Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Crack => Topic started by: audiophileboss on October 14, 2013, 03:19:13 PM
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How long can I expect the stock Bottlehead 6080 tube to last me?
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Not speaking on behalf of BH, but standard life expectancy on standard new tubes is minimum 3000hrs. Higher for higher grade tubes, like 5000-10,000hrs. However they're unpredictable and die any time. They are essentially light bulbs... so just think of them that way.
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I would add a zero to all of those estimates.
I have had some used 6SN7GTB's in service for five years straight now and they still test as new.
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I would add a zero to all of those estimates.
I have had some used 6SN7GTB's in service for five years straight now and they still test as new.
Wow! That's a comforting piece of information. Thanks PB
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Thanks guys. If a tube were to die, would it effect my system or damage it in anyway?
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Normal tube failure is emission failure, which will not give you any problems.
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I would add a zero to all of those estimates.
I have had some used 6SN7GTB's in service for five years straight now and they still test as new.
Too true, but that is for a 6SN7 which can run for 10-20,000 hours. I expect the same for my 7N7 in my FP. But we would expect to get a lot longer from a driver tube. Output tubes, except for WE 300B, don't last nearly as long. Or so I am told and have read on the internet so it must be true. The 45s I am running in my Paramounts are the only output tubes I have left in that long before swapping for something new so this will be my first experience of running some tubes to their expected life. But I would think 3K hours would be about it.
I don't know how hard a Crack amp runs the 6080.
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In the same amp running the 6SN7's, there is a pair of EL34's. I got roughly 20,000 hours out of those. The 6080 is running at a reasonable level in the Crack, and it's a very rugged tube. It wouldn't surprise me to see it go beyond 20,000 hours.
DHT lifetime can indeed be a bit lower than these figures.
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You got 20K hours out of a set of el34 output tubes. Now that is impressive! Wow, maybe I will just keep running these puppies until they sound horrible.