Question about 15GP22 production

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by benman94

Does anyone have concrete information as to when exactly commercial production of the 15GP22 began, and when it ended?

Maybe this is the back-end of the puzzle. Link to the graphic on my site of the only 15GP22 date code I know of that is not from 1954; it is from 1959 (in case the link doesn't work).

http://www.earlytelevision.org/Deksn...926-15GP22.jpg

Pete

[benman94]

Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis

Maybe this is the back-end of the puzzle. Link to the graphic on my site of the only 15GP22 date code I know of that is not from 1954; it is from 1959 (in case the link doesn't work).

http://www.earlytelevision.org/Deksn...926-15GP22.jpg

Pete

Makes one wonder if it was a rebuild, or if the 15GP22 was still being manufactured new?

I figure RCA had built four or five thousand CT-100s, then there were the other 15 inchers (at least 500 Westinghouse sets, 100-200 GEs, etc) and finally all the studio monitors. There would have been some demand for 15GP22s into at least the 1960s. Probably not that great of one, but a real demand nonetheless.

[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by benman94

Makes one wonder if it was a rebuild, or if the 15GP22 was still being manufactured new?

My feeling always was that it was new. Or, perhaps assembled from a pile of parts held in storage for years...?

[benman94]

Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis

My feeling always was that it was new. Or, perhaps assembled from a pile of parts held in storage for years...?

I think there are two plausible explanations:

The datecode is a misprint and it should be 1954, or the tube was manufactured new in 1959. The 15GP22 is on price sheets well into the late 1960s and early 1970s. Warehousing a bunch of product is expensive. It's possible that RCA kepts parts around to "build" new 15GP22s on demand for a while. They wouldn't be the first company to do something like that...

If it was a rebuild you'd expect to see a label saying that the envelope was reused and the tube was rebuild. I've seen an RCA rebuilt 15G with such a label, and I've never seen a rebuilt tube without a label clearly identifying it as such.

I think your gut feeling is right Pete.