Dave Hinz wrote:
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 23:13:29 -0500, Jon Elson wrote:

Dave Hinz wrote:


x-ray tubes use tungsten for the electrode/target. Nearly always round,
as the modern ones spin. I know that GE Medical Systems scraps out the
field returns, because a friend of mine runs the operation.


They have a lot of tubes fail for various reasons. If you can
get a tube that has cracked, then there's no vacuum hazard to
worry about. Also, the dental X-rays have smaller, non-spinning
anodes. Many of these get dumped in the trash when they go bad.
Those probably are no more than a pound, though.


GE really does a remarkable job of salvage operations on returned parts
and so on.
I have a friend who used to work on CAT scanners, now he is in
the MRI division at GE medical.

But, dental X ray machines are essentially just furniture to a
dentist. I doubt much of that gear is ever repaired, they just
aren't very expensive. I'm sure the hospital-grade xray suites
and certainly CAT scanner hardware is handled in an entirely
different manner.

Jon