[time-nuts] FRSc RB lamp experiment

Magnus Danielson magnus at rubidium.dyndns.org
Sun Feb 13 00:57:20 UTC 2011


Dear Paul,

On 13/02/11 00:02, paul swed wrote:
> Well indeed Magnus the black stuff and silver blob were rb.
> 300 degrees F for 15 minutes made it all go away.
> I was using a j thermocouple to measure the temp and right at the bulb.
> The trick seems to be for a FRS c to get the blob to the lowest point of the
> capsule thats observable. I did this with the normal RB power system heated
> to 177 degrees. Gently tapped a few times to get it concentrated.
> Then powered off and let it cool.
> Next step hung the assembly from a lamp so the heat gun could be pointed
> straight up to boil the RB off at 300 degrees for 10 minutes and let it go
> for 5 more for good luck.
> The dark area on the capsule is significantly reduced and no trace of the
> silver blob.

I had mine go greyish on the first heat-up, but then I cleared it on the 
second run.

> During the heating I could actually see the silver blob shrink.
> The RB lamp lights well and looks good.
> Now to try reassembling everything. That will be a job.

Good news!

Eager to hear of lock-up results!

It seems like the normal temperature of the bulb is good for keeping it 
lit, but you need to go further up for the clean-up operation. Maybe 
this is why the grey rubidium-coating didn't rub off for others... they 
didn't go high enough. Still, no extreme temperatures is needed to get 
the job done.

Cheers,
Magnus



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