You may be interested to know that, despite the high voltages involved, wiring the nixie tube's anode and a cathode the wrong way 'round will still almost work (except on the digit serving as the anode) and does not appear to cause permanent damage. Full function is restored when the error is corrected.
d'oh!
Ray: making stupid mistakes, so you don't have to.
(Don't try this at home. But, if you do, don't think all is lost.)
Oh yeah, I've done that. Don't worry, it won't hurt them. That's actually a remedy for spotty cathode contamination I read about someplace. Don't know offhand where the article is, but if a tube has been direct driven and left on a single digit for a loong period of time, that cathode gets weak, contaminated, etc, and running it backwards for a bit helps restore it to bright shiny orange.
It' won't asplode them in your face, you should be good to go. Even though they're delicate, they can be hearty lil buggers.
