Using brighteners?

[bgadow]

A brightener can extend the life of a tube and will not destroy it overnight. Sometimes you can run a brightener for a day or so and then take it off-the effects of running at higher voltage will remain even after it as been reduced, if only for a little while. Eventually the cathode will just plain wear out. I have an Emerson 21" that perked up with a brightener but finally, the last time I used it, the picture just faded to a barely visible image. The CRT is just plain shot. Luckily I have a spare. The good news is your set uses a fairly common picture tube so finding a replacement might not be so bad.