Ice Tube Clock Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[Guillaume_Lalande]

I soldered all the circuit components and the brightness of seconds is not adustable. I think is a hardware problem.

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[adafruit_support_bill]

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[Guillaume_Lalande]

The seconds are less brite.

[adafruit_support_bill]

This is a known phenomenon and is a function of the way the tube is driven. It is mentioned in the FAQ (see last question) https://learn.adafruit.com/ice-tube-clock-kit/faq

Some customers have developed firmware modifications to address this issue: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=23586&p=175883

[jarchie]

The Adafruit design drives the IV-18 filament with ~2.5v of direct current, and the IV-18 filament was designed to be driven by ~5v of alternating current. On some tubes, the Ice Tube Clock is unable to sufficiently heat the filament, and the result is a final and/or initial digit that is noticeably dimmer. This dim digit issue can be resolved by replacing Q3 with a transistor capable of providing more power to the IV-18 filament.

I suggest the ZVP2110A, available from Digi-Key (ZVP2110A-ND) or Mouser (522-ZVP2110A). Another excellent alternative is the is the PN2907A/resistor combination described by Russell27. Both solutions will provide additional power to the IV-18 filament and even out the display.