Sckott
03-19-2002, 11:50 AM
This is just a story for all of you, especially you toobies:
About 2-3 weeks ago, a forum member asked me "How long does a Russian 5AR4 last?". Well, I had one in my #2 Dynaco St70, and it hadn't died yet.
"Should last QUITE a while. I've never seen a 5AR4 go."
Famous last words.
That night, I noticed some crackling in my #2. Might be the tuner, but with my Foreplay on my CD, same thing. It stopped. I turned the sucker off and went to bed.
The next night, I turned the amp on and got nothing. FFFFTTT! Fuse! Hmm. I go down to Rat Shack to get another Slo-Blow pak. FFFFTTT! It blows again. (Explitive deleted). This time I take it down. I notice with a 3rd fuse, the baby lights up, and stays steady, but I get no reading. Not even a smidge. (wha??).
Took the 5AR4 off and looked at it. If a fuse blows on a Dynaco, almost every time, the 5AR4 is almost always at fault. I took the Mullard off the #1 and took it to the #2 for a temporary time.
Bingo. Sucker lit, and I got plate. This Mullard is over 30 years old. My Russian SOVTEK was umm.... 8 months old. (I noticed also that the Mullard did some large ammounts of warmth to the sound).
I ended up telling Steve. "I've not had ONE 5AR4 blow, ever." he wrote back, and confirmed my thoughts.
So, I wrote back to this forum member:
"You won't beleieve this, but MY Sovtek 5AR4 just gassed too.
You are a jinx. Thanks a lot....-Sckott"
He wrote back; "No way! Geez I'm sorry!"
Well, you know who you are, but I hope all is well.
Friends don't tell friends their tube gassed.
About 2-3 weeks ago, a forum member asked me "How long does a Russian 5AR4 last?". Well, I had one in my #2 Dynaco St70, and it hadn't died yet.
"Should last QUITE a while. I've never seen a 5AR4 go."
Famous last words.
That night, I noticed some crackling in my #2. Might be the tuner, but with my Foreplay on my CD, same thing. It stopped. I turned the sucker off and went to bed.
The next night, I turned the amp on and got nothing. FFFFTTT! Fuse! Hmm. I go down to Rat Shack to get another Slo-Blow pak. FFFFTTT! It blows again. (Explitive deleted). This time I take it down. I notice with a 3rd fuse, the baby lights up, and stays steady, but I get no reading. Not even a smidge. (wha??).
Took the 5AR4 off and looked at it. If a fuse blows on a Dynaco, almost every time, the 5AR4 is almost always at fault. I took the Mullard off the #1 and took it to the #2 for a temporary time.
Bingo. Sucker lit, and I got plate. This Mullard is over 30 years old. My Russian SOVTEK was umm.... 8 months old. (I noticed also that the Mullard did some large ammounts of warmth to the sound).
I ended up telling Steve. "I've not had ONE 5AR4 blow, ever." he wrote back, and confirmed my thoughts.
So, I wrote back to this forum member:
"You won't beleieve this, but MY Sovtek 5AR4 just gassed too.
You are a jinx. Thanks a lot....-Sckott"
He wrote back; "No way! Geez I'm sorry!"
Well, you know who you are, but I hope all is well.
Friends don't tell friends their tube gassed.