Comments on: Beautiful, "lethal" freeformed Nixie tube clock

By: Hubris Sonic

Hubris Sonic — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:18:00 +0000

I had the exact same experience, except it wasn’t nixie tubes, it was a dame and I didn’t wind up on the floor, I wound up in Pittsburgh.

By: Robert Cruickshank

Robert Cruickshank — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:19:00 +0000

This is lovely! Agree with nixiebunny regarding the high frequency supplies. Probably not that lethal. Worst shock I ever had was when I was a kid, and wiring up the nixie tube that I’d bought at Radio Shack (which gives you some idea how long ago this was) I thought the weird mess of transformers that I’d cobbled together was unplugged, when I grabbed the leads with both hands. Wound up on the kitchen floor. Decided to watch TV for the rest of the evening rather than play with nixie tubes.

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Electrodes, not filaments. Electrical engineering nit-picking…

By: Henry Pootel

Henry Pootel — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Looks like something you’d stumble on in Metro 2033 or Fallout 3.

By: nixiebunny

nixiebunny — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:06:00 +0000

It doesn’t look all that dangerous, as you’d have to have one hand contact the high voltage supply rail but not the outer frame, while touching the outer frame with the other hand, to get a shock. And those little high-frequency PWM supplies don’t make a horrendous amount of power.

The bigger problem is fragility - it would be a shame to drop it and have it get all bent up.