[grodri02]

Hi,

How do you properly burn a tube, like a EL34 tube? Will leaving the amp on without music suffice or does it need to be playing music?

Thanks

[Pez]

Having used tubes for the better part of a decade I can say honestly I have no idea! People will say 'you have to play music trough them constantly' others will say 'they just need to be on' I'm not speaking with confidence here but the answer is probably somewhere in between.  I seriously doubt anyone has done experimentation with this but maybe I'm wrong. 

Hope this helps. 

[rbwalt]

just play music through them. that way you can hear the changes they are going through.

r.

[grodri02]

Thanks...just got a quad Ruby Tubes and I observed that one of them has a section of blu/purple tint when its on. Is that normal? Out of the four tubes, only one has that blue tint...

[rollo]

  Usually 100 hours is the ticket. Around 30 hours or so you will begin to hear the tubes glory.
  The blue purple hue may be an issue. Call the vendor. My tube law is allow a 15 minute warm up before play. They usually come up to operatng temp by then. when turning off gear I do so with the music playing starting with the Amp, Pre source. When braking in tubes no more than 5 hours at a time. Have fun.


charles

[grodri02]

  Usually 100 hours is the ticket. Around 30 hours or so you will begin to hear the tubes glory.
  The blue purple hue may be an issue. Call the vendor. My tube law is allow a 15 minute warm up before play. They usually come up to operatng temp by then. when turning off gear I do so with the music playing starting with the Amp, Pre source. When braking in tubes no more than 5 hours at a time. Have fun.


charles

is that blue hue a sign of a bad tube?

[Steve]

is that blue hue a sign of a bad tube?

If the blue is around the edges of the plate etc, it is probably from small cobalt impurities in the metal.

Cheers.

[grodri02]

If the blue is around the edges of the plate etc, it is probably from small cobalt impurities in the metal.

Cheers.

Yes, its on the edge of the upper plate. Is that a long term problem?

[Indiansprings]

is that blue hue a sign of a bad tube?

Is this true? Is the blue telling you something is wrong?

[hibuckhobby]

Not necessarily.  At times there is a small residual amount of gas in the envelope that will glow.  I've had a number of tubes glow blue for extended periods of time with no ill effects.

[Steve]

Hibuckhobby is correct. Now if the color is purple, not blue, that is another story. Dump the tube.

Cheers.

[Quiet Earth]

Here is some info from the EML website :

2. Do the tubes need a burn in?

Yes they do! Good Burn-in will assure maximum lifetime and develop the final sound. These tubes are burned-in initially. This burn-in process will be extended in the first 50-100 hours under normal (home) use conditions. This means you must switch off the amplifier after each use, and in the beginning not use the tubes longer than 4 hours at one time. Many short use periods have a better result than few long periods. The tubes need the „cold“ periods in between for best formatting of the filament. Some occasional blue glow effects will disappear during burn-in, or may stay. This is not gas, and it is normal. Use different loudness levels from the beginning, and increase the maximum loudness gradually. If tubes with very little use were switched off longer than 12 months, is necessary to repeat the burn in.

[Steve]

As far as break in, Grod, I used to work with transmitters, and I do know their oxide cathodes increased in emission, power output also increases, for some numerous hours before finally settling in.

This may occur with smaller tubes as well, and possibly depending upon the manufacturer, but I have not performed any testing so cannot say as fact. One thing, the distortion figures may change slightly during this time, especially near maximum output.

Hope this helps.

Steve