[sdiy] box of tubes - mercury revisited

[Eric Brombaugh]

I've seen a number of concerns raised about mercury vapor in electron 
tubes. Is it any greater danger than the mercury found in garden-variety 
fluorescent lights (which are much more common)? One community I've been 
in charges so much to dispose of fluorescent light bulbs that it almost 
cancels out the economic advantage of using them.

Then the other day I found an old thermostat with a mercury tilt-switch. 
That must _really_ give people fits...

We should probably go back to lighting and heating with wood fires and 
animal skins.

Eric

Anthony Bisset wrote:
> i found a box of tubes from a repairmans closet.  they appear to be mostly
> from tv, radio and amplifiers.  is it likely any of them contain mercury?
> so, how do you identify a mercury vapour tube?
>
> being a mad hatter isn't an appealing lifestyle,
> -anthony
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