occasional blanking

[agricola64]

this is a behaviour of Time flies i noticed recently (do not know if this has been going on for longer and i just never noticed)

occassionally (and i have not yet been able to find if they do it regularily or at specific times) the nixie tubes blank (go black) for about half a second, then display 00+00 for about half a second and then go back to the correct time

any information if this is
a. OK
b. what is the reason for this

[Tony]

Is it moving at the time, it will happen if the clock is bumped for example and the sudden current drawn to stabilise the magnet will cause the display to switch off. It has a number of parameters that are monitored such as overcurrent, overtemperature and undervoltage, the display will switch off if the firmware thinks they have been exceeded.

[agricola64]

as far as i can tell it is not moving .. its on the other side of the room - about five meters away - and most of the times whwn i notice this i am sitting safely and quitely on the sofa on the other side of the room (and nobody else is moving around in the room)

and we are not an earthquake prone area .. 8)

[Tony]

Any LEDs under the base flashing when it does it?. That would indicate a protection shutdown.

[agricola64]

Any LEDs under the base flashing when it does it?. That would indicate a protection shutdown.

do you mean the blue leds at the base of the nixies? yes .. these do go off / out for the same time the nixies are blanking ..

i did not yet notice any other leds blinking / flashing when this happens

[Tony]

The LEDs under the base unit itself, they will flash to indicate a safety shutdown. If it's going off without those flashing it may be a fault. Have you installed the backup battery pack in the power controller case?.

[agricola64]

The LEDs under the base unit itself, they will flash to indicate a safety shutdown. If it's going off without those flashing it may be a fault. Have you installed the backup battery pack in the power controller case?.

no LEDs flashing under the base - in fact i have never seen LEDs under base shining

no - battery backup power is not installed, as electricity is extremely reliable in this area (i believe we had our last power loss about five yerars aog - for about 20 seconds)

[Skyraider]

Hello,
since few days I have exactly the same behaviour: Every 20seconds or so, the nixies goes off then 00<00 appears for 0,5s and then time is displayed again.
The clock is not moving and the overcurrent led (red) under the base is not flashing (it is flashing only when placing the clock over the base).
The bettery backup power is installed.
As the temperature in the room is hot since a few days (26°C in the room), I wonder if the software is not detecting overtemperature condition...

[Tony]

It could be overtemperature, it uses the onboard PIC sensor and is set to be quite cautious - anything that might be considered higher than average will cause a shutdown. I have one here that is behaving the same way though so will investigate.

[Skyraider]

Hello,
During the heat we had in France the clock continued to show 00 <00.
Now, the display is accompanied by a red flash of the central led of the base.
I looked at the code and in case of overheating problem we should have a green flash.
In addition, I controlled the temperature inside the base and I did not see anything abnormal.
Since a few days I run the clock with the base without its cover (so good temperature evacuation): There is always the default (00 <00 which appears regularly)
As there is a red flash and I removed the overconsumption control, I think it is the control of"undervoltage" that is triggered.
I will control the 15V power supply to see if the desired voltage is stable.