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Post new topic Tube damper / dampers: Discuss...........
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Author Topic:  Tube damper / dampers: Discuss...........
ajm

 

From:
Los Angeles
Post  Posted 3 Dec 2020 8:41 am    
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3 December 2020

I did a search of the forums before creating a new topic.
There are a few on here in the past, most of them being more than a few years ago, with not much in the way of a real consensus.
So.....here we go again. ;>))

I see that there are a few sources around, probably the most common being Milkman and Eurotubes.
They come for both preamp tubes, and various sizes of power tubes.
They are relatively inexpensive.

I have a 6l6 tube amp that developed a ring/rattle on a specific note/frequency.
If I lightly grasp the end of one of the power tubes it goes away.

I jerry-rigged up a makeshift method and it seemed to work.
The problem with doing your own home brew type thing is temperature.
I tried a couple of materials and basically they melted.
The closest thing that I've found that is readily available without doing a lot of on line special ordering is radiator hose.
However, I'm not sure that even that is rated high enough, temperature wise.

Take it away forumites.........
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Larry Dering


From:
Missouri, USA
Post  Posted 3 Dec 2020 9:09 am    
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Silicone o-rings can handle the heat and are available at automotive parts stores. Company's that sell them as tube tamers use the same thing. Some Fender amps used the tube retainers tyat consisted of a spring on each side of the tube and a metal cap on top of the tube. If you look up tube rattle on the Internet you can find lots of info.
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Michael Butler


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 3 Dec 2020 9:24 am    
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Larry Dering wrote:
Silicone o-rings can handle the heat and are available at automotive parts stores. Company's that sell them as tube tamers use the same thing. Some Fender amps used the tube retainers tyat consisted of a spring on each side of the tube and a metal cap on top of the tube. If you look up tube rattle on the Internet you can find lots of info.



yea, i got various sizes at autozone that work well.

play music!
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Aaron Jennings


From:
Montana, USA
Post  Posted 3 Dec 2020 10:30 am    
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I would start by cleaning your tube socket and making sure all the pins are grabbing tightly. If this uses a pair of 6l6's, and you swap the tubes - does the problem follow the tube?

That this is new behavior indicates something has changed - that tube could be bad (or on it's way out), or something is not making a good connection in the socket. Ignoring this might lead to blowing a power tube - which is a good way to toast other components like your transformers. Power tubes ain't cheap.

Swapping tube positions and cleaning sockets should reveal the source of the issue.

amplified parts has rubber grommets and retainers for 6L6 tubes here:

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/tube_accessories?filters=973a690c25a973

Good luck!
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David Ball


From:
North Carolina High Country
Post  Posted 3 Dec 2020 11:31 am    
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I've had 6L6s and 6V6s with the kind of ring/rattle you're talking about. It's always been in combo amps where the vibrations from the speaker vibrate the tubes. I've never had a problem with a separate head/speaker cabinet arrangement.

I've used silicone O rings on the power tubes successfully, but I've also used silicone isolation sheets that HiFi guys sometimes use to isolate the amp chassis from the cabinet. That can help too.

Dave
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Tim Marcus


From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 6 Dec 2020 7:15 pm    
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I sell some big dogs on my website - these work pretty well. Sometimes you need to experiment by moving them around to get into the sweet spot.



https://milkmansound.com/collections/accessories/products/tube-damper-rings
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