Jim,

I agree, it's certainly not unusual for transistors to go a lot longer
than 20 years.  I was just saying I'm not terribly *surprised* when they
fail any time past 15 or so years, especially on gear that I already know
has some well known design shortcomings.

I've had consumer gear quit after a couple of years; I'll be pleasantly
astonished if my current PC power supply and motherboard last another year
(though it will probably be a dried out cap that kills it).  On the other
hand, I've seen audio gear and other stuff last well past what you'd
normally expect to be its useful service life.  But when a TS-930 power
supply croaks...  well, let's just say no one falls over from surprise!

Dale
---
We are Dyslexia of Borg.
Fusistance is retile.
Your ass will be laminated.

On Tue, 5 Nov 2002, Jim wrote:

> So, I guess I took the "20 years" too literally, but, as
> I point out that would only seeem to be part of the
> answer - it gets more complicated with time - and
> with "temperature cycling" as you also point out ...

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