What Are the UV Radiation Risks of Using a Thyratron Tube?

[bwinter]

So I have an old RCA Thyatron tube (model 3C23) I'm using in an art piece as a glowing element. Just feeding maybe 50-60 watts through the anode to make it glow.

My question is, do I have to be worried about UV radiation? I heard somewhere the glass was quartz or borosilicate and blocked it, but I'm not sure.

This might be a reach, but assuming this is a mercury vapor, is there a way to calculate the spectra at a given wavelength given the voltage and current through the gas?

 

[davenn]

So I have an old RCA Thyatron tube (model 3C23) I'm using in an art piece as a glowing element. Just feeding maybe 50-60 watts through the anode to make it glow.

don't know if you have seen this page relating to powering them ?
https://www.pocketmagic.net/thyratrons/

My question is, do I have to be worried about UV radiation? I heard somewhere the glass was quartz or borosilicate and blocked it, but I'm not sure.

I have yet to find anything specific

 

[gleem]

If the tube contain Mercury vapor then yes it can radiate UV. Quartz I believe is a good transmitter of UV while glass in general absorbs some of it especially the longer wavelengths. A way to test if UV is being emitted you might try getting some laundry powder like TIDE or a fluoresenct paint and see if it glows. Some detergents contain substances that fluoresce in sun light making the cloths look brighter.

 

[Baluncore]

The spectrum will be decided by the mercury that radiates in the UV. A glass envelope will often fluoresce when UV is present. What colour is the light you are generating? Does the colour appear on the electrode surfaces or the envelope?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp#Emission_line_spectrum

I heard somewhere the glass was quartz or borosilicate and blocked it, but I'm not sure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp#Ultraviolet_hazards