There was a lively thread on the merits of conservation
here
What it revealed is that the majority of forum members are not 'conservationists', they are people who enjoy working on radios and having working radios, which is after all what this forum is mainly about. So I think any question about conservation will draw a different conclusion than it would if (say) posted on a forum about museum operation. A museum curator might think of a conservation as a success, especially as contrary to many opinions here it may not simply be a case of putting a radio on a shelf.
How can we arrest the deterioration of rubber wiring? How to deal with electrolytics oozing and destroying other parts, without destroying the electrolytics? What temperature is best to store steel-cored nylon gears? How to prevent dial paint flaking? Which kinds of dirt must be removed from celluloid to prevent discolouration, even if minor damage occurs to the celluloid in the process? Conservation can be an active process, the success of which is that decay is slowed or stopped. However it is rather painstaking, sometimes academic and the 'results' appear only in the distant future.
The forum is very well organised for its purpose, however I would welcome a section about conservation because IMHO at the moment it presents a slightly one-sided view of the way to go about 'owning' a vintage set. I would be happier to see conservation promoted a little more, which could come about by allowing conservation work to qualify as a success.
Lucien