{"id":249,"date":"2014-11-02T21:32:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T04:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tubetime.us\/?p=249"},"modified":"2014-11-03T19:48:46","modified_gmt":"2014-11-04T02:48:46","slug":"miniature-coin-cell-nixie-tube-power-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tubetime.us\/?p=249","title":{"rendered":"Miniature Coin Cell Nixie Tube Power Supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update <\/strong>11\/3\/2014: Fixed the coil connections on the schematic, along with the inductance. Also, check out this post<\/a>\u00a0to see how the circuit works.<\/p>\n

This project has been a long time in progress<\/a>. It started years ago at a Maker Faire where I built a Nixie tube pendant powered by a lithium coin cell battery. Since then, I’ve decided to make a PC board and put together some instructions on how to build such a power supply yourself. These little supplies are great for steampunk jewelry or possibly single-digit Nixie tube clocks (they’re not quite strong enough to drive multiple tubes). The battery life should be around 3 hours or so for a CR2032 lithium coin cell.
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The schematic is below–click for a larger view.\u00a0The bill of materials is located here<\/a>, including Mouser Electronics part numbers. If you decide to order, get at least 5 of each part just in case you lose or burn up some of them. \u00a0Note: Mouser seems to be out of stock for the T1 inductor, but Digikey has it here<\/a>.
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\nQ1 is a single device; it actually contains two transistors which is why it looks like that on the schematic.<\/p>\n

To make it easier to build, I’ve put up a convenient OSH Park project page link<\/a> so you can order boards. When I ordered from them, it cost $2.80 for a set of three boards (with free USPS shipping). Not a bad deal at all!<\/p>\n

When you have boards and components, there’s a specific order of assembly that makes things a bit easier. See this YouTube video:
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