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Re: Tube Question
Tesla List wrote:
> Original Poster: "Ben McMillen" <sammac-at-cobweb-dot-net>
>
> I recently acquired a large tube from an old hardware store that was being
> cleaned out. My question is: Can anyone tell me what it is and what it might
> be used for? It is made by Amperex and is marked 575A. Made in usa. I have a
> drawing if anyone wants to see it. All they have to do is email me. Thanks
> for any help.
>
> Ben McMillen
> sammac-at-cobweb-dot-net
The 575A is a killer mercury vapor rectifier. It is rated around 15-18kv at up
to 1.5 amps. That's over 20,000 watts per fire bottle. It uses a ton of
filament power 5volts -at-10amps. They are virtually indestructable and will out
last any known semiconductor device. You may feel free to electrically savage
them in any manner you wish. This includes, but is not limited to, direct
shorts, vast overvoltage reversals, starving of the filaments, etc. Normal
protestations involve sputtering or blasting out chunks of filament and anode
material. (don't worry, they fall, white hot, harmlessly into the bottom
of the
tube).
I have about 10 new RCA 575A tubes in box and am hoping to use them in some
killer DC coil system off in the future. They are still avaialable brand new
from Richardson. (They were a staple in high power broadcast transmitters for
decades.) I note that Newark electronics gets about $460.00 each. Good used
units at hamfests might fetch $20.00. Unknown condition pulls bring about
$5.00.
Good luck with your 20KW DC coil!
Richard Hull, TCBOR