On 2008-08-19, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

[ ... ]

Well ... the sooner the envelope will darken with deposited
electrode vapor. But I think that it keeps the actual light behind the
darkening pretty constant.

I recall reading a datasheet on how to use neon lamps, and that this
datasheet said the the voltage needed to maintain the glow (it's not an
arc) increased with increasing usage of the lamp.

I never said (or even thought) that it was an arc.

[ ... ]

The simpler explanation is that someone replaced the pilot light when
the original got annoying.

Certainly possible -- especially if the pilot is easy to get to.

I hereby invoke Occam's Razor.

Another invocation thereof would be that while the oven may be
fairly old, that it was not used very much, so the aging of the lamp has
been postponed. :-)

[ ... ]

If you're in the Irish part, sure. They would say that. :-)

Well, the wife is Irish. Close enough?

That will do, I think. :-)

Mine is French-Canadian, so I don't have that excuse. :-)

They must have a suitable phrase that can be translated.

My favorite is "My Wife, The Moon" in transliteration. My wife asserts
that this cannot be translated (versus transliterated), but I think that
the meaning is quite clear. The common root is lunacy and lunatic.

:-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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