Jedinite24, and everyone else here:
One way to reduce arcing on otherwise new tubes is to light up the filaments of the tube without applying B+ to it. Leave it in this state for at least 4 days and nights.
This process is called preconditioning and should be done with any new power tube that has not been used before (if it has been used, preconditioning will not do any good).
**Preconditioning will double the life of any power tube.**
It will also substantially reduce arcing failure that otherwise occurs shortly after installation, due to the tube being unhappy about being shipped. You can see that this is a big deal. I may be giving away a little secret here; this may be why the more expensive tubes seem to hold up better. (It appears that the process of preconditioning uses the filament heat to cure the cathode coating, which otherwise can flake off the cathode fairly easily which is the cause of arcing failure.)
If your amplifier does not have a Standby function (Standby on most tube amps is where the filaments are lit up but the B+ power supply is not running), this might be difficult to pull off. But setting up almost any power amplifier with a Standby switch is a fairly simple matter, although one that should only be done by a qualified technician.
One way to reduce arcing on otherwise new tubes is to light up the filaments of the tube without applying B+ to it. Leave it in this state for at least 4 days and nights.
This process is called preconditioning and should be done with any new power tube that has not been used before (if it has been used, preconditioning will not do any good).
**Preconditioning will double the life of any power tube.**
It will also substantially reduce arcing failure that otherwise occurs shortly after installation, due to the tube being unhappy about being shipped. You can see that this is a big deal. I may be giving away a little secret here; this may be why the more expensive tubes seem to hold up better. (It appears that the process of preconditioning uses the filament heat to cure the cathode coating, which otherwise can flake off the cathode fairly easily which is the cause of arcing failure.)
If your amplifier does not have a Standby function (Standby on most tube amps is where the filaments are lit up but the B+ power supply is not running), this might be difficult to pull off. But setting up almost any power amplifier with a Standby switch is a fairly simple matter, although one that should only be done by a qualified technician.