2. amps-preamps
  3. 1261150590

what do you use to remove your tubes?

Happy Holidays! ! ! I want to pull my preamp and signal tubes (12AU7's and 12AX7's) to see what brand they are. They only stick out of my Rogue Cronus Magnum about 3/4 of an inch. Do I have to use cotton gloves / towel or could I use latex gloves? I'm thinking I could get a better grip with latex gloves. Once I know what they are, I would like to post a thread on what other tubes people are using in their Cronus Magnums and what effects they are having on the sound.
donjr

Showing 2 responses by larryi

larryi
4,233 posts
 
While there is no harm in keep oils from your hand off of the tube, it is hardly necessary. The tubes do not suffer from the same failure mode as halogen, metal halide, etc. bulbs.

When oils from your hand get on the bulb, the high temperature carbonizes the oils and this forms a dark spot on the bulb. That dark spot will then absorb light from the bulb, instead of passing the light through, which heats that particular spot more than the rest of the bulb. That temperature differential causes the bulb to explode. Your tubes never get hot enough, nor do they put out the huge amounts of energy that could cause that kind of hot spotting from what is on the glass.
larryi
4,233 posts
 
As explained above, there is no operational reason for worrying about handling tubes. My only possible concern would be the easy to rub off markings on extremely rare Telefunken tubes. When my ECC803S tubes are near the end of their life, how will I be able to sell them on ebay as brand new if I am not careful about rubbing off the markings on the tube?
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