[TCML] Tube question

["David Rieben" <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

I finally finished rewinding my VTTC secondary winding that I 
flashed over and ruined last week as the new spool of wire ar-
rived today. I got the coil back up and running in continuous
mode with no problems with my old original 833A tube. I'm 
hoping to get my stacatto controller fixed in the near future
so I can get it to hurling those huge 35"+ flaming swords in
stac. mode again. However, one issue that I am still having is 
that I justrecently purchased a brand new 833C tube from RF 
Parts to replace (or as a spare for) my old 833A tube. When I 
removed the 833A tube and replaced it with the new 833C, 
the output would only increase up to about 40% on the variac
dial and then the sparks would start sounding "snappy" but
would not get any longer with a further twist on the variac
knob upwards. The tube plate was definitely processing current
though as even the graphite plate began to take on a dull glow.
The output would not get any better though and I had to re-
install the 833A to get back a nice linear increase in output
with an upwrad twist of the variac knob. 

Anyone know why I am experiencing this? The only thing that
I can think of is that the manufacturer says smething about
a "break-in" time before you start using them to there fullest 
rating. Could I need to run it for a while at low power to "break
it in" to get it to function properly at higher power levels? It almost 
seemed like the coil was badly out of tune with the 833C in place
while it returned to normal operation with the replacement of the
older 833A. It is my understanding that the only difference between
an 833A and an 833C is that the 833C has a more durable graphite
plate. This is correct, isn't it?

Thanks,
David
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