Recently, I decided to move schematic & PCB designs from the good old, but sadly dead EaglePCB to KiCAD. I found this exercise good for learning how KiCAD works. While I was replacing components with ones from KiCAD I double checked data sheets and docs… Documentation for NCH8200HV has a wiring diagram describing how to connect a nixie tube to the 170V supply module. In the picture below there is an anode resistor that is used as a current limiter. I completely missed that. That’s the reason why the digits were too bright. The second thing I learned is to never overcurrent Nixie tubes.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/5993521737379322789.png)
To solve this issue, I cut the 170V trace on the display board and soldered an 18K resistor in series:
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/3479271737379366514.png)
Updated schematic is in the project's details.
PCB
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/3242601737379570239.png)
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/6356191737379580028.png)
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