tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 This guy has some great videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU9SoQxJewrWb_3GxeteQPA HK Citation Preamp McIntosh C29 - have not watched this one yet Check out this 1950's frequency counter. It must have 30 tubes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amped Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 He's got a good one on the "mullard flash" too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 28 minutes ago, amped said: He's got a good one on the "mullard flash" too. I just started watching his videos. He works on everything. Found him after watching Uncle Doug, also some great videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 39 minutes ago, amped said: He's got a good one on the "mullard flash" too. I'll have to watch. That HK Citation above is in perfect shape and is full of Telefunken tubes. Just a beautiful piece of gear and he does such a great job servicing it. I like how he built a device to determine how to ground the outer foil of the caps. He is so detailed in his work. Really impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 He doesn't do much on anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry4841 Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I really like this guy. https://www.youtube.com/c/xraytonyb An example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAW_Ept99WE&t=4443s An engineer that has a business servicing X-ray machines and a good teacher as well. Really goes in detail on some of his projects without being long winded. A couple of technicians I also enjoy watching but more for servicing tips and tricks. https://www.youtube.com/c/12voltvids https://www.youtube.com/c/JordanPier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 El Paso Tube Amp has a great channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/essoterric/videos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainbeefheart Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Mr. Carlson's Lab is dead wrong about the tube flash. He has some pretty good videos but that one he has no idea what he is talking about. First mistake he is making is comparing these types to the 'Large tubes' he received on a pallet that had a similar effect yet they saw a number of filament failures. Unless he tells us the exact 'large tube' type and the manufacturer we have no information on that except for they were 'large tubes'. I don't know of any 'large tubes' where there is a normal filament flash which is why they were probably failing. Second of all, he must not have owned many these types of European small signal tubes that normally emit a flash, if he did he would know they don't fail. I had some of these tubes for over 50 years with no failure yet from the 'flash'. One huge error he is disregarding is why you see a flash, and it's quite easy to see. The section the flashes is the tiny piece that is not inside the filament coating, if you look closely and follow the very thin filament section where it flashes up further you see it turns into a much thicker, lighter colored filament which is the coating around it protecting it inside the cathode from touching. It still does it's job and heats up the cathode but is protected against a short. When the tube is cold the filament is at a low resistance, if you are powering it via a voltage source there will be an excess of current during power up, this happens to all filaments powered with a voltage source. The reason it flashes is because of extra current and the fact with these types of tubes for some reason some have a portion of the filament wire that doesn't have the coating over it and the filament flashes in this section, it's not a 'weak spot'. Anywhere there is the coating, which is directly below where it enters the cathode and obviously inside the cathode you won't see a flash. You will never be able to see a 'weak spot' in a filament without a special imaging where you can zoom as the filament wire in these are extremely small without the protective coating around it. All tubes will possibly have a weak spot in the filament somewhere, plenty of non-flashing tubes have gone to the grave from filament open circuit that didn't flash, it just had the last initial power on cycle of extra current where the weak spot said I give up and burns open. I see more tube filament failures, which are rare btw with indirectly heated tubes from non-flash type tubes. I think anyone knows that has experience with the European ones that flash are very high quality tubes and last a very long time. I can say in 50 plus years I have never seen a flash style European tube like ECC83 or ECC82 go bad from a filament going open, never seen it happen and I have owned and used thousands of these types over the years. They all just fade away in emissions and become weak, not one filament failure yet. So again I reiterate to combat this awful lie Mr. Carlson is perpetuating from a one time example of buying a pallet of unknown 'large bottle tubes' which these are not. It's only because these types that flash just have a small section at the base where the filament wire might be bare with no coating. Since there is no coating and no cathode to block the flash and absorb energy the tiny section that is bare emits all the energy to light for a very short period of time until it reaches normal operating temperatures and filament resistance. This is completely normal and nothing to worry about. Why would these tubes have such a high demand? If they just burnt open from poor filaments I would be pretty sure the cat would be out of the bag by now and nobody would purchase them spending huge money these days on them due to rarity only to have them fail early? Come on it makes no sense, they demand huge money because they are built well, sound good and last a lifetime. If it was how Mr Carlson claims you would be reading about many audiophiles on forums bummed or angry about spending money on these holy grail tubes only to have them fail early from the flash. It doesn't happen because it's not true and totally normal. Now I am an engineer and fully understand any device with a filament will last longer with a current source power supply, that's how we design any laboratory equipment with expensive active hollow state devices to last a very long time, and yes these are often large bottle types that do not emit a 'flash'. We design a current source supply as it limits power through the filament during warm up, the current remains the same and voltage slowly increases as resistance increases as the filament warms up. Any filament will benefit from this type of power supply. A big thumbs down for Mr Carlson's Lab for getting this so wrong and making a video of it perpetuating a lie to so many. Hey the up side is anyone that believes his BS will not buy tubes that flash which leaves more for the rest of people to enjoy. I am curious, maybe we should make a forum poll in the tube section on how many members have had a European type small signal receiving tube that flashes on power up fail during power up? I am going to take a guess at nobody has had one fail. If it were as bad as he says it is we would be seeing them fail all over the place. Not only that why do you see so many used pulls being sold on the market that have been in gear for decades? It's because the tubes are built well and work like glue and last a very long time, they just do not fail early from this, it's actually quite silly watching his video making a fool of himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amped Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 Hey Captain, Sorry I helped perpetuate a lie. Maybe you can let him know so he can correct this. I got a pair of Hungarian Tungsram ECC82's that did this. I'm fairly new at this and it was the first time I'd seen it. I looked everywhere to find out why these tubes flashed when none of my other ones did. That was the only explanation I could find. BTW they were $35 for the matched pair in Jan '19 so not holy by any stretch... Just trying to learn and definitely not an engineer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainbeefheart Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 22 hours ago, amped said: Hey Captain, Sorry I helped perpetuate a lie. Maybe you can let him know so he can correct this. I got a pair of Hungarian Tungsram ECC82's that did this. I'm fairly new at this and it was the first time I'd seen it. I looked everywhere to find out why these tubes flashed when none of my other ones did. That was the only explanation I could find. BTW they were $35 for the matched pair in Jan '19 so not holy by any stretch... Just trying to learn and definitely not an engineer. Hey you had no idea and Mr Carlson is usually pretty good with information. I am glad you brought it to attention or else others may have thought this was a bad thing also. Maybe we can get some other members to join in and comment about their experience with these types of tubes to see if they have ever had any filament failures. I have been working with tubes for a very long time and would expect if Mr. Carlson was correct that we all would have known about these a long time ago and to stay away from them due to them being unreliable and failing. It's quite the opposite really, these European tubes that flash, Mullard, Amperex, etc... have a reputation for lasting a very long time, as I said people are still pulling these from equipment that is 60-70 years old and they still test strong and have since have had thousands of hours put on them and still keep on going. Sorry I didn't mean to post as if jumping down your throat or anything, just extremely shocked Mr Carlson made this video without doing a little more research on the matter. I think he just made a poor correlation from one experience he had with some large power type tubes that had a similar power on flash with these small signal receiving tubes. I may write to him as I am very curious on the exact tube type he saw this in and who manufactured it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amped Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 To me, Mr C made some sense given my skill level. On the other hand I agree, these tubes shouldn't be so spendy if they're short lived. Being NOS, ANOS, whatever, it didn't add up. I have a video but it's 163mb so, too big to put up. Not using dropbox anymore. It was only one of the Tungsram pair that flashed. I have 4 NOS Brimar CV4003's and the 2 I've used, don't exhibit this behavior. They're in a built by me Bob Latino VTA ST120 (think Dynaco ST70). They sound absolutely fantastic btw. Yeah, you seemed a little "Medwin having a bad day". Thank god I didn't ask about favorite caps and why... ; ] Anyway, glad we're good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amped Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Another youtuber he's more of a guitar amp guy but good build habits if a bit ASMR: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelaudio Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Mr . Carlson's Lab is amazing. Guy's a genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Mr. Carlson does a lot more than replace a few items. If the amp is pristine and the customer just asks for that, then yes he just does a few things, but he is really talented. Check out this guy's range: Some nice work on a tube amp, including adding filtering to remove noise without disrupting the circuit. He has an oscilloscope that can handle current at 600V.: The microprocessor goes out in his Kurig so he builds a board with PWM to get his coffee cut to the correct amount. It was also emitting RF noise so he detected it and cleaned that up too. And out of left field, check out his sweet mullet mobile. I did not expect this. I had him pegged for a mint condition mid 90's Lexus LS 400, oh wait, that is me. Big cam in his Joe Dirt dream machine / chain smoking chick magnet. He builds a circuit and control to take over and to control the EGR to greatly reduce the emissions. Pretty impressive with that valve train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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