866A vs 3B28

[Don Buska]

Bry,

The 866 series are Mercury Vapor tubes and the 3B28's are not.  866's can arc
over and take out transformers and filter caps in the process.  This will not
happen with the 3B28's.  I just bought a pair of 3B28's for my Valiant.  The
Valiants 866's already had one arc over, but it only took out a filter cap.  I
want to replace them before it takes out the transformer next time.

73

Don N9OO

P.S.  The 866's do look pretty in operation though.





On Tue, 19 Aug 1997 07:07:12 -0500, Brian Carling wrote:

>Can anyone tell me what, if any, difference exists between an 866A and
>a 3B28?
>
>I have a rig that uses 866As and I have some spare (nicer looking
>3B28s) They both use the same base pin arrangement, right? They both
>have 2.5V 5A filaments, right?
>
>250 mA max current, 1000V DC out, max?
>
>So what is the difference, other than perhaps the plate cap style?
>
>Bry
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