# Tritium Gas Tubes



## seikology (Dec 4, 2006)

ive seen somewhere that these are meant to last ( ie have a useful life) of approx ten years. how accurate is this statement? do they fade fast after a long period or get gradually duller over time? how long till theyre completely dead? any advice or personal experience greatfully appreciated.

cheers

pengelly


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Tritium has a half life btween 12 and 13 years. After this period the brightness is diminished by half, by 20 years there isn't much to see. The advantage of tritium is that it makes the watch self luminous. In a very dark situation, new vials are quite bright. In a dusk sort of situation, they are a bit harder to see. Luminova and similar products don't last forever either, so there is no perfect solution.

Later,

William


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## TikTok (Mar 26, 2006)

I've a couple of Tritium watches and love them both.A basic Marathon field watch and a Ball fireman.

Ball watch says when the tubes go dim it's an easy job for them to swap in new ones.Maybe at a service time.

That means the watch will always glow like new,but I suppose if you like the vintage look you get as lume gets old you'll miss out on that.

Ball Fireman










not very good night shot


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## seikology (Dec 4, 2006)

thanks guys for your replies, exactly the info i was looking for william.


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