CRT rebuilding as hobby?

[CaryLee]

Originally Posted by old_coot88

Having dealt with many, many rebuilt (re-gunned actually) CRTs back in the day, the biggest problem was contamination resulting in internal arcing. This was true of premium rebuilds and particularly true of 'garage' rebuilds from the guy up the street. I suspect many rebuilds had inadequate vacuum, as they tended to lose emission inordinately fast.

A genuine rebuild would entail re-phosphering as well as re-gunning. I don't recall ever encountering a 'genuine'.

Do you figure it was simple contamination by a leaking seal? Or would there be particles left inside the CRT even after air evacuation that might interfere with operation? I would imagine that the biggest hurdles to rebuild would be a clean environment, and resealing the tube. Out here in dusty and windy northwest New Mexico, we have a hard time keeping dirt out of anything.