Thread: Burnt out Gen1 NV

Totally black and if Gen1 you should have a hum from the intensifier tube when running. light exposure damage usually causes the tube picture to dim down to the extent you see nothing but black, though if you look at a house light bulb you should see something even if tube is black as unit will try to make some sort of picture. Many tubes once in black out are buggered you can try repotting them, may be an interesting exercise with a gen1 but I wouldn't bother. Gen1 tube life is around 250hrs use time. I had a Gen3 pvs-7 tube here a while ago that some guy had got from ebay, it had light exposure damage and when you looked at the image while looking at a blank wall you could see that the unit had been left on probably on a bench and you could see the inside of the bunker and out over what looked like a river or similar. All black picture and tube running can be tube vacuum separation though that usually starts at one edge and works its way across the picture, another stuffed tube. Have had a few guys with Gen2 and Gen3 tubes that have just gone black, no life at all, only way to fix the unit is put in a new tube in most cases. I was the importer for a company for many years who extended their warranty`s from 1 year standard to a 7 year warranty but the tubes were and still are only covered for one year. Under our commerce laws that could cause a few issues.
In all reality Gen1 units are use and throw away. Gen2 and Gen3 tube craps out , put a new one in. These are Military equipment remember.