Solder The Tubes - Nixie Clock ITS1A Manual

ITS1A CLOCK

Solder the Tubes

There are holes in the display board that were intended to allow the nipple on the tube to pass through.
In fact, on the first tube I installed the nipple was at a sharp angle to the tube and did not line up with
the hole, so I ended up installing all the tubes so that the nipple did not go through the PCB. This turned
out pretty well, and meant that I didn't have to straighten the leads on the tube all the way up to the
glass. In fact, I have heard reports that the leads of ITS1A/B tubes can sometimes snap off at or near the
glass, so you should avoid applying too much force in that vicinity anyway.
Once the leads are reasonably straight, starting with any lead you like, work around the tube and trim
each one slightly shorter than the last. This will make it easier to insert the leads in to the holes because
you only have to insert one lead at a time.
Now insert the leads into one end or the other of the display board, from the same side as the outlines.
You will notice that the tubes have two missing leads. These should match up with the missing holes on
the footprints. In other words, you can't install the tubes upside-down!
In the next picture you can see the trimmed leads, and the nipple I was describing:
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