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I bought five of these tubes back in the early to mid 1990s. I distinctly remembering one of them arcing the first time I put it into service back then. Two may have arced, since I only have three left. I packed them away, and after numerous moves, they stayed packed away. Meanwhile I've used Russian 5AR4 in the same amp, and never had an issue.
I got them out last night, and after taking a good look at them, they don't look like any 5AR4 I've ever seen before. I did an extensive search here, as well as an Internet images search, and couldn't find anything with the same internals, or even the brown base. There's no markings on the glass, no date codes or other markings on the base, other than what's shown.
I might not be as concerned, but given the memory of the self-destruction the last time I tried one, I'm curious if these are counterfeits.
Thanks.
Follow Ups:
The Bendix 6106 is more of a 5Y3 substitute. It would not be an adequate replacement for a GZ34/5AR4. No wonder one went kablooey!
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Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
They're indirectly heated rectifiers. I also have an NOS pair of Amperex labeled Mullard GZ-34s, but I've never tried them in my amps.
Chris
Yes, 6087/5Y3WGTB.
Eli D.
but they're not very common. Baby brother to the GZ34.
I did more searching and found another Bendix offering, the 5852 which looks similar to what I have, at least at first glance. I found it on the site linked below. It seems to be a militarized 6X5, link to data sheet HERE
The question becomes, how do I find out exactly which tubes I have here?
.
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
.
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
I'm finding posts about them like the one linked below, from fourteen years ago where Jim McShane said:
"I've also seen them [6106] labeled 5AR4, believe it or not!"
Given the 6106 aviation rating, it's nice to know that if I ever get an amp which uses them, my rectifier will be good to 80,000 feet.
Thanks again.
.
About the only physical difference I can see is that the Tube Depot site says theirs has Double D getters, while the ones I have have a quad of D getters. Mine more closely match the drawing in the Bendix 6106 data sheet though.I wonder why New Sensor didn't just remove the 5AR4 stencil from the base and sell them as what they were?
"No wonder one went kablooey!" Yeah, no kidding. The voltage, combined with a first cap of 40 uF in my amp, while the 6106 data sheet says 4 uf, you're right, no wonder!
Thank you very much. I'd have probably never found that on my own. Much appreciated!
Edits: 08/26/21
for all the 5V4s they sold cheap that were actually high quality 5AR4s. :)
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
Still, given what the Bendix 6106 are going for now, they may have unintentionally screwed themselves twice.
Meanwhile, I continue to be grateful to Opalize for his excellent call on identifying these tubes. I'm sure at some point I'd have put another one of these into one of my amps which use a 5AR4 "just to see what happens this time", and have been treated to another arc.
That would have had two negative results. It would have left me thinking I paid good money (back when I had very little) for 'shitty' 5AR4s, and it would have destroyed three good Bendix 6106 in the process.
Actually, not sure it was New Sensor, but there was a batch of 5AR4 (Sylvania?) that were sold cheap because of this. I think the episode goes back about 10 or 15 years.
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
...the 5V4s that where actually Sylvania 5AR4s (Phillips ECG actually) were quickly discovered and publicized fairly widely. Dealers like Triode Electronics bought them up in bulk and sold them for pretty much the going price for US mfg 5AR4s at the time. My best finds came at hamfests where sellers didn't know what they had. But they learned quickly.
Your tubes are 5V4.
On the VTA amp pages, you might find the link to the 'diode fix' for thiese.
A 1N4007 on each leg works. Problem might be that when these were supposedly built? House current was closer to 110 than todays near-120. That puts higher than expected voltage TO the tube which may be the source of hte arcing?
Check out hte diode fix.
Too much is never enough
Although for OCD types such as myself, Eli Duttman recommends the UF4007.Edited to correct typo.
Edits: 08/27/21
I won't go there....but I see that number as a VISHAY product, who I tend to trust.
My company sold them an entier line of what was then verging on an obsolete product. ALL of it and we did a build-out over a period of about a year so they'd have time to get THEIR line going without product shipments suffering.
Let the Lawsuits begin.
IR (now somebody else) makes FREDS, but I don't know if htat is suitable. And since there is plenty of intervening circuitry? I'll start with the commodity part from a normal builder.....IR or V?ISHAY would be fine, IMO.
Too much is never enough
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