Static on right channel

[Absurd]

I built my crack a few months ago and everything seemed to be working perfectly. But it has recently developed a faint static sound on the right channel that sounds similar to a dirty record being playing. It’s really only noticeable when music is played soft or paused, but is also apparent when nothing is plugged into the input at all and the volume is turned all the way down.

I tried cleaning the tube pins with scothbrite, switching outlets, checking all the solder joints for bad connections, and tapped under the board with chopsticks all to no avail.

Is there anything else I should try before reflowing?

Also, what would be the best way to clean the tube sockets?

Thanks in advanced

[Paul Birkeland]

If the chopstick test did not reveal any issues, I would pick up a spare 12AU7 and a spare 6080.  Even if swapping one tube relieves the noise, that really may only mean that you know which tube has dirty pins that need a little extra cleaning.

If fresh tubes doesn't help the issue, then I would repeat the chopstick test or just reflow all of the joints.  I do not recommend cleaning the tube sockets, as they are brand new and can't accumulate debris and corrosion that quickly.

[Absurd]

Thanks for the reply, Paul. I’ll get a spare set of tubes before I try anything else.

Any recommendations of which tubes to get and a good place to find them?

[Paul Birkeland]

I would just look for inexpensive used tubes on eBay.  Vacuumtubesinc in Florida also has reasonable prices.

[Thermioniclife]

  Vacuumtubesinc in Florida has reasonable prices. Jim has sold me many tubes over the past 25 years and has very reliable and quite reasonable on returns, he is a great resource for tubes.

[Absurd]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I’ll check out vacuumtubesinc

[Deluk]

May not be related but this mod is often worthwhile.
https://forum.bottlehead.com/index.php?topic=11676.0