24 hours 12AX7 Heater *in Series* at 15 Volts. people forget to mention things when they suggest burn ins; like people who tell you to leave your amp on, but neglect to mention it needs an appropriate load.
Great and informative video, thank you! I recently bought a NOS philips ECC88 tube, can I assume it's already burned in, you talked about the old days when this was common procedure... Hope you have time to read this... thnx again!
We use the term Burn--In at our computer shop.......... meaning that we just put it through strong testing, so that if there's a sub-par component in there, it will fail NOW, rather than when it's put into service by a client. When I build a tube amp, many times I'll just "let it run" playing background music for a day or so just to make certain that everything is stable.
Very informative video.. what I am wondering about is how to do it on my amp. I have a Xduoo TA-26 and put in a new tube and now it's simply running.. is that all I have to do? I have also heard that some leave the tube on without a power tube and only with the preamp tube they wanna burn in.. is there a reason behind doing this? I've been struggling to find a proper guide for newcomers that answers this question.
I would think that post purchase tube burn in would mostly apply to verifying matched power tubes in push pull applications. Burning in while observing cathode currents for this purpose can assure a stable long term match.
Ahh Okay so there are more than one Triode in the tubes. I love how you explain this. The little Single Triode tubes I have been making are interesting, but they are homemade and I don't have Dual Grids and Dual Plates in them. How Many Triodes are in these tubes?
Can you use a tube tester set to the next higher voltage setting and leave it on for 24 hours to burn in a tube? I have the same tester your using here.
That was an interesting video about burning in tubes. I hope to get some good new ones for my Marshall and will ask my guitar shop if they can burn them in. What I've heard is that an attenuator is not that good for tubes. I don't know if it's true or not. The future is to find out that if it's the case or not. ;-) Cheers and greetings from Belgium.
I’ve gone a day without playing the music with a new tube. I never turn off my tube amp. The next day, I hear significant changes. Theoretically, the tubes are burning in without having to play music.
I just built 2 5E3 Tweed Deluxe clones. They were both clean and hard to overdrive when first done. But now the first one I built is starting to break up nicely, at particular settings and behaving the way it should. The first one ( a month younger ) is still pretty clean at same settings. Maybe it’ll dirty up with age too. ?
Tubes are still manufactured in a very few plants worldwide. Countries of modern manufacture that I'm aware of are located in China, Russia, Yugoslavia (maybe still), and Slovenia. Unfortunately, the tube quality of the best modern tubes is a bit below the average stuff of yesteryear. The price of NOS tubes of popular types is so insane that it makes a lot of sense to buy the low cost modern alternatives. The price difference is not equal to the quality difference. On the very bright side of things, the legendary Brimar tube factory of England is reportedly working on reopening. brimaruk.com/valves/
Quick question or 2, if you don't mind, Unfortunatly, I don't own a Tube Tester. If I just use my Guitar Amplifier and unplug all of my Cables, fire it up and turn EVERYTHING up to full power.....you know, like Spinal Tap , turned up to 11...... THEN take it off of " Standby," how long should I let my Amp stay on to " Burn In " the Tubes or is this method NOT RECOMMENDED? 2nd question: Is there a difference in "Burn In Time " between Preamp Tubes and Power Amp Tubes? Thank you for your time and the EYE OPENING Video!!! I had no idea Tubes had to be " Burned In, " much less for a long period of time!! Thank you again, Keith
Keith, the way you're proposing is not necessarily wrong. That's a bit more involved than my method and probably a bit overkill unless your amp was just recapped. You really don't need to take it off standby (and shouldn't unless a load is connected). The filament heat inside the tubes is enough to do the job. At normal filament voltages it may take a few days of being on to do the trick. The tube tester method is faster because you can up the voltage of the filaments. I have found the necessary duration for a burn in is not set in stone. It can vary from tube to tube. There can be some static noise with new tubes that can go away after a period of burn in. The concept of burn in is no different for power or preamp tubes.
@@LightningBoyAudio Thank you very much. Hopefully, I didn't do any damage my way yesterday. I let it go for about 9 hours before I decided I should either, hopefully get a reply from you, or ask someone much more qualified than I!! I have quite a few rehearsals this week, I'll arrive early and get everything plugged in and warming up. We'll see if, 1; there's no issues from what I did, then 2, let it burn in from the hours of playing coming up this week and the rest of the month. Again, thank you very much.
By the way, I was thinking about what you said on keeping a " Load" on the amp. I failed to mention on my reply back to you that I kept my Speakers plugged in. I'm no expert in Electronics....that was my Father!! I grew up with an "O" Scope, Multimeter, Soldering Iron, among a lot of other equipment as a child and went to College for Electronic Engineering, MANY DECADES AGO......never finished.... Anyway, I DO know enough NOT keeping ANY RESISTANCE...or Ohm/Speaker Load, for those who don't understand the "Load" concept or meaning, on an Amplifier WILL result in possible, or total destruction of an Amp if no Load is present at all for too long. This next comment section is for those who may not be aware of the Load Concept...please forgive my small novel!! You can, although I personally don't advise it, go to a HIGHER Load, or in Musician Lingo, if your Amp is rated for 8 Ohms, you CAN run a 16 Ohm Cabinet....you may experience a small amount of Output Loss depending on how high, or how many Speaker Cabinets you run. When I was in my early, early teens and experimenting with my Amps, how large I could make my setup look, I ran an 8 Ohm load into a 4 Ohm Amp. The output loss, to me, was not noticiable. Going from 8 to 16 Ohms on my 4 Ohm Amp, there was a difference, although not a HUGE amount, it was much more noticeable. The more you run, the more significant your power loss will be!!!! However, NEVER run LESS than what your Amp is Rated. DO NOT EVER RUN A 4 OHM CABINET INTO AN 8 OHM RATED AMP!!! That's also almost as bad as NO LOAD at all. You can seriously damage or cook your Amp. Again, I know you are aware and know all of this already, that section was just for people who don't understand Resistance....Load...Ohms Law...ect...!! I appreciate you taking the time to advise me on the Tube situation. Take care, Keith Darling
Will there be a smell during Initial burn in or usage? I swapped out tubes on a working amp and I noticed a slight burning smell from the back of the amp. Nothing major but I'm keeping an eye on it. I'm wondering if it from hand grease... Thanks for any input, this was my first tube swap, but I did it to 2 different amp heads and got the same similar burning smell. Each amp got 2 GT el84s and 2 or 3 new 12ax7 tubes. Anything similar happen to anyone?
They may be buying them pre burned in. I’m not saying the “audio” improves with burn in, which is probably their only argument. I and any pro can prove tubes do many times test better after a period of burn-in. I buy a ton of tubes. A small percentage test bad right from the manufacturer. After 24-48hrs of burn-in they test new. Its science, not myth.
I think tubes sound best when brand new. I don't think the tube gets better with age. I buy from people who test and match them. I don't buy burned in tubes. I believe that shortens their lifespan.
Now I know what a tube Dr looks like.
24 hours 12AX7 Heater *in Series* at 15 Volts.
people forget to mention things when they suggest burn ins; like people who tell you to leave your amp on, but neglect to mention it needs an appropriate load.
Great and informative video, thank you! I recently bought a NOS philips ECC88 tube, can I assume it's already burned in, you talked about the old days when this was common procedure... Hope you have time to read this... thnx again!
We use the term Burn--In at our computer shop.......... meaning that we just put it through strong testing, so that if there's a sub-par component in there, it will fail NOW, rather than when it's put into service by a client.
When I build a tube amp, many times I'll just "let it run" playing background music for a day or so just to make certain that everything is stable.
Very informative video.. what I am wondering about is how to do it on my amp. I have a Xduoo TA-26 and put in a new tube and now it's simply running.. is that all I have to do? I have also heard that some leave the tube on without a power tube and only with the preamp tube they wanna burn in.. is there a reason behind doing this?
I've been struggling to find a proper guide for newcomers that answers this question.
I would think that post purchase tube burn in would mostly apply to verifying matched power tubes in push pull applications.
Burning in while observing cathode currents for this purpose can assure a stable long term match.
Ahh Okay so there are more than one Triode in the tubes. I love how you explain this. The little Single Triode tubes I have been making are interesting, but they are homemade and I don't have Dual Grids and Dual Plates in them. How Many Triodes are in these tubes?
Can you use a tube tester set to the next higher voltage setting and leave it on for 24 hours to burn in a tube? I have the same tester your using here.
That was an interesting video about burning in tubes. I hope to get some good new ones for my Marshall and will ask my guitar shop if they can burn them in. What I've heard is that an attenuator is not that good for tubes. I don't know if it's true or not. The future is to find out that if it's the case or not. ;-) Cheers and greetings from Belgium.
I’ve gone a day without playing the music with a new tube.
I never turn off my tube amp.
The next day, I hear significant changes. Theoretically, the tubes are burning in without having to play music.
More often called Ageing of the cathode to improve electron emission. Much more available on this.
I just built 2 5E3 Tweed Deluxe clones. They were both clean and hard to overdrive when first done. But now the first one I built is starting to break up nicely, at particular settings and behaving the way it should. The first one ( a month younger ) is still pretty clean at same settings. Maybe it’ll dirty up with age too. ?
Always interesting!
I’m getting a schitt freya. And wasn’t sure about this. So I gotta burn in the tubes for 24 hours. Hummmmm
Is anyone still making tubes? Or are all the tubes we are buying New old Stock?
Tubes are still manufactured in a very few plants worldwide. Countries of modern manufacture that I'm aware of are located in China, Russia, Yugoslavia (maybe still), and Slovenia. Unfortunately, the tube quality of the best modern tubes is a bit below the average stuff of yesteryear. The price of NOS tubes of popular types is so insane that it makes a lot of sense to buy the low cost modern alternatives. The price difference is not equal to the quality difference. On the very bright side of things, the legendary Brimar tube factory of England is reportedly working on reopening. brimaruk.com/valves/
Quick question or 2, if you don't mind,
Unfortunatly, I don't own a Tube Tester.
If I just use my Guitar Amplifier and unplug all of my Cables, fire it up and turn EVERYTHING up to full power.....you know, like Spinal Tap , turned up to 11...... THEN take it off of " Standby," how long should I let my Amp stay on to " Burn In " the Tubes or is this method NOT RECOMMENDED?
2nd question: Is there a difference in "Burn In Time " between Preamp Tubes and Power Amp Tubes?
Thank you for your time and the EYE OPENING Video!!!
I had no idea Tubes had to be " Burned In, " much less for a long period of time!!
Thank you again,
Keith
Keith, the way you're proposing is not necessarily wrong. That's a bit more involved than my method and probably a bit overkill unless your amp was just recapped. You really don't need to take it off standby (and shouldn't unless a load is connected). The filament heat inside the tubes is enough to do the job. At normal filament voltages it may take a few days of being on to do the trick. The tube tester method is faster because you can up the voltage of the filaments. I have found the necessary duration for a burn in is not set in stone. It can vary from tube to tube. There can be some static noise with new tubes that can go away after a period of burn in. The concept of burn in is no different for power or preamp tubes.
@@LightningBoyAudio
Thank you very much.
Hopefully, I didn't do any damage my way yesterday.
I let it go for about 9 hours before I decided I should either, hopefully get a reply from you, or ask someone much more qualified than I!!
I have quite a few rehearsals this week, I'll arrive early and get everything plugged in and warming up.
We'll see if, 1; there's no issues from what I did, then 2, let it burn in from the hours of playing coming up this week and the rest of the month.
Again, thank you very much.
By the way, I was thinking about what you said on keeping a " Load" on the amp.
I failed to mention on my reply back to you that I kept my Speakers plugged in.
I'm no expert in Electronics....that was my Father!! I grew up with an "O" Scope, Multimeter, Soldering Iron, among a lot of other equipment as a child and went to College for Electronic Engineering, MANY DECADES AGO......never finished....
Anyway, I DO know enough NOT keeping ANY RESISTANCE...or Ohm/Speaker Load, for those who don't understand the "Load" concept or meaning, on an Amplifier WILL result in possible, or total destruction of an Amp if no Load is present at all for too long.
This next comment section is for those who may not be aware of the Load Concept...please forgive my small novel!!
You can, although I personally don't advise it, go to a HIGHER Load, or in Musician Lingo, if your Amp is rated for 8 Ohms, you CAN run a 16 Ohm Cabinet....you may experience a small amount of Output Loss depending on how high, or how many Speaker Cabinets you run.
When I was in my early, early teens and experimenting with my Amps, how large I could make my setup look, I ran an 8 Ohm load into a 4 Ohm Amp. The output loss, to me, was not noticiable. Going from 8 to 16 Ohms on my 4 Ohm Amp, there was a difference, although not a HUGE amount, it was much more noticeable. The more you run, the more significant your power loss will be!!!!
However, NEVER run LESS than what your Amp is Rated.
DO NOT EVER RUN A 4 OHM CABINET INTO AN 8 OHM RATED AMP!!!
That's also almost as bad as NO LOAD at all.
You can seriously damage or cook your Amp.
Again, I know you are aware and know all of this already, that section was just for people who don't understand Resistance....Load...Ohms Law...ect...!!
I appreciate you taking the time to advise me on the Tube situation.
Take care,
Keith Darling
Will there be a smell during Initial burn in or usage? I swapped out tubes on a working amp and I noticed a slight burning smell from the back of the amp. Nothing major but I'm keeping an eye on it. I'm wondering if it from hand grease... Thanks for any input, this was my first tube swap, but I did it to 2 different amp heads and got the same similar burning smell. Each amp got 2 GT el84s and 2 or 3 new 12ax7 tubes. Anything similar happen to anyone?
Your tubes cannot get hot enough to make grease smoke, mb they were just dusty
@@dontron810 true, the smell went away after the first night of playing the new tubes, prob dust.
And meanwhile in forums they say there is no such thing as tube burn in. You can clearly hear it on any new tube *facepalm*
They may be buying them pre burned in. I’m not saying the “audio” improves with burn in, which is probably their only argument. I and any pro can prove tubes do many times test better after a period of burn-in. I buy a ton of tubes. A small percentage test bad right from the manufacturer. After 24-48hrs of burn-in they test new. Its science, not myth.
People who cant hear the difference are not in the right hobby. Only exception is if you buy already burned in tubes.
I think tubes sound best when brand new. I don't think the tube gets better with age. I buy from people who test and match them. I don't buy burned in tubes. I believe that shortens their lifespan.