• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Oddball filament voltage

Ye Hector:
I think you have it sorted out. I came to this same conclusion. My house power is rarely below 120VAC. AC heaters are quite straight forward. I am just a little unsure how much tolerance the heaters have around the target voltage. I am expecting it to be 10% or so. Therefore 20V should be fine.

Thanks to all for the comments and help
 
I have seen both +/-10% and +/-5% quoted, but as you may notice it's hard to find this number when you look for it. Generally, I have only seen the 5% spec associated with military or other high reliability tubes. A quick run through of my data sheets finds no spec for any of the series string tubes like the 21LU8. I do see a 10% spec for a high reliability computer tube, the 5963, and the twin triode regulator 5998. A 20 volt transformer will likely give you a bit over 20 volts anyway, so that's probably the best choice.
 
Hello George:
Thanks for the thoughts and words of encouragement. The adventure begins again.

The first up will be a 21LU8 PP based on the design my member Jane and published on a German web site. Tony spoke highly of it when he built his version of it.

Here we go. I will start a new thread regarding that build.

Thanks again.
 
I never tried them in a push pull amp but I did build a little SE SPUD board with the 6LR8 and tested it with the 21LR8. These are the 9 pin versions of the 6/21LU8. I found a 21LR8 with an obvious crack in the glass so I attempted to make the crack worse. The tube won that challenge. I had some other ugly looking tubes so I tested them to 500 volts!
 

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Thanks John:
A useful article about Over voltage. The risks of vintage transformers on modern mains power.

George:
Sometimes I think you operate in a different universe than the rest of us "normal" folks. I love reading your anecdotes and adventures into the world of tube torture.
Take care