Is my hene dying?

[mdhcraft]

When I use it it sometimes flicks off for a split second then comes back on. It also seems to have a little struggle striking. Would a soak fix these problem? It's kind of old so I understand that there will probably be problems.

 

[Anthony P]

The first rule of trouble-shooting a HeNe is always suspect the power supply first. Do you have another supply to try? Ballast resistors cook sometimes, which can cause the behavior you are describing.

 

[mdhcraft]

The first rule of trouble-shooting a HeNe is always suspect the power supply first. Do you have another supply to try? Ballast resistors cook sometimes, which can cause the behavior you are describing.

I sadly do not have another psu to test it with.

 

[paul1598419]

I would suspect the driver/supply over the tube as well. Which tube does it use? If you would like. I could troubleshoot it for you free of charge if you pay for shipping. Send me a PM if you are interested.

 

[mdhcraft]

I would suspect the driver/supply over the tube as well. Which tube does it use? If you would like. I could troubleshoot it for you free of charge if you pay for shipping. Send me a PM if you are interested.

iirc it's an 1103p

 

[mdhcraft]

It's relatively old (i'm pretty sure its from the 80s) and I don't really feel like trying to get it tested, but thanks for the offer. I may sell it for cheap cause I need some extra money.

 

[mdhcraft]

I'll send a vid of it powering in a bit if that would help at all.

 

[mdhcraft]

So I tried it and it seems to work fine now. But I still don't trust it.

 

[VidalWolf]

Howdy.
So in my experience with He-Nes over the decades Ive found that as the tube ages and the gas gets buried by slow sputtering. The tube needs higher voltage / current to run. On the side of the power supply brick if you have the potted brick type, there sometimes is a small potentiometer that can be adjusted. Try turning that up a quarter turn.