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Re-Keying an Octal Base

63.246.183.223
Posted on September 16, 2014 at 18:50:40
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10048
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 I started a short thread earlier that showed how I was doing this work. Here's a series of pictures with everything together. It shows the original index shaved off, the new index groove and several views of the finished base with the new key. The new key is made of a non-conductive glass-phenolic composite. It's installed in the base with the strongest epoxy I could find (stronger than the base itself). The area is finished with gloss black automotive-grade enamel. I reworked 22 of the same tube type like this. It was a lot of work, but these excellent NOS tubes would have gone entirely to waste otherwise. Now that this is done, they're a plug-n-play equivalent of an enhanced 6L6GB. Can't wait to put them to use!























 

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RE: Re-Keying an Octal Base, posted on September 16, 2014 at 19:35:30
kyle
Audiophile

Posts: 1839
Location: London Ontario
Joined: September 29, 1999
 No pics.

 

Something Wrong with the Asylum Server, posted on September 16, 2014 at 19:59:22
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10048
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 I did a hard refresh (reload), and the pics showing on my screen went away. Clicking on the first pic, it's info is as follows:

http://usr.audioasylum.com/images/4/40345/IMG_86231.jpg

That's actually the wrong location. If I modify it to read "...IMG_8623.jpg" (remove the "1" at the end), I can load the pic. Pics toward the end of my post don't have that problem (the added "1"), but their location doesn't load anything.

This is the second time this has happened to me here recently. The first was a pic of tube curves that disappeared last week.

I'll try to load the pics again in a post under this.

 

New Pics (Try Again), posted on September 16, 2014 at 20:02:28
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10048
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 Pics:




















 

Nicely done! (nt), posted on September 16, 2014 at 20:13:03
Tre'
Industry Professional

Posts: 17304
Location: So. Cal.
Joined: February 9, 2002
 .
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"

 

Interesting. What were they originally? NT, posted on September 16, 2014 at 22:09:15
Alpha Al
Industry Professional

Posts: 2958
Location: N. Carolina
Joined: February 16, 2004
Contributor
  Since: December 3, 2015
 ?

 

RE: New Pics (Try Again), posted on September 17, 2014 at 08:12:10
kyle
Audiophile

Posts: 1839
Location: London Ontario
Joined: September 29, 1999
 Excellent work! That must have been time consuming.
Would it have been easier to rewire the sockets or was this a vintage piece that you didn't want to disturb?

 

RE: Re-Keying an Octal Base, posted on September 17, 2014 at 12:51:52
xaudiomanx
Audiophile

Posts: 3647
Joined: August 16, 2004
 Your efforts are well regarded but there was an easier way. You can buy these discs that sip over all the pins but you have to line up the old key with the new one on the disc. Very simple! I think they are sold from Antique Electronics Supply.

 

RE: Re-Keying an Octal Base, posted on September 17, 2014 at 15:14:40
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10048
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 Yes, I know about those. They're great if the turret is already broken away and the tube is still functional. However, intentionally removing an intact turret risks breaking the glass nib inside. I wasn't able to find a tool that I thought could perform this operation safely, so I decided against using those parts. I should probably add that even though I didn't pay a lot for the tubes, the type they'll replace now has become pricey in NOS. For that reason, I wanted to be as careful with these as possible. :)

 

RE: New Pics (Try Again), posted on September 17, 2014 at 15:19:33
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10048
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 These aren't for a specific piece of equipment. I did consider using them as-is in future DIY gear wired to accept them, but then what would happen when I need more, or if I sell the gear? In the end, I decided it was better to make the tubes interchangeable with standard 6L6s rather than customize various pieces of gear to fit an obsolete and hard to find tube type.

 

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