I checked my datasheet, and confirmed neon bulbs have an average rated lifespan of 25,000 hours at recommended current. This is about 3 years of continuous operation, so it seems very plausible to me that if an NE-2 bulb dies after 3-4 years, it's normal.
The lifetime is a statistical average; some bulbs will last longer, and some shorter. My 'big clock' has 304 NE-2 bulbs, and after nearly 4 years of operation I've had one premature bulb failure (in this clock, bulbs are 'on' for a maximum of 1.3 hours/day which equates to 50 year lifespan on average). There's nothing wrong with the design or manufacture of this clock; it's just an oddball lamp that failed. In a different clock, I've also had an NE-2 fail after about 3 years. This bulb is always on, so I'd say it failed as expected. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/54eab09e-e5aa-4720-b9ef-9c4e5d06a154%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
