Re: 40w globe lightbulb = safe plasma ball?

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "davep by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <davep-at-quik-dot-com>

> I looked in the Pupman archives and found this thread. 
 
> It seems that if there is sufficient gas in the vessel

> to create streamers/corona then the evacuation is

> insufficient to create hard radiation.
> But if the walls fluoresce, X-Rays may be being produced.

> Perhaps there is a threshold torr that may allow both

> situations to occur.  


	A curious factoid has floated up in my brain,
	from the vacuum tube days.  In the manufacturing
	process, after the vacuum was pulled, and the tube
	sealed, a 'high' voltage (unknown, presumably tube
	specific) was applied between 'something' and
	'something else': this 'pulled' stray atoms,
	left behind by the vacuum pump, and strays
	absorbed on the elements, glass, etc, out of
	there and slammed them into the walls, typically
	leaving a silvery spot.  This was called
	'gettering'.  IIR, one of the normal electrodes had
	an additional electrode called a 'getter', of
	no function in normal operation (being out of the
	electron path) but useful here.

	The relevance:
	I _speculate_ that similar MAY happen in a lightbulb,
	under Tesla excitation: _improving_ the vacuum over
	time.

	Independently, my guess is that which bulbs have vacuum,
	which have inert backfill varies from manufacturer to
	manufacturer and from size to size...

	IF my speculation is correct (IF), I would doubt that a
	backfilled bulb could be 'cleaned up', however one with
	a 'dirty vacuum' might be 'improved' enough to change
	its performance as a (potential) x-ray source.

	best
	dwp

...the net of a million lies...
	Vernor Vinge
There are Many Web Sites which Say Many Things.
	-me