In this work we present a method to lengthen the operation life of ion sources, according to the peculiarities of the particle beam which is required by the user. To reach this goal we have modified Popov’s model and selected a fair variable that can be handled externally to prevent the break of the vacuum in the chamber. Our method could be applied to any kind of equipment containing an ion source, for instance, particle accelerators, ion implantors, neutron injectors, etc.