[Boatanchors] Mercury Vapor Rectifier Lore Needed

[J. Forster]

I've posted before you should not use epoxy or superglue on tube bases.

You should use euther:

A Sauereisen cement (which is what was originally used, I thnk)
Clear, unfilled RTV
Possibly Gorilla glue.

-John

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> I’ve been resurrecting some gear with 866s in it, and Wonder about some
> of the things I’m seeing.
> I’ve used 866s all my life, but never thought much about them, except
> good or bad.
>
> Some have much more glow than others, and the more glow the whiter.   Is
> this because of air getting in?
> Some have what looks like shards of metallic stuff on the glass.  Is this
> a coating off the plate?
> Last night, I had one that glowed pretty white, but also had a neat ring
> of fire dancing around the anode, with fingers pointing outward.  What was
> going on there?
> Sometimes one will are over inside and blow fuses, etc.  How can that
> happen, if the plate and filament are not out of position?
> I recently had a big flash from the back of the rack, accompanied by a
> colossal bang, as loud as a .22 LR shot!
> I looked all over the PS for evidence of arcing, but didn’t find any.
> Later, I took hold of the 866 to take it out and the whole bulb came off
> in my hand!
> It broke perfectly cleanly, right around where it went into the base.
> This has now happened twice and I’ve never seen it before.
> Both these tubes were loose in their bases, so I shot in some superglue to
> hold them.
> Could it be that the superglue bound them so tightly to the bases that
> they couldn’t expand and broke from stress concentration?
> Or could it have been that the superglue caused a thermal stress
> concentration in the class.
> Anyone ever see one break this way?
> Wilson
> W4BOH
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