Faux Nixie Temperature Display

Created: 2023-02-04
Updated: 2024-01-27

Inspired by this project by Extreme Electronics. I used the same OLED modules. Instead of etched acrylic, I used orange window tint and pieces of wire mesh. The whole thing is driven by the ESP8266 that previously powered the dial weather display, using the same weather API.

Tubes

I used the same brand and size of jars as the holy water in the vampire kit, as they just fit, with a little trimming of the PCB. I made the tubes their own modules, with 3d-printed silver bases that friction fit onto the jars. The i2c and power lines are routed out the bottom with bare solid core wire that fits into headers in the base. A screw helps fix the boards to the bases through a tab.

Original Base

The old base is wood PLA with oak stain and brown antiquing wax. The bottom is the same silver PLA as the tube bottoms. The tubes are only held in place by the female headers that serve as sockets, and the wood top just sits on top of the silver base. Only the sockets were soldered to a circuit board, everything else was connected by jumper wires inside the case.

2024 Base

The new base is two parts held together by M5 bolts. The top part, printed in silver, has insets that grip the tube bases. I made a new circuit board that holds the sockets, ESP8266, and most of the wiring. It attaches to the underside of the top piece with M3 nuts and bolts, hidden beneath the tubes. I included decorative ridges around the sides of the top piece.

The bottom piece, in black, has threaded inserts that the M5 bolts screw into. There is just a cavity for the electronics to stick into from the other piece, and holes for the power jack to screw into. Some clear rubber grip-pads are stuck onto the bottom