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Re: NEON- RE: small tube lifetime
> So please tell me a GOOD reason why small tubes should have shorter
> life - I don't know any. My 6mm ones, 20cm long ore operating now
> for more than 2.5 years on 25mA (red) without any sign of ageing.
>
> Marcus
>
What they haven't aged in yet? :-)
I agree. I have a few approx 2 and 3 mm units that have been
working fine since the early 1980's. This was batched glass that came out
of the furnace and was pulled down to this small diameter. One of
them is ruby! They are usually powered with solid state though I
sometimes used 5 & 10mA xerox transformers.
Some used the smallest available electrodes, (the tube flaring up to meet the
tapered electrodes). Others used plated single dumets that used
to be available from Sylvania. For those interested - I'd pull
tubulation glass and cut a small bead that just slid over the wire and
heat the bead until it fused to the wire with a perfect red color
to the wire under the bead. Then I'd slide the plated end into
the tube so that the bead just starts to fit into the tube (like a
plug). Carefully heat so that the bead and the tube fuse but avoiding
the bare wire in the tube touching the walls. Anneal, anneal,
anneal. These were bombarded with a 15k60mA.
Side note, while I got pretty good at making custom electrodes (with
double wires and shells as well), I never quite got a tubulated
electrode that didn't crack at the pinch.
I don't know where I found all that time to experiment and play.
Kenny
Kenny Greenberg -- Neon - Scenic and Environmental Art
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