IERC shields

[ALL212]

I use IERC tube shields on just about everything they will fit on.  I did some reading/research a few years ago and they seemed like a good thing. 

Yep - they're ugly.

As you might imagine it's a bit boring here in lockdown town and I decided to throw a different set of tubes at the Odyssey Audio pre.  It uses a set of 12AU7's.

So cover off, grabbed the IERC shield and got reminded that tubes get warm!  Used a cloth to pull the shields off and then...just for fun...touched the tube.  Darn thing was warm but easily removed with fingers. 

And that's the way those things are supposed to work.  I just never tested the theory.  Cooler tubes should last longer and the EIRC shields definitely pull heat away from the glass.  I tried the same thing on the Crack headphone amp multiple times and found the same result.  The shield is HOT, the tube is NOT.

[oguinn]

Interesting. Could you paint them, or do they need to be ugly to work well?

(Also - hope you're doing well! Been a while since we chatted)

[ALL212]

Good day!

I don't think the theory was to make them ugly but the military doesn't particularly care about aesthetics or marketing appeal so you get a flat black cover.  But part of the theory is that by making them black the heat is pulled away from the glass.  I don't know why you couldn't paint the outside... Guess I never considered that!

I've seen two versions.  One has a folded flat plate inside of the round outside piece that lays against the tube.  The ones that are supposed to be better have little "fingers" inside that grip the tube.

I've got enough of them to cover the small signal tubes I have but I also found one that covered a 6080.
 
Bored as heck, our company is considered essential so we're working remotely in most cases.  Also healthy at the moment.  That nasty "C" thing is supposed to be peaking here in the next week or so.

Hope you're well as well!

[mcandmar]

Ugly?  Nah, i like em..