why do hi-end fuses keep blowing, while std don't?


I've had my McIntosh MC275 for several years running flawlesly. Up until last Nov I was using stock KT88 and rolled small tubes and had a Hi-Fi Tunning fuse without issues.

In Nov-13 I upgraded the KT-88 to Psvane black bottles measuring 60mA plate current. A few power-ons after I rolled the tubes, I turned on the amp to let it warm up, but returned to a blown fuse. I thought a tube might be bad so used a std fuse, but never had a problem again.

Two months ago I bought a new high-end fuse, replaced it, and soon thereafter the same happened: blown fuse. I replaced it with a std fuse again, which is still running.

So I want to upgrade the fuse, but chances are if I use the 2A fuse it will happen again. Yet I don't want to use a higher value fuse. I'm thinking the Psvanes might be drawing significantly more current than the stock KT88 and the Hi-Fi Tunning fuse might have a tighter spec, driving said fuses to fail while the std ones survive. Would you agree?

Suggestions as to how to resolve this?

thanks much!
lewinskih01

It sounds like the Psvane tubes are the culprit as you suspect.

Like Andrew ( Mapman ) suggested, you need to find out if the Hi-Fi Tuning fuses are simply made to a tighter spec.

I'd also talk to Mac and someone knowledgeable about the different tubes. Are the Psvane tubes able to be used in your amp safely? If they're drawing more current, could that be detrimental in some way?

Chuck
Have you tried contacting the maker of the fuse and asking why their product is acting differently than the "std" fuse?

The maker/vendor usually knows best.