[time-nuts] COTS cesium standard physics package life

[Bob Camp]

Hi

> On Sep 29, 2016, at 1:16 PM, Ruslan Nabioullin <rnabioullin at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On 09/29/2016 01:03 PM, Bob Camp wrote:
>> 2) How long on average is the tube likely to be useful.
> 
> So you are implying that the package life is depleted at a roughly equal rate regardless of whether the package is fully operating, has just the pump operating, or is completely shut off?

Not really. What I am suggesting is that the warranty covers a variety of issues. The practical use of the part is normally  something fairly specific. You might leave the unit in the box and never power it up. You might also run it 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Both are pretty common. In the 24 / 7 run case, vacuum is not an issue at all. It’s entirely Cs depletion and that is fairly predictable. In the “never runs” case there are a lot of variables involving seal leak rates, part outgassing and getter capacity. Two of the three are pretty much a guess. That makes the “power off” case much less predictable. 

Simply put:

It is rare to find a high performance tube that runs for much over 10 years. It is not uncommon to find a tube that has been on the shelf for a decade or two that works. 

Bob

> 
> -Ruslan
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