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Does heat kill tubes?

My system went into a steel container for the past three months while my house was going through remodeling. Container sat on my drive way which receive lots of sun, interior temperature often reached 120+ on hot days. My SF Line 3SE was working flawlessly before packing into the box, it now has a noisy channel which was caused by a bad tube in the buffer section.

Tubes are not as rugged as transistor, but they should be able to withstand 120 degree easily without operation. I assumed if it could survive years of life on the shelf, it should survive a few months in a container. Or am I wrong?
semi
aida_w
308 posts
 
I think you are right. I'd consider transportation into and from the container, new setting up and all that moving around being the cause of that failure. A tube guru once told me: "tubes last much much longer than you would expect - as long as you are nice to them." Being stuck in a hot container can't be nice? :-)
Good luck!
herman
2,267 posts
 
As far as heat is concerned, tubes can take a lot more than transistors. Since the tubes get that hot or hotter in normal operation, I don't see how heating them up would damage them.

I think the tube failure after storage in the heat was coincidence.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
120+ is literally nothing to tubes even 180.
did you or anyone else accidentally hit the box with your car or truck?:-)
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