I Built A DIY Vacuum Tube Diode

Just a quick update on what I've been up to in the lab while it ices over. I made a vacuum tube, gave a conference talk about it, passed 1000 subs, and almost finished the vacuum bench.
You can watch my Hackaday Supercon talk here:
• Hackaday Supercon 2022...
You can stay up to date and support me on Patreon here:
/ integratedtherm

[@DrJaneLuciferian]

Yes, I would like to hear about your spot welder build. Please :^)

[@BRPEngineering]

10:22 "As long as we're down here, I might as well address the air compressor." Hello, air compressor!

[@weetarted3715]

Yes please do a video on the clean build you have made for the spot welder.

[@gameyord7182]

please keep doing stuff like this

[@grandg9437]

Recently came across your channels, super well made videos, good pace, good audio and video, informative while remaining light and fun enough, love the tats too, subbed!

[@simonkormendy849]

Cool, you should have a go at building a vacuum triode tube based on the design of your vacuum diode tube, you just need to add a fine wire grid element between the directly heated cathode and the anode.

[@thewmonster]

great video! very excited to see what can be made with your set-up

[@gkelly]

Your presentation style really resonates with me. Your videography skills on are point too. Congrats on the diode!

[@gsuberland]

Great work! Really enjoying these overviews of your setup. I'm looking forward to seeing that rackmount panel in practice, and I'm glad I saw you post that idea on Mastodon - saved me ordering a very expensive custom front panel!

[@DeadKoby]

This is some serious dedication to DIY....... good luck with your journey.

[@Spirit532]

The purge port on the EXT255 is *not* NPT. It's straight threaded, and stuffing an NPT fitting in there will destroy it. Putting grease on it will also have a big chance of the grease making it to the drag stage and causing destruction through contact of the spirals with the carbon fiber drag rotor. In general, avoid grease in vacuum systems if at all possible. It's only a last resort item. The little recess around the (purposefully loose) thread is for a small viton oring(which you can buy on aliexpress), and the original accessories(vent plug, vent valve, purge system) all use it. The port is also used for flowing an inert shield when you're pumping something aggressive, to keep the bottom bearing (and oil) intact, though you won't need any of that.

[@SignalDitch]

Thanks for the info, I was never able to find that anywhere else, perhaps what happened before I received it was that a tapered NPT fitting had been jammed into it and that's why it's difficult. To be clear, I'm not proposing to use vacuum grease on this or any other part of the system. Apiezon Wax W is a solid, semi-permanent vacuum sealing wax.

[@SignalDitch]

btw, I stumbled onto your video about the turbo repair some time ago and I really enjoyed it!

[@Spirit532]

@@SignalDitch I wouldn't put anything other than a solid plug with an oring in that port, it's way too close to the rotor for comfort. Thanks for watching :)

[@T2D.SteveArcs]

Hey man nice, new sub 👍 I build monster hv projects and yes I love tubes 😂, my latest coil is using a really cool (imo) 1939 radar tube from the British "chain home low radar system" it runs at a pretty high anode voltage of 23kV, I haven't pushed her that high yet but when I do I will be sure to have a Geiger counter in hand 😃.. I will check out your other videos 👍 all the best from across the pond Steve

[@AdvancedTinkering]

Really cool and interesting video! Great work on your vacuum system! Keep going :)

[@nicksower6064]

I'm impressed!

[@DrJaneLuciferian]

Lol, that's seriously high tech compared to watching glassslinger's videos :^)

[@tfblum]

This setup is very cool! I appreciate the work you are doing here and look forward to more. I would be interested in the MOT resistance "pliers" and how they are constructed. I also had one thing to add about protecting the turbo during the melt-off procedure. If you add another bypass stage with some sort of constriction you can create a flow limiter that would give your controller more time to isolate the turbo and gauge from the rising pressure. A longer section of narrower tubing would work for the constriction. In grad school we used this technique to allow the flow of process gasses while still allowing the use of the turbo.

[@PaneInTheGlass]

I am so thankful for finding your channel your content is a solid 10 bro. Do you plan on making more vids on the DIY glass lathe? I was looking into a way to build one. You had the most detail and actually explained what was going on. I would love to see that become a thing. It would help the glass community so much!!

[@SignalDitch]

I'm actually working on an update to that project right now! The chuck design that I talked about in the last video isn't going to work out, but I think I've come up with something much simpler and better performing. If you want to see how it's going, I just published some pics and renders on the Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/76897248 And thanks for the kind words, I'm hoping the content only gets better as the projects get more finished!

[@edgeeffect]

Yeah.... I'm a bit wierd on the subject of MOT spot welders.... i still think there aren't enough videos on KZbin. I think i "have a problem".

[@1800Supreme]

It only worked to spite me for not documenting it better. I feel like we have all been there.

[@imajeenyus42]

That's fantastic work, well done on getting a working diode! Can't wait to see the vacuum bench all together, that'll be a great piece of kit. I'm really curious about that induction heater, always thought they were only good for nuts, but looks like they'll do other stuff too. How well do you think in would work for say a small (say 1cm) disc, either copper or silver? Got a jewellery application that would benefit from really clean heating for soldering, rather than a torch.

[@SignalDitch]

Thanks! I'm not sure how it would do... If I had to guess, I'd say it would work quite well, but I can do some testing for you if you'd like. I'm sure I can dig up some small copper discs or washers for testing. It seems to have decent power, and if none of the included coils were right for your application, you may be able to bend your own that would work. I'll play with it and let you know.

[@imajeenyus42]

@@SignalDitch If you could, I'd be really interested to see how it behaves! My understanding with these things is that they are generally low frequency (e.g. 50kHz), and work best with magnetic workpieces - i.e. rusty iron bolts ;-) For anything non-magnetic, you're relying on skin losses alone, so usually they operate much higher (e.g. 500kHz-1MHz) to get sufficient heating.

[@thevoidedwarranty]

I reaaally want to see you make a working vfd some day

[@SignalDitch]

We'll get there!

[@LeeHambley]

Please make the spot welder video! 👍

[@SignalDitch]

I'll put it on the list!

[@drewlarson65]

You need an appropriate flux and probably a few key trace elements for the nickle to wet both other metals. Argon or vacuum induction soldering is your friend; oxygen, chlorine, non-getter alkalis, etc. aren't.

[@gucdude]

Holy shit please show us your welder 😮❤

[@nityanandadas5575]

Excellent video. I was looking for such a video. How much vacuum is almost sufficient for vacuum diode Or triode? Is it 10 power -4 mbar or less? Please

[@bozackdakilla7846]

Great video Nick! I sent you an email because I would really like to buy the Leybold vacuum chamber from the surface analysis system and whatever vacuum accessories you don’t need for my own hobbyist experiment. Hope you see this!

[@mongolianstallion8274]

Hey, did you make your soldering iron yourself?

[@sketchysticks1127]

Awesome channel and video dude! is the turbo molecular pump necessary for making vacuum tubes one day i would like to try making some my self but vacuum system like these are crazy expensive so im trying to think of other ways to do it. So a thought has been that oxygen is one of the gases that will mess up the vacuum tubes so could one flush the tube with a much denser gas, my thinking is that a heavier gas would be easier to pump out and wont stick to surfaces as easely but my knowledge is very limited so could be the direct opposite the molecule/atom is bigger and therefore has more "surface area" o stick more. So another thought has been to flush it with pure oxygen then absorb it with a heated metalband to create oxides but that would need a separate chamber. Could one force the atoms with a high voltage charge towards the metalband thats would requirer a extra electrode in the tube tho or would need to do 2 seals on the finnished tube. Just some random thought thats been bouncing around in the head for the past couple of months. Cheers!

[@Broken_Yugo]

My understanding is production radio/tv tubes were roughed down, sealed off, and the getter flash did all the work achieving the final hard vacuum. jdflyback used this method and saw success, IIRC Simplifier also made some tubes this way with a Ti anode, they just red plated the tube until it performed well. I think this sort of multi stage high vacuum setup is more for proper development work, testing things on the pump. One thought I've had for a low budget tube lab is sealing on a disposable Ti sublimation pump if a smaller induction heated Ti halo getter isn't enough to go from whatever rough vacuum a cheap two stage AC service pump can hit.

[@TheGiselaSchumacher]

Such a professional setup for the home lab! And congratulations on the successful diode! Not everyone gets quite those results on their first tube :P most of my early attempts leaked or broke lol I actually came across your videos a couple weeks ago shortly after acquiring my own EXT255H turbomolecular pump and was looking for other hobbyists that may be using the same one. I'm still waiting on my ISO100 to KF40 adapter to arrive before I can test mine, and was curious to see how it works for other people. Also, what power supply (or supplies) do you use? I've read that I have the 24V model of the controller, but also read that the turbo needs an 80VDC power supply (since I have and EXDC80 controller). I'm inclined to believe it does need the 80V for the motor and puts out 24V control logic, but it's something I don't want to risk given the costs involved. Any help is appreciated! Same goes the other way. Not sure if I can offer anything you don't already know yourself, but if you have any questions I'd be happy to at least listen :P

[@SignalDitch]

It's good to hear from another hobbyist! I definitely got lucky with this tube, I expect to make quite a few more before I get another sealed device, haha. My understanding about the Edwards EXT255H is that there were two different models made, a 24V and an 80V, with the 24V being the newer of the two. Supposedly, Edwards were somewhat aware of how confusing this was and made sure that the connectors are incompatible, so you can't connect an 80V controller to a 24V pump or vice-versa. Unfortunately, the controller is named after the motor drive power (80W) which means that, confusingly, the EXDC80 comes in both 80V and 24V flavors. I was lucky enough to get my 24V pump with the controller included and I found a thread on the Fusor.net forums that (somewhat) elucidated the wiring. The good news is: If you indeed have the 24V pump and controller then you only need to supply 24VDC! I'm running my turbo off of a Meanwell EDR-120-24 which is a relatively inexpensive DIN-rail 24V5A power supply and it seems plenty sufficient for the job. There are a handful of wires that come off of the controller and you connect 24V and GND between two of them, one of them is an active-low start switch, one is an analog output that gives the proportional pump speed in tenths of a volt (0-10VDC where 7.5VDC represents 75% speed) and then there's an output that goes high when the pump is running >80% speed (intended to switch a relay for process control stuff) If you need it, I can find the wiring diagram that I worked off of, I think I ended up marking up a page out of the controller datasheet with info from the fusor forum post.

[@TheGiselaSchumacher]

@@SignalDitch Okay that answers my questions! Definitely glad I asked before hooking it up to my 80V power supply... The controller my EXT255H came with has 24V printed on its back label, which is what made me second guess the 80V thing. I'll have to get a power supply for it but that's not a big issue. Honestly I'll probably order the one you mentioned as I'm rather a fan of Meanwell power supplies. My controller has the (standard?) DB 15 connector on it. From the manual I found, I should be able to get it wired up correctly; however I wouldn't say no to seeing your wiring diagram as confirmation given these pumps are decently expensive. Thank you for replying and thank you for the wealth of information! It really helps progress this niche field when we work together!

[@devilvortex1]

you are sure that the getter does not get fleshed during the under vacuum process?

[@SignalDitch]

I think industrially the getters are flashed while on the vacuum manifold. The reason I sealed mine off before flashing is because I wasn't confident in the current configuration of the vacuum system, and I knew that there was a lot of getter material so I was hoping it would act as a sublimation pump to further lower the pressure in the tube.

[@riccaruso7791]

Can you build me a few utilizing germanium?

[@jordantekelenburg]

Any update???

[@SignalDitch]

Yes! I finally posted another video and more are coming soon

[@eugen-m]

I follow this channel with great interest. maybe you don't believe it, but you can learn a lot of physics and chemistry from them. so no matter how naive and stupid the idea seems, I think that the next step could be a higher one. What if you tried a project to build a small particle accelerator or even an electron microscope?

[@SignalDitch]

I am very interested in both of those projects! I have a lot of reference material stashed away about SEMs and cyclotrons!

[@marbleop9881]

Nice flag :3

[@l_shaun_bunds_l]

How come my last name is censored? 😢 I guess that’s what I get for being born.

[@l_shaun_bunds_l]

Just kidding. I imagine you imagine there is some political or antihero worship shit going on when in reality that is just my loser dad.

[@SignalDitch]

@@l_shaun_bunds_l Are you David? I appreciate the support! But you've credited me with a lot of intention here. Would you believe I actually don't know your last name because you don't use it on your Patreon profile?

[@SignalDitch]

Wait, you've given me a hint now, can I guess? Is it Kaczynski?

[@simonkormendy849]

Cool, you should have a go at building a vacuum triode tube based on the design of your vacuum diode tube, you just need to add a fine wire grid element between the directly heated cathode and the anode.