Ok anyone want to post a purge and nitrogen fill how to???

FREE

Well , Its not complete yet but if you google wine preservation they sell many small disposable argon and nitrogen canisters. Not an ideal setup but with an automotive hand vac pump and some plastic tubing I am sure I can make something work. Will post some pics when complete. Don't want to be laughed at with this primitive system but if it works I can get it done for under 30 bucks. Plus have enough gas left over in the canister for a few more.

Sweet

Cant wait, that will be a nice finish to this thread.
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Quoted: Well , Its not complete yet but if you google wine preservation they sell many small disposable argon and nitrogen canisters. Not an ideal setup but with an automotive hand vac pump and some plastic tubing I am sure I can make something work. Will post some pics when complete. Don't want to be laughed at with this primitive system but if it works I can get it done for under 30 bucks. Plus have enough gas left over in the canister for a few more.

Still in the planning stages but here are some links of what I thought may work.
http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/keeper.shtml    Most expensive
http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/private_preserve.shtml   Has a mix of Argon , Nitrogen and CO2   (not sure on the CO2 but don't see how it would hurt anything)
http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/cp17000.shtml  Like this one for price but may be hard to attach tubing to the top of can.
http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/pek/Argon+Gas+Cartridges.shtml    These are small argon cartridges like for a bb gun. Not sure what I can do with them but they would be conveniant and small to store. There are a few more things on the site and maybe you guys have some other ideas. I would assume that this is all medical grade gases as they are going into food and wine which would be regulated by the FDA. I don't believe anybody would want industrial grade gas in their wine. LMAO

I heard that argon would "poison" the tubes...

dont know if that is true or not

I have never heard of argon being a problem. I heard that helium is a no no. Many people I have talked too have said argon has less of a tendency to leak out as it has a larger molecule then nitrogen. I think the main reason its not used is that it costs more then nitrogen.Many people don't know that the air we breath is already over 78% nitrogen. Its about 20% oxygen,argon about 1% and the rest made up of alot of other gases. I have never seen any reports of argon having any effect on the indium seals of the tube.Argon is used alot in high quality optics and scopes.Indium is pretty tuff stuff and is used in many types of seals in all kinds of enviroments. Helium is present in the air we breath and some scopes are not purged at all.From many articles I have read its a very rare occurance for the indium seals to break down in a NV tube.The major cause of tube failure is a breakdown or cracking in the potting material after many years.Abuse of the tube (bright lights, lasers) are another problem.Here is a post from Ed on another forum related to tube failure.
Thin film tubes, such as ITT‘s products, have as much of a lifespan as does any other Gen III tube, which is rated at 10,000 hours. After all, what wears out in the image intensifier? Power supply? Not likely. Potting material? Sometimes but with current manufacturing processes, this is unlikely at least for the first 20 years or so. The Module’s Indium seals? Possible but not likely. The MCP? No. The Screen? No. The PhotoCathode – Yes, if Ion etching is allowed to occur. The purpose of the “film” or Aluminum Oxide ion barrier membrane, is to stop positive ions and neutral gas molecules from reaching the PhotoCathode. Regardless of its thickness, it does its job. Now, Filmless, like NG’s products, have no Aluminum Oxide ion barrier membrane. The filmless technology relies solely on the ability to scrub the inside of the Module so that all gas molecules are gone which is a perfect vacuum. Near impossible to do, so any gas left in the module of a filmless image tube gets hit by electrons traveling in the channels of the MCP. This action produces the positive ions and neutral gas molecules, which etch the PhotoCathode and slowly poison it. This would lead to a much lower life span

delete

wow.

Man I love this forum

Quoted:YIKES -- if our atmosphere is 80% nitrogen whats the big deal with nitrogen purging. What's wrong with plain old air at normal atmospheric pressure? Is that 20% oxygen going to ruin a unit?

The issue is that while the air we breath is mostly nitrogen, it also contains a lot of water. This is hard on the electronics inside the goggles, and can fog the lenses if really bad under certain weather conditions. Unless you want the power supply in your goggles to look like the radio components of a 20 year old car later on, I'd purge it.

What Ed was talking about was NG,s No film tubes. NG sells filmed tubes also. I would bet the tube you have Grtwht is a NG filmed tube. I am not positive on this and you would have to ask your dealer to be sure. This link should help explain thin film and filmless technology.  www.nightvision.com/military/cs_gen3pinnacle.html

Good article

Quoted: What Ed was talking about was NG,s No film tubes. NG sells filmed tubes also. I would bet the tube you have Grtwht is a NG filmed tube. I am not positive on this and you would have to ask your dealer to be sure. This link should help explain thin film and filmless technology.  www.nightvision.com/military/cs_gen3pinnacle.html

Bump

Do you guys glue the focus lock ring on the objective lens or leave it loose?

Mine has a set screw . VERY VERY tiny one at that. I have not been able to find the correct set of Allen keys to remove it. Many times I just leave mine loose . The infinity focus stop is useful for LE and Military when time may be short but I like the option of fine tuning my focus to my eyes.