Keeping a 15GP22 alive

[miniman82]

A CRT tester is NOT the end all of testing when it comes to vacuum leaks, and you certainly wouldn't be able to tell if there's a discharge glow in the neck from using one- that only occurs with the application of HV from a running chassis. So unless it's made light with a CTC-2 chassis, what the tester tells you is anecdotal. It would be reassuring to see shiney getters in the neck, but at the last convention I went to there was a 15G with ugly ass getters that still worked fine so it's not a written in stone kind of thing.

As far as how to treat it, the museum doesn't have a fancy HVAC system, and the tubes there seem to be holding up fine. As long as you don't ding the weld rim, it's just another vacuum tube in practical terms and you shouldn't treat it like ordnance anymore than any other tube. If it's gonna leak it's gonna leak, nothing you can do about it. That means as long as it has vacuum you should enjoy it, or get it to someone who will enjoy it till it dies. Nothing more sad than a 15G that went to air with little hours on it...