On Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:00:14 -0500, clifto wrote:

William Sommerwerck wrote:
My memory (which might very well be wrong) was that one of the principal
sources of X-rays was the HV rectifier. GE got into trouble over excessive
X-radiation from their HV rectifier -- though the tube was situated such
that the kids would have had to stick their feet under the set (!!!) to
receive any significant dosage.

Specifically, it was a GE-made 6BK4 that caused the problem, so it ended up
in all brands of sets via repair.

Also the 1B3 rectifier tube. They never did really solve the problem.
Instead, they buried the Hi-V rectifier in a double lead plated steel
cage for shielding. A double shielding was necessary to provide
non-overlapping ventilation holes, where there was no direct path
between the x-ray source and the outside. They also added circuitry
that shut down the Hi-V if the voltage regulation failed (which would
cause the voltage to increase dramatically and produce even more
x-rays. The problem was eventually solved with semiconductor Hi-V
rectifiers.

I vaguely remember that it was all alpha radiation, but don't take my word
as gospel.

Nope. No helium nuclei were produced. They have little penetration
and wouldn't go through a sheet of toilet paper. Bombarding metals
with electrons produces dangerous x-rays, which go through all but the
most dense materials.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558