H
harddriver
Well-known member
I found this video interesting...
Erock
Well-known member
I love the brown box. I swear I've sold amps that sounded inconsistent, but never paid attention to the wall voltage. After monitoring it, my wall voltage ranges from 118V to 126VAC at the wall. I've found I like all my amps at the 117-120V range. When I go over that, you can really hear and feel the difference. Same goes for dropping low, the sag is really evident. I'll always use one now after trying it.
PDC
Well-known member
I finally bought a decent Variac and I'm so glad I did. My wall voltage fluctuates quite a bit. I use the Variac to set the voltage at 110 and I love the way my amps sound with steady, controlled 110 feeding them.
rottingcorpse
Well-known member
Great video. Thanks for posting.
LP Freak
Well-known member
I always like watching the Docs videos
Matt300ZXT
Well-known member
I usually make my tubes last longer by just not playing those amps, cuz they're too damn loud for a neighborhood full of old people.
N
njshred
Well-known member
Tell them to turn off their hearing aides. Hey there’s idea, play late at night when they are sleeping and have taken them out.
shar-vell Dan
Well-known member
Old video. Most of his amps are low wattage class A, cathode bias.
CDawg
Active member
http://www.emissionlabs.com/html/guarantee/About-Lifetime.html
Good article about a guy and how/why he got over 40,000 hours out of his tubes.
http://www.emissionlabs.com/html/guarantee/About-Lifetime.html
Tube manufacturer talks about what's involved in long tube life.
Good article about a guy and how/why he got over 40,000 hours out of his tubes.
http://www.emissionlabs.com/html/guarantee/About-Lifetime.html
Tube manufacturer talks about what's involved in long tube life.
ChuggNorris
Well-known member
To me without watching the video I'd say treat them like the 50s.
Leave them on.
Consistent current at all times.
Theres too many fluctuations in amps being pummeled at different power section levels for any of these tubes to last like they used to. And nobody, is getting 40k hours out of a tube in these situations. Not consistent enough. Too many repeated voltage surges happening along with too many hot and cold periods in between. Even more so when equipment is moved around alot.
Shit is not rocket science
Leave them on.
Consistent current at all times.
Theres too many fluctuations in amps being pummeled at different power section levels for any of these tubes to last like they used to. And nobody, is getting 40k hours out of a tube in these situations. Not consistent enough. Too many repeated voltage surges happening along with too many hot and cold periods in between. Even more so when equipment is moved around alot.
Shit is not rocket science
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower
Well-known member
To me without watching the video I'd say treat them like the 50s.
Leave them on.
Consistent current at all times.
View attachment 390538
Theres too many fluctuations in amps being pummeled at different power section levels for any of these tubes to last like they used to. And nobody, is getting 40k hours out of a tube in these situations. Not consistent enough. Too many repeated voltage surges happening along with too many hot and cold periods in between. Even more so when equipment is moved around alot.
Shit is not rocket science
I love that you have your kid's drawing hanging up, Chugg!
40k hours, though? My Mig 50 and JTM 30 still have their original 30+ year old sovtek 5881s in them.
Would guess a couple thousand hours at most.
ChuggNorris
Well-known member
I love that you have your kid's drawing hanging up, Chugg!
40k hours, though? My Mig 50 and JTM 30 still have their original 30+ year old sovtek 5881s in them.
Would guess a couple thousand hours at most.
I have so many of my babies drawings and notes hanging around. My fridge is covered. And I have stashes of their stuff everywhere. Hard to believe they 16 & 17 now.
The most hours any tube seen was on very regulated devices in the 50s with military spec tubes in them. Those old military grade 5881 are legit. But even those will fail under constant abuse in a power section being spiked all the time without consistent voltages which is what most of these high powered guitar amps end up doing when pummeled alot. I still keep old tubes around. I love tubes. They make me feel warm inside.
jchrisf
Well-known member
Nice endorsement for the BrownBox.. is a Variac a better or worse solution?
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
I was looking at Variacs last night. Now last time I was looking they were around 2-3 hundred. Now I see Variac branded units on Amazon for like $50. What’s up with that ? Surely those $50 units aren’t legit, right ?
GJgo
Well-known member
I've wondered the same thing. I'd like to get one for my vintage Marks but I'm hesitant to by a cheapo I know nothing about for $$$ amps. Anyone have solid recommendations?
CDawg
Active member
To me without watching the video I'd say treat them like the 50s.
Leave them on.
Consistent current at all times.
View attachment 390538
Theres too many fluctuations in amps being pummeled at different power section levels for any of these tubes to last like they used to. And nobody, is getting 40k hours out of a tube in these situations. Not consistent enough. Too many repeated voltage surges happening along with too many hot and cold periods in between. Even more so when equipment is moved around alot.
Shit is not rocket science
Depends on the tube and the operating conditions. That's obviously an extreme example of a well manufactured audio tube running under ideal conditions. There's variables you have control of that determines a tubes life.I have so many of my babies drawings and notes hanging around. My fridge is covered. And I have stashes of their stuff everywhere. Hard to believe they 16 & 17 now.
The most hours any tube seen was on very regulated devices in the 50s with military spec tubes in them. Those old military grade 5881 are legit. But even those will fail under constant abuse in a power section being spiked all the time without consistent voltages which is what most of these high powered guitar amps end up doing when pummeled alot. I still keep old tubes around. I love tubes. They make me feel warm inside.
Disagree. The tubes with the most hours are for underwater communications because they're too difficult to change and a lot of those predate the 1950s and are still operational. You're probably using them right now like everyone else and they have hundreds of thousands of hours on them.
ChuggNorris
Well-known member
glpg80
Well-known member
A variac is not a voltage regulator. A variac just steps down or up voltage with a rated current capability but the rise or fall of the source voltage still causes a rise or fall of voltage on the secondary. A voltage regulator does exactly what it says. Neither are to be confused with power conditioners.
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower
Well-known member
ChuggNorris
Well-known member
I think you have more than me overall.
However that pic I posted was just a few I had out testing pairs in a savage 120.
I have never spread my whole collection out, would be interesting to do but most of them are nice and neat in their boxes. I also have a container with a couple hundred loose preamp tubes but they are in there loose because they all have went microphonic at some point. When I was chasing the "nos" rabbit hole. Went through alot of em.
Also have alot in an RCA tube cabinet I found in my grandpa's shed. Mostly radio and television tubes in that one.
LONG LIVE TOOBZ