Is rectifier tube arcing a problem?


I did some research and couldn’t find a definite answer.  I have an amp that I tried 6 different pairs of 5U4G and 5U4GB. 3 pairs has arcing (RCA 5U4G, TungSol, Svetlana 5C3S) and 3 pairs don’t (RCA 5U4G with hanging filament, EH 5U4GB, Sylvania 5931).  I took the amp to a technician and he checked everything, he can’t find anything wrong.  The problem is, I like the sound of the TungSol and Svetlana which both have arcing.  The technician said it is ok to keep using them, but honestly I am not too comfortable.  But I like their sound.  Is it really ok to keep using the arcing tubes?  Will it damage the amp?

 

 

gte357s

Showing 1 response by johnnycamp5

A few years back I built an ANK Kit-1 300b stereo power amp.

The rectifier tube arked upon power up. I contacted ANK’s builder at the time and he suggest trying a new EH 5u4gb. Told me to buy two or three cause one might ark even new, so throw it away (and any other rectifier tube that arks at startup).

I bought three and only one arked at startup. I marked it and some others but never threw them away lol.

 

It’s been working fine ever since although I don’t use it constantly.

I did notice shortly after that ANK started including the EH 5u4gb with their kits. But that was then.