At 01:37 AM 1/12/00 -0500, you wrote:
>I once read a study by, I think, RCA, about rated life of filaments and
>repeated switching off and on.  It concluded that one on/off cycle was
>equivalent to about 20 minutes per filament off the rated life.

This is a good study, and I can't add much to it.  But........Way back in
the olden days when 'lectronic stuff was totally vacuum tube it was common
knowledge that critical equipment should be left on all the time.  The
filaments, the filaments.  Continual heating and cooling along with the
resultant expansion and contraction shortened the life of the
filaments.  And, no filament, no little electrons boiling off the cathode.

The only filament(s) in today's computer is/are in the CRT.  I'm going to
guess that it is better to leave it on, but in fact it probably makes very
little difference from a practical point of view.  After all, how many of
us keep a monitor until the filament gives out.  Or a TV for that matter.

As to the solid state devices, I don't know.  It's probably better to turn
it off if it is to be unused and unattended for long periods of time.  Ya
know, there is a small but real fire danger from any piece of electronic
stuff.  Or, am I paranoid?

Robert

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