# Tritium tube life



## jjmc2001 (Jun 22, 2007)

I have an incoming Ball Fireman and I must admit that the reason I made that choice is due to the lume of the tritium tubes. I have an older Luminox that is approximately 5 years old and it seems that the lume has faded quite a bit. I believe I read somewhere that the half life of the tubes is over twenty years so does that mean that after 10 years the lume is half as bright. 

I have an approximately twenty-two year old Rolex with the tritium paint and it has been dark at night for many years. I realize that the technology is quite different and that Ball will probably replace the tubes (for a fee) but have any of you experienced significant fading while you owned your Ball and ,if so, how long did it take?
Thanks for all of your insights that helped me make the decision on the Ball brand.


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## ballwatch (Apr 3, 2007)

jjmc2001 said:


> I have an incoming Ball Fireman and I must admit that the reason I made that choice is due to the lume of the tritium tubes. I have an older Luminox that is approximately 5 years old and it seems that the lume has faded quite a bit. I believe I read somewhere that the half life of the tubes is over twenty years so does that mean that after 10 years the lume is half as bright.


The half-life is roughly 12.5 years. So after 25 years the tubes will be at about 1/4 brightness.



> I have an approximately twenty-two year old Rolex with the tritium paint and it has been dark at night for many years.


One unfortunate problem with tritium paints is that the tritium radiation can actually break down the luminous elements over time. What this means is that very few tritium paints actually reached their rated life.



> I realize that the technology is quite different and that Ball will probably replace the tubes (for a fee) but have any of you experienced significant fading while you owned your Ball and ,if so, how long did it take?
> Thanks for all of your insights that helped me make the decision on the Ball brand.


BALL gas tubes are guaranteed against manufacturer defects for the warranty period of the watch. After that, we will offer replacement service for an additional fee during the course of regular maintenance. The fees have not yet been set because most customers are still under their original warranty or within the first half-life of the tubes.

Regards,
Jeremy Hogan
Ball Watch Company


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## Seng (Aug 13, 2008)

ballwatch said:


> The half-life is roughly 12.5 years. So after 25 years the tubes will be at about 1/4 brightness.


Err, after 25 years, can the tritium tubes still get excited by light sources? :roll:


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## Eric L. (Sep 29, 2006)

The luminous compound in the trit tubes are actually excited by the beta decay of the tritium, and less so from external light sources.


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## jhess (Sep 3, 2007)

They do not need outside light sources at all.

jeff hess
Ball Watch USA


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## Seng (Aug 13, 2008)

Thanks for all the responses.

I just found the answer to what I want to know in the last sentence of this post.

https://www.watchuseek.com/showpost.php?p=530845&postcount=7

Cheers


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## UCrazyKid (Oct 2, 2008)

It's been quite a while since I took chemistry but I'm still pretty sure that "25 year half life" means in *25 years* it will have reached half it's total life and therefore be 1/2 as bright. Therefore in 50 years there would be 1/4 output and in 75 = 1/8th... That is typically how radiation decay works.

Andy


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## Eric L. (Sep 29, 2006)

UCrazyKid said:


> It's been quite a while since I took chemistry but I'm still pretty sure that "25 year half life" means in *25 years* it will have reached half it's total life and therefore be 1/2 as bright. Therefore in 50 years there would be 1/4 output and in 75 = 1/8th... That is typically how radiation decay works.
> 
> Andy


Yes. Tritium has a half life of 12.5 years actually.


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## Timewaster (Nov 24, 2007)

> BALL gas tubes are guaranteed against manufacturer defects for the warranty period of the watch. After that, we will offer replacement service for an additional fee during the course of regular maintenance. The fees have not yet been set because most customers are still under their original warranty or within the first half-life of the tubes.


 Jeremy, would Ball ever consider accepting, for a fee, watches sent in prior to the expiration of the warranty, purely on request of the customer for new tritium tubes of a different color??? I understand the idea of your current policy is that Ball will offer maintenance of tritium tubes that noticibly begin to lose some of their lume, which probably won't be until the point they have reached the tritium half-life, and will definitely be outside the warranty period. But maybe Ball could consider the benefits of extra revenue from those Ballers who are willing to pay extra to replace their otherwise bright tubes in order to have have "custom" colors of their choice, or perhaps even the same color tube, but a "T" mCi tube instead of a T25 tube (in countries that would allow that level of mCi). Depending on the fee, I would surely consider it! In fact, I'd even consider doing that immediately after purchase. Just a thought. Maybe something to consider, particularly when the global economy is suffering the way it is right now. ;-)

Regards,
-Jeff


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