Ice Clock - Single missing digit (was originally fine).

For RTC breakouts, etc., use the Other Products from Adafruit forum

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
myx
 
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:09 pm

Ice Clock - Single missing digit (was originally fine).

Post by myx »

So, before we escaped our office for the covid period a 'cleaning' crew came in to decontaminate the office. In doing so, they pretty much threw anything that was on the desk onto the floor. I got permission to go in and collect some things I would need at home to work and I grabbed my Ice Clock (it's one of my favorite kits ever). Anyway, when I found my clock on the floor in a position that worried me, I plugged it in and noticed that one of the digits was no longer working (the 10's in the seconds group). Even though we were working from home, I have been busier than ever and never had time to look into the problem and sort of got used to the missing digit. I had the day off today and decided to go after the problem.

So... all that to say, I did some troubleshooting, and I still can't get the digit back. Is it possible to break the tube in such a way as to lose just one digit? I have seen them from time to time on ebay and thought about just getting a replacement tube, but wanted to make sure losing a single digit was a possibility.

I took the clock apart and blew everything out (in case something had settled and caused a short).
I reflowed all solder points working from the tube backwards...
On the tube board, all points on the tube board headers pins, main board female headers, and all the points on the Maxim chip holder (since I was in there, and it wasn't working, why not?).
I am still without a 10's place in the seconds group. I forgot that it was a fiddly case to get together, but I got it all back together and back on the desk. (Needed to get it to a usable state so it didn't become yet another zombie project that was neither really dead, nor not alive either).
So... While I know the clock hasn't been sold for quite a while, does anyone who played with these have any additional thoughts or ideas?

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88086
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: Ice Clock - Single missing digit (was originally fine).

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

One of my favorite kits ever. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find NOS tubes to stock in sufficient quantities to keep manufacturing these. But you can still find individual tubes or small quantities on eBay.

The internals of these tubes are a delicate lattice of wires and it is possible that something got knocked loose in the fall to the floor. Since you have already revisited all of the solder joints back to the VFD driver chip, a fault in the tube would be the next logical suspect.

I wish you the best of luck with it. Post a photo if you get it going again.

User avatar
russell 27
 
Posts: 242
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:59 pm

Re: Ice Clock - Single missing digit (was originally fine).

Post by russell 27 »

2A0A0F8E-601F-459C-9E6B-FF4FB69ADE4D.jpeg
2A0A0F8E-601F-459C-9E6B-FF4FB69ADE4D.jpeg (516.16 KiB) Viewed 835 times
A little late to the party here. If you look at your tube closely under magnification, you will see all the internal connections. On the inside of the tube there is a piece of glass, the grid traces are run on the back side, and the segment traces are run on the front. All the segment traces are looped together on the front glass traces, and connect to the same type wire substrate as on the back. Since most all your tube is working, you know the heater connections are good. All of your other digits are working so you know there is no break in the segment traces and connections. So I would say that particular digit’s grid is not working (turning on at same time as segments in the multiplex scan for that digit). If you look at the image you can see the rear traces and to what grid they attach. Look at the connection for that grid and see if the tack weld is broken where it connects to the outer pin. If it looks good you can try continuity from outer tube pin to header pin. If that is good it’s likely broken on the inside.

If you have trouble finding a new tube let me know. I’ll send you one.

Russell

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “Clock Kits (discontinued)”