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Bat 150 SE replacing 6C33-B power tubes problems

BAT 150 SE 6C33-B power tubes were replaced with 8 pcs new tubes. 3 of the new tubes blew out the 3 amp fast blow fuses and internal sparks were seen with loud nasty sounds emmitted from mid range and tweeter sections. These amps only feed only the non-bass sections.
The defective tubes are now replaced with good ones. Upscale Audio did not hesitate to send me replacements. Since they are out of stock on current production Upscale sent me NOS without any extra charges.
Is it normal because the 8 NOS tubes are new that the sound is now harsh, metallic and not sweet as it used to be.
Does anyone have any idea how many music hours app. this can take ?
Any advice on this matter is really helpfull to me.
Thank you.
terryakhan

Showing 3 responses by terryakhan

terryakhan's avatar
terryakhan OP
109 posts
 
Thank you all for this info.
The sparks were inside the new power tubes that blew the 3 amps fuses. The amps suffer no damages. Guess I very am lucky. With the old original BAT factory tubes the sound is normal and sweet. However, several of the old tubes would not allow the green LED to stay on reason being why I had to have them replaced. I have about 8 hrs on the new set, so I will just keep the breakin going. After cleaning the pins with 400 sandpaper a bit of improvement is heard.
Jfrech, can you tell me which are the input tubes and can you suggest what type and make of others tube so I try some tube rolling.
I was not aware that the power tubes are no longer made. This a concern for BAT owners. Are ther any other suppliers around ?
terryakhan's avatar
terryakhan OP
109 posts
 
I like to thank everyone for their advice about the 6C33-B power tubes promblems that I was having.
300 music hours have now passed both amps are singing like I have never heard before, just amazing what new tubes can do. I would like to mention that Kevin Deal suggested that I clean the pins of each tube with grade 400 sandpaper and by applying a thin film of Walker SST contact enhancer really helps.
All eight new tubes glow at the same brightness also, since some of them used to be deep red on the large vertical black plate.
THX Terry
terryakhan's avatar
terryakhan OP
109 posts
 
Hi Tom, thank you for the heads up. I have contacted BAT about the SST and their response is 'use at your own risk/void warranty'.
SST appears to act as conductor between contacts and since it is in paste form it can also create electrical shorts if it gets in contact with any other components especially the high voltage parts as explained to me by my supplier. I have been using this product to treat interconnect and speaker connections.(low voltage) and just started with the tubes. I think the way the application of the SST is made is extremely important. As mentioned I touch the tube pins forming a tiny dot without creating any drips and never painting the entire pin. I will post any problems created by the Walker SST.
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