Engineering question: Tube Camera Survivability

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by ppppenguin

I can't see how firing up te tube will make any difference to the helium. It will help with the cathode which often seems to become "sleepy" (for want of a better word) when not used. Many of us have seen CRTs that look bad when first switched on but cheer up after an hour or so.

I am only relaying the words of the camera manufacturer's rep: "gas."
Whether this was helium or something else, or was another effect, I can't say, but the connotation was that degradation would be permanent and worse with longer periods of disuse, not reversible like cathode "sleepiness." Whatever was going on, it was confidently stated that periodic use helped extend the life of the tubes.