So I found a couple cheap power supplies for bench testing early bally/stern displays. These are made for running Nixie tubes and I wonder how different that is from bally plasma displays.

So this guy is China only and only does 20ma
Here's the first tiny little module: ebay.com link: 170V DC High Voltage Power Supply Module Transformer Glow Nxie Tubes Magic Eye

Then there's this one (with US sellers) that can do 55ma
ebay.com link: Genuine NCH6100HV High Voltage DC Power Supply for Nixie Tubes

finally this one from Lithuania that can output 100ma
ebay.com link: POWER SUPPLY for nixie tubes K155ID1 nixie driver same SN74141

I only test 1 display at a time and currently test all digits at once. The factory fuse is 3/16A which is 187.5ma. Is it simple enough that I can divide by 5 for the load from a single display ~40ma

The 100ma supply should be sufficient for this but I am not an electronics expert.

I'm willing to buy and try but I'd like to know if there are any red flags before I do. Thanks

I do for LED conversion displays.

Great idea about checking at the SDB. I'll try that out

yeah that's what made me think of this. The price is fine but the $25 shipping kills it for me since I already have a partial solution.

OK this is some good advice here and I'll take it. If I was to grab the pinballcentereu tester could it be driven by the power supplies I mention above?

he's here on pinside let's see if he'll weigh in. Hey gianfri can you weigh in?

They make some pretty cool clocks out of them.

Good enough for me. I'll send a pm to order a tester and I'll order up one of the nixie power supplies and let everyone know what the results are.

Thanks everyone for your advice!

OK got this unit into today. Dialed it up to ~180. The dial is very sensitive. Ran $20
2019-01-28 16.40.15 (resized).jpg
ebay.com link: Genuine NCH6100HV High Voltage DC Power Supply for Nixie Tubes

Hooked it up to a garbage display and got the glow. Waiting for my tester to give it a real try.
2019-01-28 16.40.03 (resized).jpg

I wonder how long the tester will take to get here from Ottignies-louvain-la-neuve?

I love these little testers. I think I own the suite of pinitech and siegecraft testers. I have my eye on some gottlieb sys1 and 80 testers in my future too.

This thing? ebay.com link: DC DC 10 32V to 45 390V High Voltage Boost Converter Step up Booster Module HV

Crap I would have bought that one for the price. Although if the Nixie board works it can almost be mounted on the tester.

Edit: only 20ma. So my board at ~50ma should work fine.

tester is due for delivery today but I had something else that needed help. I did not adjust the stepper output voltage (left it at 170) but adjusted the output on the SDB to the same. I'll fine tune it in the machine.

2019-02-08 10.04.09 (resized).jpg

Got the tester today with a lovely assortment of stamps. In exactly 7 business day. I put a .156 header pair on mine as I'm hoping to just mount the nixie board on it.

Initial test with a known "needing repair" board worked as expected

Using the tester I found the solution for 1 bright digit = Replace digit driver and level shifter and fully working display!

That is absolutely the case. Individual digits are bright and they dim when all are lit. I don't this will be the issue for LED displays. I'm working on some conversions now and I'll upload a vid when I can test the first one.

While there's no way I could afford it I'd love to see some pics of it.

That is super cool. Thanks for posting it

I have seen that too. I keep my power around 180VDC so I don't see it as often

I don't currently have a Bally or stern at my house to test them. I've still repaired a bunch with it.

I use one of these: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/MEAN-WELL/RQ-50B?qs=V9a8iPeg90yfVL7CjCrVgQ%3D%3D

and just stripped some wire of the end of a jumper and put it in the connectors on the nixie board.

I used an old pc power cord. Yeah it didn't come with anything