How many of you have wondered , ” How Old is the Valve (Tube) technology in my amp?” Valves as we call them in the UK have been around for about a 100 years !! Â I decided to check out when the common valves ( ones that we sell) first came on the market. When checking this information sometimes there was some arguement on the exact year so if you alllow give or take one […]
How Old is the Valve (Tube) Technology in My Amp? Read More »
I came across this video, by accident  on Youtube of French radio amateur,  Claude Paillard ( Callsign F2F0) who makes his own valves by hand in the traditional way. It gives you an idea of what it takes to make your valves.  He is making a triode so if you do this twice and put in one glass tube you have an ECC81 / ECC83/ ECC99. The video is made in France so the few
Amplifier valves get hot and there are very high voltages present, so make sure the amp is switched off and and the valves are cold. Hot amp valves can give you a bad burn ! The output valves , the rectifier, and ECC99’s all get especially hot ! Â My most recent burn was off the little output valve in the picture above, the EL84 output pentode The first basic question is how often to replace
Steps to follow when changing your valves in your amp Read More »
I thought this looked like a really useful table  on bias current for output valves. The top of the page allows the super  techie types to do an exact calculation based on measured voltages in your actual amp and the configuration of the circuit. The featured picture is actually all the tools ( apart  from the right screwdriver). It is simply a multi-meter and a special adapter. You plug the adapter into the output