CRT longevity question

[SamIAm]

Here's something I've been wondering for a while.

Let's say that I've just played games on my CRT for one hour. I now plan on taking a 30 minute break, after which I will play for another hour. For the sake of argument, let's set power-consumption aside and give priority to the longevity of the TV.

Is it better to turn the TV off for that half-hour, or is it better to leave it on?

Leaving it on obviously gives it the stress of added on-time, which could hypothetically add up to hundreds of hours. However, in the situation above, turning it off and on again means that the set will go through an extra cool-down/warm-up cycle, which is harmful in its own way. Additionally, turning on itself seems like it's stressful for a CRT. Maybe I'm drawing the wrong conclusion, but every CRT I've seen die didn't do so while it was on; it just suddenly wouldn't turn on anymore.

Along the same lines, I wonder where the boundary is? If it's better to leave it on for 30 minutes, is it also better to leave it on for 60? If it's better to turn it off for 30 minutes, is it also better to turn it off for 15?

What do you think?

My current theory is that it's probably best to leave it on during a break, but with a pure-black screen, and not for more than an hour. I really have no idea whether this is right, though.

[SignOfZeta]

In that scenario I'd leave it on.

[ClodBuster]

As somebody who had at least a little experience in repairing CRT TVs, I don't see a reason why either way would shorten the TVs lifespan.

If it's broken, there's a good chance it can be fixed, unlike LCD TVs.

[SamIAm]

As somebody who had at least a little experience in repairing CRT TVs, I don't see a reason why either way would shorten the TVs lifespan.

If it's broken, there's a good chance it can be fixed, unlike LCD TVs.

Interesting.

Let's take it a step further. Imagine I have two identical TVs:

The first gets turned on and left on.
The second is hooked up to timer that turns it on for five minutes, then off for five minutes, in an endless loop.

If I were to shut these in a room and leave them for as long as necessary, which one do you think would start having any kind of trouble first?

[blueraven]

I would defer to thesteve on that question, Sam.

[SignOfZeta]

Startup of a CRT, much like a car or an oven, involves a current spike and a warmup period. Once running and stabilized there is much less going on. Most of my CRTs degauss on startup and you can feel the resonance of that through the floor on my HD 34" wide Sony.

A half hour of stable running as compared to another startup, purely from the perspective of longevity, no question. Just leave it on. At some point the ratio won't make sense. I don't know if that falls apart logically at an hour or three hours or whatever. I don't think anyone has enough data to prove where that line is.

Also, from my experience CRTs usually die somewhere between a shutdown and a startup. I'm not sure I've ever seen one die while running. Make of that what you will.

[crazydean]

Also, from my experience CRTs usually die somewhere between a shutdown and a startup. I'm not sure I've ever seen one die while running. Make of that what you will.

This is a good point. On the other hand, just because a TV isn't dead, doesn't mean that it has a good picture. While turning a set on and off seems to shorten its life, keeping it on seems to degrade the picture. This is why people tend to stay away from PVMs that have over 100k hours regardless of whether or not they turn on.

[xelement5x]

If it went out during turning it on/off it would most likely be a power supply or something I'd think?  I'd assume that would be easier to repair than sourcing a new tube.  I normally shut mine off if I'm not going to be doing anything for like 30 minutes.  Though many times I just forget and leave it on for a couple hours without paying attention

[SignOfZeta]

Guys, they don't last forever no matter what you do.

[wildfruit]

This is true. My beloved not big brand 24" 4:3 just didn't turn on one day. It got about 15 years of good use. My aunt gifted me a 32" 16:9 Toshiba and one of the scart sockets has literally just screwed up. (Luckily not the RGB one) I feel to start hoarding but don't have the space or the strength. ( I think the toshiba weighs about 50000 kg)

[ClodBuster]

It's not the big tube I'd worry about. When the tube itself is done, it's done for good and likely to be very dark anyways at that state.

But in all the cases I've seen so far over the one year of training in the repair shop, the faults were usually on the PCB. Like power supply, picture control circuits, sockets, bad solder joints and other stuff. Popular CRT TVs by the big name brands aren't that hard to repair, since there are lots of old timers on the web sharing their advice, plus lots of service manuals and chassis schematics too.

[DragonmasterDan]

This is true. My beloved not big brand 24" 4:3 just didn't turn on one day. It got about 15 years of good use. My aunt gifted me a 32" 16:9 Toshiba and one of the scart sockets has literally just screwed up. (Luckily not the RGB one) I feel to start hoarding but don't have the space or the strength. ( I think the toshiba weighs about 50000 kg)

CRTs are getting harder and harder to find. So if you have the space putting a few extra ones away is well worth it.

[GohanX]

Just grab another couple of wegas from Craigslist for $10 each and never worry about it.

[SamIAm]

Here in Japan, I recently bought a back-up Wega, the model of which was Sony's last and best consumer-level 4:3 CRT.

It took two years for one to appear on Yahoo auctions, and I got it for the low price of about $200 shipped. Second-hand shops have long stopped stocking them.

America is not as new-gadget crazy or floor-space starved as Japan, so it's not surprising that CRTs are still easy to find, but they won't always be.

By all means, stock up. I have three Wegas, plus a probably-dead BVM (long story). Even with all that, however, bad user-practice could wear them out faster than I'd like.

[Gypsy]

Definitely just hoard em provided one has the space, it's dirt cheap to do in the US. A nice one but not the best 4:3 (KV-36HS420) popped up recently on my local CL for free. It's tempting me, calling my name. I'd definitely need to dump a lesser tv (or two) taking up space though, so much lifting and it's not even KD-36XS955.