Whats the best way to run a set and remove the high voltage ?

[Tom Albrecht]

I don't think there is any issue with allowing the HV supply to run with no load. In normal operation with CRT connected, if you turn the brightness down to the point the picture is black, there is no load on the HV. I'm sure none of us would think of turning the brightness down as something that would harm a set, so I would not be concerned about running the set with the HV active, but disconnected from the picture tube.

Running it into a HV probe can be nice simply to keep an eye on things, but it's not necessary.

A glass jar as an insulator is good. Usually I simply prop the lead in a manner that the end is not close to anything, but it is a bit precarious that way.

[stromberg67]

While working on a CTC-11 RCA color set I disconnected the plate cap from the 3A3, then wrapped two layers of black tape around it, being careful to not pull on the cap or the flyback connections. The sweep sections and the neck components remained in-circuit with the power supply only "up" by a few volts due to the CRT not drawing HV current. Did what I had to do, carefully removed the tape, and hooked it up again, and all was OK. Might not be the best method for all. I DO like the HV lead in plastic or glass, too.
All the best!!!
Kevin

[ronl]

like Username1 suggested, i just hooked up the hv wire to a hv probe and kept it a distance from anything-just rested the connection on a piece of plastic-worked well over the years.