go to Bag and install all the capacitors. Start with the two "yellow" pf capacitors right above the crystal, then the "green" pf and then the "red" nf capacitors (). Once again, please ensure that all the capacitors are pushed down as close to the board as possible (clearance). Now install the SuperCap (C) - note the polarity on the component and board silkscreen. Go ahead and solder the negative lead from the top of the board. Page of

4 . Next we will install the electrolytic capacitors. Please note they are installed horizontally! First, properly install the capacitors in the board and ensure the polarity is correct - the negative terminal has a ring around it and the positive terminal is marked with a "+". Looking down from the front of the board the negative side of the electrolytic capacitors should be facing to the right (also refer to the board schematic). Install the legs through the terminals and bend the capacitor down so it touches the board (for the µf) - the larger capacitors ( µf and µf) have recesses in the board where they are placed (see picture). Solder all these capacitors in from the top of the board. Now you can turn the board over and solder all the rest of the remaining capacitors in place from the bottom. Make sure the µf and µf capacitors (C and C) are flush with the back of the PCB.. Next we will install from Bag. Please install the DC socket as shown in the pictures below. The alarm buzzer (Snd) is inserted from the bottom of the board and soldered on the bottom per the picture to the right. Carefully bend the two wires at right angles to the outside of the buzzer and solder onto the appropriate solder pads (polarized). Next install the Polyfuse (R). Here as well we need to install the component and bend it down onto the board at a angle so its sitting on top of the bank of diodes (D-D). Please ensure that no wires will create a short. Next install the Trimmer (TR) - install the axle before mounting onto the board. Then install the switches (S-S).. We are now ready for our first functional test! For this test we disassemble the spacers we have used before and keep them for later. Perhaps you noticed on the back of the board pads that are marked with "" (directly under the coil) and "V" (directly under the L voltage regulator). Hopefully you did not bridge these two gaps yet! If you did bridge them already, please remove the bridges for this first function test. Please first look all over work area. re there any parts left except for the spare transistors and the PIC-processor? Please compare your board wit the following picture. re all components correctly fitted, except of the PIC-processor as stated before? Please also check all your solder joints and ensure they are correct. Page of

5 Note: This picture shows all components fitted incl. the PIC-processor. This is only for reference and should not be fitted at the actual stage!. Create a non-slip mat under your board - a dry towel is perfect for this.. Plug the adapter into the DC jack and the plug for the C adapter into the wall socket. Warning: There is now high voltages running through parts of the board, especially at the top of the MOSFET and the µf V electrolytic capacitor. Is anything strange happening? re there any popping noises, smell of burning components or smoke? If so disconnect power immediately and look for the cause!. Operate the trimmer (TR). The six LEDs should be (or begin) to glow and randomly start to color cycle independently. The trimmer should dim/turn off the LEDs. Please ensure that the trimmer functions properly - it should control the LEDs from off to full brightness.. Troubleshooting steps: The trimmer does adjust the brightness, but the LEDs don't look right or they don't light up at all. Please check the area around T - especially ZD. Please ensure that this is actually the Zenerdiode and it is installed with the correct polarity. Is there a short circuit caused by solder? Has the Polyfuse (R) triggered or is it very hot? If so you have a solder bridge somewhere on the board in the power supply circuit. re your LEDs installed properly? You should be able to see that the black chip inside the LED is sitting on the anode terminal. The trimmer adjusts the brightness only a very little or is reversed. In % of the cases this indicates that you have IC reversed or it is the incorrect voltage regulator. Page of

6 . Now set your voltmeter to at least VDC and check the following test points. For ground use any of the spacers on the outside corners of the board. On the left lower corner of the board: Measure the V test point. It should be:.v +.V. On the top of the board on cathode from the UF diode Measure the test point. It should be between V and V. re your voltages not correct? Please check the yellow areas shown in the picture below very closely and ensure that every part is installed correctly and all the solder joints are good Please do not continue if your voltages are not in line with the above measurements. You will cause damage to the board and possibly to yourself.. If all voltages are correct please disconnect the DC plug and create solder bridges on the two jumper pads (V and ) to connect them.. Plug the DC plug back into the board. Do the LEDs still light up and begin color cycling? Is anything hot or is there a smell of anything burning? If no, Excellent! So we will do some additional voltage measurement:. Turn around the pcb so that you re looking onto the solder side. Leave now the DC connection plugged in so that the circuity is running. Be aware of the working step-up converter and the generated high voltage! Connect your multimeter again to ground and with the other probe measure the voltage on every pin of the PIC-processor socket. The range should be between - +V, but it may be no more than +.V. If the voltage is much higher on one pin of the PIC-processor socket than eventually the anode driver or the MPS transistor has an internal short or you have a solder jump at the connected anode driver stage. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for some MPS transistors when connecting high voltage supply to short circuit. I included spare transistor each for this reason. If there s a fault, you should check the transistor with your ohmmeter. Please do not continue if your voltages are not in line with the above range. You will cause damage the PIC-processor when later fitted.. If everything is ok you should now solder the remaining PIC-processor. But first disconnect the clock from DC power. When soldering and touching the PIC s pin with the iron tip sometimes the buzzer will give a slight noise. Page of

7 ssembly of the Tubes First we are going to swap the spacers (again) for the board. Please refer to the picture on the left. You should have tubes that came with the kit. The anode terminal of the Nixie tube is on the back of the tube. This wire is marked internally with a white shrink tube. Take an abrasion proof pen and mark where this wire is on the spacer/socket as shown above.. Now slide the tube sockets carefully towards the end of the lead wires and turn the tube so that your mark (anode terminal) lines up with the notch that is silk-screened onto the board for each tube. Place the tube socket on the PCB - the LED in the board will help as a pilot to ensure correct spacing. Slightly twist the tube very carefully back and forth while the socket is flush with the board. The goal is to route the tube wires through the PCB. Be patient! This step takes time and a calm attitude. If you are having trouble spend some time to ensure that the wires are reasonably straight without any bends or kinks. When you finally feel that the wires have all fallen into place, slowly push the tube down so it rests on the socket and all the leads are through the board. This is perhaps the most difficult part of the board assembly - as stated before, take your time during this step and don't get frustrated. fter the tube is inserted double-check to make sure the anode connection is in the correct hole on the PCB. If all is well, slightly bend the wires so the tube doesn't fall out after all that hard work. Do the same procedure with the other tubes now! t this point you don't need to worry about vertical alignment (see picture above) - that happens next.. Now carefully place the acrylic tube mounting assembly over the top of the tubes - note that it only fits one way. Be careful - acrylic is very rigid and it is easy to break if it is bent too much. Secure the mounting frame to the spacers with four M x screws. The next step is to take the mm spacers from the bottom of the board and one by one install them on the top of the tube mounting assembly (note picture to the right). Use the screw from the top to secure the board to the bottom mm spacers. This will allow you to now solder the tubes while their position is held in place with the tube holder. Page of

8 . Before you solder the tubes you need to do any last minute adjustments to the tubes. Check the alignment from every direction - are they all lined up with respect to the internal number filaments? If need be twist them a little left and right to ensure that they are lined up. Ensure that they are firmly seated in the socket as well with slight pressure on the top of each tube. Go ahead and turn the board over now. For each tube, take wires evenly spaced around the circle (as a clock is,,, and ). Solder those wires to hold the tube in place. Do this for each of the tubes.. Cut all the remaining leads to a short distance to make soldering the rest easier. fter soldering LL (!) leads go take a break and come back and visually check all solder joints. Fix any bridges or visible cold solder joints. The wires are at least years old and a layer of oxide has built up on them. It might take a bit more time than normal to get them to solder correctly. fter all the soldering is done trim all leads back down to as short of a distance as possible. Take apart the board and take the (xmm and xmm) spacers and tube mounting assembly and store or throw away - they will not be part of the final assembly. Take the protective film off of all the acrylic parts at this point. Take the rubber feet and flat head screws and () Mx threaded spacers from Bag and screw the feet onto the bottom of the enclosure as seen in the picture on the right. Hand tighten only. Place one of the two acrylic outside edges as seen in the picture above along with the four small black spacers and slide them into the corners of the assembly so they line up with the holes in the bottom piece. Place the board carefully on top of the spacers - pay special attention to the DC jack - make sure the lip lines up correctly as show in the picture to the right. Screw the board down through the spacers into the acrylic bottom with the self tapping M x screws. Please do not over tighten these as the acrylic will crack.. Place the final outside acrylic piece on top lining up with the identical bottom part and place the top over that. It should slide over the tubes without disturbing them. Please ensure that all buttons and the trimmer in the back are through their holes in the top of the case. Lightly screw the last remaining flat head screws into each of the four corners and ensure that there is no component within the case that is higher than.mm - you will see this if the acrylic top starts to flex at any point as it comes into contact with the components. If this happens you will need to decide if you can lightly bend the particular part to gain some clearance or if you need to resolder some components (hopefully not!). If you need to resolder please take the board entirely out of the enclosure - the heat from the soldering iron would cause the clear acrylic to become milky white.. Finally! The last step is to plug the DC plug back in and enjoy your creation! The clock starts with :: and begins to count forward. The first tube on the left should not light up as the option for "suppression of leading " is enabled by default. Press the left "mode" button as a quick test - this displays the alarm time and you should see the tube on the left light up with a "". Well done! Now you can enjoy your self-created masterpiece. For operating the clock please read the included Owner's Manual. Page of

9 IN- Nixie Uhren Bausatz / Nixie Clock Kit Marcel Tüte Bag Inhalt Content Widerstände Resistors Dioden Diodes IC s MosFet Quarz / Crystall Bauteile Description Stückliste / part list Code Ref. R R,R,R k R,R,R,R,R,R,R k R,R,R,R,R,R,R,R k R,R,R,R,R,R,R,R R R,R,R,R,R,R,R,R,R V Zenerdiode ZD ZD UF Ultra fast switching D D N schottky D,D,D,D BT Small signal schottky D,D,D,D,D LED mm RGB autochange LED LED LM ESTEK TO- djustable Voltage Regulator IC L TO- Fixed V Voltage Regulator IC MC DIL -pol. Switching Converter IC PICG DIL -pol. Clock-Processor IC KDI DIL -pol. BCD-Decimal-Decoder IC IRFD HEXFET -pol. N-Channel MosFet T Quartz, MHz HC/U-S Crystal Q C Stück Pieces MPS Transistoren MPS NPN TO- T,T,T,T,T,T,T,T + MPS Transistoren MPS PNP TO- T,T,T,T,T,T + µf V x mm C,C µf V, x mm C µf V LowESR x, mm C Kondens. C SuperCap,F,V C Capacitors p oder / or C,C p C n C,C,C,C,C,C,C,C,C,C Spule / Inductor µh L DC-Buchse / DC jack BU Polyfuse m R } R Div. Elektronik Trimmer / Potentiometer,k TR Steckachse / Shaft mm TR Summer / Buzzer SND Mechanik für Gehäuse Enclosure Mechanics Röhren-Mont. Tubes Mount. Taster / Push Button Switches S,S,S Plastik Distanzröllchen / Small Plastic Spacer, x Selbstschneidende Schraube / Self-Tapping Screw M, x -Kant Flachkopfschraube / Flathead llen Screw M x bstandsbolzen / Spacer M x Gummifüße / Bumpers Schlitzschraube / Slotted-head Screw M, x bstandsbolzen / Spacer M, x bstandsbolzen / Spacer M, x Kunststoff-Röhren-Montagehilfe / Plastic Tubes Mounting Tool Röhren / Tubes IN- cryl-gehäuse komplett / Complete crylic Enclosure Set Leiterplatte / Printed Circuit Board Schaltnetzteil / Switching Power Supply Gedruckte Bauanleitung / Printed ssembly Manual Gedruckte Bedienungsanleitung / Printed Owners Manual ufkleber mit Serien-Nr. / Label incl. Serial no.

10 Bauanleitung IN- Nixie-Uhr Manuela Seite

11 D C C u BU R R D UF T IRFD TR k LED C n R. LML IC IN OUT DJ - + R R D N D N D N D N R k L C uh n R R R R R R C n C p C n C u R k R k C n C n IC MC SC DC SE IS TC VCC GND CI C n R R R R R R R R R R C n IC L IN OUT GND D BT R k R k V D BT V LED RGB auto LED RGB auto LED RGB auto LED RGB auto LED RGB auto V R R C.F V R k T MPS R k R k T MPS R k R k T MPS R k R k T MPS R k H IN- Hx T MPS H IN- Hx T MPS H IN- Mx T MPS H IN- Mx T MPS DL DR DL DR DL DR DL DR D C B Sockel der Röhre von der Lötseite Tube socket shown from solder side R R ZD V S DJ LED RGB auto R k R k D BT T MPS R k T MPS R k H IN- Sx T MPS DL DR B C u Title SND V C u R k C p C p C n R k Q MHz IN- Nixie Uhr Marcel PICF S SET S MODE IC VDD HRSx HRSx KEY-INPUT MINSx MINSx+DV SOUND SECSx+SET SECSx+MODE MCLR NEONS XTL BCD- XTL BCD-B BCD-C GND BCD-D D BT D BT Size Document Number Rev in- clock marcel.dsn. V R k R k T MPS R k T MPS H IN- Sx T MPS R k DL DR V C IC B C D VCC GND n Date: Wednesday, January, Sheet of

12 Bauanleitung IN- Nixie-Uhr Manuela Seite