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Hi Guys,
Anyone using plumber's teflon tape to damp their input tubes with good results?
Any problems so far with the tape melting or shortening of tube life due to excessive heat?
Thanks.
Follow Ups:
Great idea with tubes like 4P1L in preamps. Wrap several layers of tape round them and finish off with a layer of ordinary insulation tape.
Works with DHTs which don't get very hot.
I had a friend of mine who was a guitar amp tech. He used to put a big dollop of silicone caulk into the tube shield and then fit it onto the tube in the socket. Messy, smelly, but REALLY worked well especially in that first high-gain stage. Not sure if I would ever do it, I hate the smell of acetic acid.
I wouldn't use a caulk that released Acetic Acid anywhere near electronics. Just begging for corrosion issues.
Never seen any corrosion issues from that at all. It only releases acetic acid (vinegar) as it cures, which is maybe a day. Manufacturers use it all the time to stick caps directly to circuit boards. Heck, look inside a modern Fender amp, you'll see it in all sorts of places.
I'd be more worried about heat buildup than anything else. Anyway, this guy was a very solid tech, so he's thought all that out. He primarily used that trick on just the highest gain stages in guitar amp combos, where the speaker directly rattles the tubes.
Why tempt fate when non-corrosive alternatives exist?
Huh. Food for thought I guess. I've never seen a problem with it. NASA are no dummies, though. My guess is that it is only with certain metals and certain stupidly extreme environmental conditions.
Heck, I have a couple of 25+ year old Mercedes where the electronics modules were factory sealed with the stuff. No corrosion.
Besides, look, I'm not saying that this trick is for everyone. I've never done it because I just hate silicone caulk, the stench and the mess. But I'm talking about placing it between glass (practically inert) and little metal tube shield (fifty cents, who cares if it DOES oxidize). There's not a whole lot of opportunity for damage here. If you can put it on a circuit board and after 20 years, it doesn't eat the copper traces, I'm just not gonna worry about it on a tube.
Anyhow, never tried the teflon tape. I'm gonna give it a shot and report back.
I might be concerned the tube would run hotter.
----------------------------
Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
......just an 'ON' switch, Please!
it works fine. Not as much dampening as other methods but cheap and the teflon doesn't melt. I twisted the teflon and then wrapped it as I didn't want to keep too much heat in the tube.
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I've used teflon tape on power cord plugs to tighten how they "seat" with success.
With tubes, do you "seat" each pin or wrap the tube?
Would imagine wrapping each pin would be difficult to do but in theory should work.
Wrapping the right part of the tube actually seems more difficult and tube dampers should work as well and be much easier to adjust, or tune.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
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