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Old 21 April 2010, 02:18 AM   #1
Drecian
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Tritium tubes vs 'normal' lume?

I'm toying with the idea of picking up a Traser Black Storm with the tritium tubes that glow without needing to be charged.

Now we all know (for the most part) that some of the best lume are seen on the Seiko Monsters. Does anyone have experience with tritium tubes and feel like chiming in on how bright they actually are? Comparison to other lume?

Customary cheesy staged lume of my Monster Jr for kicks,




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Old 21 April 2010, 03:01 AM   #2
robsteve
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The tritium tubes on my Marathon SAR are brighter than the Super luminova on my Rolex after the luminova has been given ten or twenty minutes to die down a bit after the charge. I don't think there is a better solution than the Tritium tubes yet. With the Tritium tubes, you can see them glow in normal room light just by cupping you hand around the dial to shade it from light. Super luminova is only visible in this case if freshly charged.

You might also want to check out Ball watches, they use the tubes as well.

Robert
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Old 21 April 2010, 05:25 AM   #3
TheBluePrince
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Not as bright as Luminova is for the first 20 min after it's been exposed to 30 sec of bright light. More of a steady never changing glow than a night long torch.
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Old 21 April 2010, 12:21 PM   #4
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Does anyone know how it is these tritium tubes are allowed when tritium on the dials is not anymore? Is it because it's sealed in tubes?
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Old 22 April 2010, 07:48 PM   #5
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I did a lume comparison test for my blog. Just for the sake of it, I also included a watch with tritium tubes (T-25). You can read about it and check out the results here.
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Old 22 April 2010, 10:24 PM   #6
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The tritium tubes on my Ball Watch just sort of glow brightly all (day &) night.
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Old 22 April 2010, 10:25 PM   #7
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The tritium tubes on my Ball Fireman II just sort of glow brightly all (day &) night.
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Old 22 April 2010, 10:44 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowbird View Post
Does anyone know how it is these tritium tubes are allowed when tritium on the dials is not anymore? Is it because it's sealed in tubes?
Is the Tritium paint not allowed or had it become difficult to deal with? For example, my Rolex date which I have owned since new in 1989 no longer glows. The only solution is a new dial and hands. I wonder if Rolex has to deal with the old dials and hands in some special (expensive) way in order to dispose of them?

Luminova dials and hands probably have made it much easier in regards to life and service. Even Luminova seems to have a life to it, as my older Seiko watches do not glow very well anymore.

Compared to the Tubes, Tritium paint had quite a short life and as you mentioned the tubes are also sealed, so no problems with paint dust. I also get the impression that the tube is more efficient and it takes less radioactivity to make the coated insides of the tube glow. The Tritium is in a gas form.

Robert
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Old 22 April 2010, 11:02 PM   #9
Kokyuryoku
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyfingers View Post
I did a lume comparison test for my blog. Just for the sake of it, I also included a watch with tritium tubes (T-25). You can read about it and check out the results here.
Thanks for the link It was an interesting read
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Old 22 April 2010, 11:25 PM   #10
snowbird
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robsteve View Post
Is the Tritium paint not allowed or had it become difficult to deal with? For example, my Rolex date which I have owned since new in 1989 no longer glows. The only solution is a new dial and hands. I wonder if Rolex has to deal with the old dials and hands in some special (expensive) way in order to dispose of them?

Luminova dials and hands probably have made it much easier in regards to life and service. Even Luminova seems to have a life to it, as my older Seiko watches do not glow very well anymore.

Compared to the Tubes, Tritium paint had quite a short life and as you mentioned the tubes are also sealed, so no problems with paint dust. I also get the impression that the tube is more efficient and it takes less radioactivity to make the coated insides of the tube glow. The Tritium is in a gas form.

Robert
My understanding is that tritium paint is not allowed anymore in some countries at least due to the radioactivity - more of a danger to those making and working on watches than to those wearing them though. Sounds like the tubes are a different story though.
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Old 23 April 2010, 04:17 AM   #11
crazyfingers
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kokyuryoku View Post
Thanks for the link It was an interesting read
Glad you like it . Thanks for visiting my blog
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