CRT life expectancy ,whats your opinion ?

[radiotvnut]

My '68 Magnavox color console that I started the thread on in the rectangular tube and solid state forum has a Zenith Chromacolor tube which had a two year warranty on it and was installed in '72. The tube still checks very strong on all 3 guns and passes a life test on my B&K 480 tester. The only thing wrong with this tube is that is has a green halo around the edges. Otherwise, I see no reason why it won't make a nice picture once I get the set going again. Of course, I have no way of knowing how many hours were put on the set in the past 35 years; but, I think this tube will hold up well for years to come. IMHO, the delta gun Zenith tubes were some of the most reliable tubes out there. I've seen numerous makes of B&W tubes that were still nice and bright after 30 or 40 years. I've also seen just as many weak / dead ones. Most of the weak ones from the '70's on back responded well to rejuvenation. I think the worst B&W tubes I've ever seen were in the Emerson, GoldStar, and Samsung 12" sets from the mid to late '80's. Most all of the one's I used to find were very weak and would not respond to rejuvenation very well.