Happy Saturday!
This morning I installed a NOS 6L6GC tube and can hear random popping, buzzing, crackling and other noises from the speaker, with the volume turned down/at all times. It is the tube, because I changed to the other channel and the noise followed.
Is this normal tube break in since the tube is NOS, or is it a bad tube?
Thanks!
This morning I installed a NOS 6L6GC tube and can hear random popping, buzzing, crackling and other noises from the speaker, with the volume turned down/at all times. It is the tube, because I changed to the other channel and the noise followed.
Is this normal tube break in since the tube is NOS, or is it a bad tube?
Thanks!
Its not normal although you might get lucky if its a bit of crud floating around between the plates/grid. We used to get such issues back in the day (before my time really... honest 😉) with valve based TV's. CRT's could be similarly affected. Sometimes a few good and well placed taps with a large screwdriver handle sorted them out.
Okay, I think I'll just plug it back in and take it for a drive. I don't have anything to lose, can't return it because it was among the tubes given to me. So far, the only bad tube I've found... Maybe if it doesn't go away in a couple hours I'll trash it and move on.
Thanks for the replies.
Thanks for the replies.
I agree with Mooly and RayMa, however I'm also kind of interested in whether when you moved the tube, that the otherwise quality of sound was also impacted. It is rare to get popping, and buzzing, and crackling, and random hissing … from a single tube. That would be a lot going on.
My thought is, “are the pins covered in a lot of oxide?”
Now that is something I've encountered more frequently than I once might have guessed; it is especially prevalent on new old-stock tubes of ancient vintage. My (dear, old) uncle for instance 'liberated' thousands of tubes from throw-away bins in the 1970s when all those numberless “tube tester here!” locations gave up on carrying tubes because they just weren't selling. However, from some of those dumpsters came tubes that had a substantial amount of nearly invisible tin/copper oxide scale on all pins.
Stick those in a socket … likewise itself not so tarnish-free, and you get PN junction diodes. Random ones. Random resistors. That … in practice … pop, hiss, buzz, do all nature of really bizzare things.
Just saying.
You might look.
GoatGuy
My thought is, “are the pins covered in a lot of oxide?”
Now that is something I've encountered more frequently than I once might have guessed; it is especially prevalent on new old-stock tubes of ancient vintage. My (dear, old) uncle for instance 'liberated' thousands of tubes from throw-away bins in the 1970s when all those numberless “tube tester here!” locations gave up on carrying tubes because they just weren't selling. However, from some of those dumpsters came tubes that had a substantial amount of nearly invisible tin/copper oxide scale on all pins.
Stick those in a socket … likewise itself not so tarnish-free, and you get PN junction diodes. Random ones. Random resistors. That … in practice … pop, hiss, buzz, do all nature of really bizzare things.
Just saying.
You might look.
GoatGuy
Mr GoatGuy- You are right! The pins are coated with a layer of oxide! Ugly...
I got a boat load of tubes from my 80-something year old neighbor who is retired from JPL. There is a handwritten notation on the box: 6/9/62.
Cleaned the pins- we have lift-off!
Thank you!
I got a boat load of tubes from my 80-something year old neighbor who is retired from JPL. There is a handwritten notation on the box: 6/9/62.
Cleaned the pins- we have lift-off!
Thank you!
v
You are completely welcome. As I totally and unconditionally respect the posters RayMa, DF96, John Curl and others… ultimately I also find myself remembering the oddities of the past, the things that few-if-anyone experienced and can remember, did or has remembered.
Oxides are a bîtch.
Because with tin they can be transparent yet still semiconducting.
Long forgotten, yet still very true.
Aren't you glad you didn't toss the tube?
GoatGuy
You are completely welcome. As I totally and unconditionally respect the posters RayMa, DF96, John Curl and others… ultimately I also find myself remembering the oddities of the past, the things that few-if-anyone experienced and can remember, did or has remembered.
Oxides are a bîtch.
Because with tin they can be transparent yet still semiconducting.
Long forgotten, yet still very true.
Aren't you glad you didn't toss the tube?
GoatGuy
Yes Sir, I appreciate all replies!
And yes, I am glad I didn't throw away the tube. Thank you all for sharing your experience and knowledge.
I only recently got into tube rolling as a result of the gift from my neighbor (I have thanked him at least one hundred times with home cooked food from my wife, run errands for him), who knew that I was into audio. When he gave me the gifts, I had only one tube amp. Bought four more since then. (Three DIY amps and another online.)
Main reason was I wanted to see if there is an audible difference in the sound of different tubes. I'm still experimenting and learning.
I hope someone else who has this problem can learn from your posting!
And yes, I am glad I didn't throw away the tube. Thank you all for sharing your experience and knowledge.
I only recently got into tube rolling as a result of the gift from my neighbor (I have thanked him at least one hundred times with home cooked food from my wife, run errands for him), who knew that I was into audio. When he gave me the gifts, I had only one tube amp. Bought four more since then. (Three DIY amps and another online.)
Main reason was I wanted to see if there is an audible difference in the sound of different tubes. I'm still experimenting and learning.
I hope someone else who has this problem can learn from your posting!
I suggest enthusiastically that you purchase some 0000 steel wool. The stuff will last you a lifetime (you take only a "pinch" and use it). it is magical. It will remove all invisible scale from old NOS tube pins in … seconds. EVEN the gold-plated ones (which theoretically need no such maneuvers, but from experience seem to anyway).
Just use a light touch. Pinch off a bit of the steel-wool fluff. Wrap it around a tube's pins, and do so LIGHT, but vigorous scrubbing. DRY. No solvents. Don't go crazy. When the pins seem to brighten “just a bit” (not completely shiny), you're done.
TOSS the bit of fluff. There's hundreds of bits-of-fluff left on that batten. For what, $3.95 from ACE hardware?
You're welcome.
I wish you well in your future endeavors.
PS: if you feel like profiting from your huge collection of steampunk valves, PLEASE be a "good camper" and do the pin-scrubbing thing BEFORE you ship them to customer. Your "up-votes" will be higher, but you'll also avoid stupid returns.
GoatGuy
Just use a light touch. Pinch off a bit of the steel-wool fluff. Wrap it around a tube's pins, and do so LIGHT, but vigorous scrubbing. DRY. No solvents. Don't go crazy. When the pins seem to brighten “just a bit” (not completely shiny), you're done.
TOSS the bit of fluff. There's hundreds of bits-of-fluff left on that batten. For what, $3.95 from ACE hardware?
You're welcome.
I wish you well in your future endeavors.
PS: if you feel like profiting from your huge collection of steampunk valves, PLEASE be a "good camper" and do the pin-scrubbing thing BEFORE you ship them to customer. Your "up-votes" will be higher, but you'll also avoid stupid returns.
GoatGuy
- Status
- Not open for further replies.