Largest tube in 1927 {edit} July 1927 popular science Tube Was a GE 100kw transmitter tube 7.5 ft tall
100 lbs copper jacket for water cooling was installed at Ge station WGY
for experimental use took 10kw to drive it! They did not list a tube number guesss they only made one.

http://books.google.com/books?id=EysDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=largest+vacuum+tube+ever+made&source=bl&ots=CElL26elgN&sig=eVCxYVf97haMMjypmz0lgcSESas&hl=en&ei=NBU5TtfyJrLTiAKDgI3mDg&sa

Interesting. I wonder if this tube went on to commercial use, and was eventually assigned a type number?

As far as early tubes in the 100 kW power class, there were at least 2 other types. The type 862 was a 5 foot long water-cooled beast, which saw service (20 of them- 12 as class C RF power amps, plate modulated by 8 more!) in the experimental transmitter built by RCA for WLW, when they were running under special authorization at 500kW output. A great page about the station with a lot of pictures:

http://hawkins.pair.com/wlw.shtml

A good picture of an 862 tube:

http://radioheaven.homestead.com/RCA862.html

The RCA datasheet for the 862:

http://tubedata.tubes.se/sheets/049/8/862A.pdf


The other early "superpower" tube was the Western Electric 320A, which was developed for Mexican "Border Blaster" station XERA. Only 9 were ever made, 8 for the XERA transmitter, and one spare. Some neat pictures and info:

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/WE320A.htm

http://hawkins.pair.com/mexblast.shtml


Of course, both of these "beastatrons" were soon eclipsed in terms of raw power. I believe the title of "most powerful tube" is still held by the Eimac 8974 tetrode, used in megawatt class shortwave transmitters and particle accelerators:

http://www.cpii.com/docs/datasheets/81/8974.pdf

That guy takes nearly 10 kW just to heat the filaments! 22.5kV on the plate at 125 *AMPERES* plate current for a shade over 2 MEGAwatts of RF output in class C.

That was great reading! thank you both for posting!

About 12 years ago, the Fry's Electronics in Silicon Valley CA had on display a radar tube. About 12 feet tall, and about 8 inches diameter, looked like a metal pipe painted red. Supposildy was used for military radar, that checked to see if any Russian nukes were on their way to us.

Yeah, I worked w/a fella who was an electronics tech in the Sub Service & he told me of HUGE tubes that they opened up & worked inside...I guess they evacuated 'em after servicing.

:scratch2:Just curious, what would one of those tubes cost?

that would cause a lot of work just decontaminating it before evacuating it!
Yeah, I worked w/a fella who was an electronics tech in the Sub Service & he told me of HUGE tubes that they opened up & worked inside...I guess they evacuated 'em after servicing.

The output tubes (Type 43 valve) used in the British "Chain Home" radar stations were designed to be opened up and repaired, rather than replaced. They were never actually sealed off, but continuously pumped down during operation to maintain a hard vacuum.

Some modern high power tubes (including the 8974 mentioned earlier) incorporate a built-in titanium ion sputter pump to maintain vacuum, even though they are sealed off. Conventional flash getters are inadequate for tubes with very large evacuated volumes.

Some modern high power tubes (including the 8974 mentioned earlier) incorporate a built-in titanium ion sputter pump to maintain vacuum, even though they are sealed off. ...

Wonder if tubes used in spacecraft, like geostationary satellites, might be opened to the vacuum of space, to get rid of any gasses that were left when the tube was made on the ground. Probably not, as the mechanism needed to do that would be extra cost and weight. But imagine tubes not needing envelopes...

Of course, both of these "beastatrons" were soon eclipsed in terms of raw power. I believe the title of "most powerful tube" is still held by the Eimac 8974 tetrode, used in megawatt class shortwave transmitters and particle accelerators:


I have one of these tubes, a spare out of the Princeton Tokamak fusion project, and indeed the crate it comes in proclaims it as "the worlds most powerful electron tube".

--
Will

Wonder if tubes used in spacecraft, like geostationary satellites, might be opened to the vacuum of space, to get rid of any gasses that were left when the tube was made on the ground.

No, too much crap out in space, unless you go way out there.

--
Will

I have one of these tubes, a spare out of the Princeton Tokamak fusion project, and indeed the crate it comes in proclaims it as "the worlds most powerful electron tube".

--
Will

:worthless

VERY cool! I'm also a tube collector, but don't have anything nearly that big. Biggest one I have is a ~60kW water cooled tetrode.

Is your 8974 operational, or a dud? How did you end up with it? Tubes like that are usually rebuilt, and only get tossed if they fail catastrophically. Makes them quite unusual in tube collections.

I have a big 'un I found in an antique store that is about 10-12" tall. I put it in my display case w/my Danbury & Franklin Mint cars. It was a new in box Westinghouse WL 676. 4 prongs on the base, & a top cap.

It was a new in box Westinghouse WL 676. 4 prongs on the base, & a top cap.

A mercury vapor thyratron, used in various types of industrial equipment (welders, motor speed controls, etc.). If interested, the datasheet for RCA's version available here:

http://scottbecker.net/tube/sheets/049/6/676.pdf

A mercury vapor thyratron, used in various types of industrial equipment (welders, motor speed controls, etc.). If interested, the datasheet for RCA's version available here:

http://scottbecker.net/tube/sheets/049/6/676.pdf

Yeah...I got it for almost nuthin' 'cause it was just layin' out where any little kid could get it & bust it, & I told the woman running the store that it was extremely dangerous to do that, & she was opening herself up for a big lawsuit, potentially. OK, so maybe that was an exaggeration, but back when I was a Snarky Little Boy, I developed a "Radar" for finding stuff like this & foolin' w/it...Never broke anything, but I was just VERY dam luicky, too..And I'm sure there are OTHER Snarky Little Boys out there...

Mercury arc rectifiers are among the big boys. The biggest are in steel tanks but the largest glass ones are not small. I have a medium sized one which can be seen working on the "MAR" page of my website.

A ham radio buddy of mine had some odd stuff stolen out of his garage, including a large transmitter tube from an old radio station. Being in a less-than ideal part of town one of the kids asked what happened . He told the kid that someone stole some old parts and that they were "radio active" and that he felt bad for the thief "cause in a week or so they'll be dead" The stuff was on his lawn the next morning!

ROFLOL!
reminds me of a neighbor who had a problem with getting batteries stolen from his spare car.
after the 4th one he asked me for help.
i had him disconnect the positive cable at the starter.i then installed a 24v aircraft battery.
2 weeks later the hood was ajar and the battery missing.
a few days later there was a big commotion a few doors up in the alley.kids were pushing a smoking car out of their garage.it was on fire under the dash.
after the fire dept got done putting it out(what was left of it)one of the firemen asked who was the idiot that put the 24v battery in it?
never had any more batteries stolen!
A ham radio buddy of mine had some odd stuff stolen out of his garage, including a large transmitter tube from an old radio station. Being in a less-than ideal part of town one of the kids asked what happened . He told the kid that someone stole some old parts and that they were "radio active" and that he felt bad for the thief "cause in a week or so they'll be dead" The stuff was on his lawn the next morning!

:lmao: :lmao:
Last two posts I find both very clever and very very funny.

Tom C.

ROFLOL!
reminds me of a neighbor who had a problem with getting batteries stolen from his spare car.
after the 4th one he asked me for help.
i had him disconnect the positive cable at the starter.i then installed a 24v aircraft battery.
2 weeks later the hood was ajar and the battery missing.
a few days later there was a big commotion a few doors up in the alley.kids were pushing a smoking car out of their garage.it was on fire under the dash.
after the fire dept got done putting it out(what was left of it)one of the firemen asked who was the idiot that put the 24v battery in it?
never had any more batteries stolen!
Hehe... I woulda taken the 24V and wired each terminal to some thin aluminum foil strips running down the side... then painted the aluminum with conductive black paint. Nasty surprise for someone that tries to pick it up.
Mind you, they'd have to be on the same side so the current only goes through the hand and not the heart...

I've always had the idea, that once I get and have a 1940's car as a daily driver, to equip it with an electric fence supply, flyback circuit or some such to stun any would be thieves or vandals bad enough to make them want to stay the heck away from my car.

Ahh, nowadays you'd end up gettin' sued by the dam crooks...

Ahh, nowadays you'd end up gettin' sued by the dam crooks...

Sadly yes... Solution? dead people can't sue. and if you have a sign on your car that warns of a shock hazard, you're in the clear... they were warned :P Doesn't matter if they thought it was a joke or not.

...if you have a sign on your car that warns of a shock hazard, you're in the clear... they were warned...

This assumes that they can read!! :nono:

Well if they can't read and are older than 7 than they will have far worse things to worry about...Life threatening things like not knowing the difference between bleach and botteled water and not being able to check facebook (which some of my college classmates who use the service claim can cause them to die :lmao:).
And if they are younger than 7 their folks should have told them not to be touching other peoples cars.

Well if they can't read and are older than 7 than they will have far worse things to worry about...Life threatening things like not knowing the difference between bleach and botteled water and not being able to check facebook (which some of my college classmates who use the service claim can cause them to die :lmao:).
And if they are younger than 7 their folks should have told them not to be touching other peoples cars.

I honestly think 3/4 of the women & about a good third of the men 'round here WOULD fold up 'n' die if the cellfone service here kwit for some reason....When I was a kid, if I messed w/some neighbor's stuff, he'd give me a good talkin' to, then take me home, tell my parents what happened, & I'd get a whuppin' for sure...

Re: not being able to read: I was picturing "adults" not being able to, not kids! :yes:

I figured as much, and merely mentioned them so it would not be pointed out that I did not take them into account.

I love this stuff....its funy when you needed something more powerful, even to this day, you just make it bigger.....and bigger, and bigger. Litearlly. Regular engines not big enough to move barges? make them 4 stories tall with stars and a catwalk! need more transmitting power? make bigger tubes! and etc etc etc, lol

Mark

I love this stuff....its funy when you needed something more powerful, even to this day, you just make it bigger.....and bigger, and bigger. Litearlly. Regular engines not big enough to move barges? make them 4 stories tall with stars and a catwalk! need more transmitting power? make bigger tubes! and etc etc etc, lol

Mark

Ayup. I always had a strange desire for a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major, probably one of the largest aircraft piston engines ever built. It had 28 cylinders, & displacement of 4362 cubic inches-71.5 liters. I have absolutely no use for th' damthing, but wouldn't it be Kewl to have one sittin' in yr Mancave to show off & wow yr friends with ?!? (grin)

Ayup. I always had a strange desire for a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major, probably one of the largest aircraft piston engines ever built. It had 28 cylinders, & displacement of 4362 cubic inches-71.5 liters. I have absolutely no use for th' damthing, but wouldn't it be Kewl to have one sittin' in yr Mancave to show off & wow yr friends with ?!? (grin)
Dese guys gots a live one to play wit' (Check the other linkys too)..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1J-8q25TTo&feature=related