Tubes

[Knightstick]

Hi all! I've assembled the crack up to the point of the glow test. I'm having a bit of an issue inserting the tubes. The large one went in with quite a bit of pressure but it's good. The smaller one is not going in very easy. I've applied quit a bit of pressure and it's not going. Not sure what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Paul Birkeland]

Be sure the pins aren't bending and on the octal socket be sure to pay close attention to the plastic key on the base.  New sockets take a bit of force to be seated, but if you apply way too much solder to the socket pins, it's actually possible to fill them up with solder so it's impossible to insert a tube. 

[Knightstick]

Thank you. I will check the solder.

[Knightstick]

So (I think) my problems are on B7 and B8 where the wire hooks through both tabs. The tabs are immobile, and I don't think it's supposed to be that way. It was over soldered and I tried to remove it with a sucker, and wick. The tabs on the socket still won't move. Kind of at a loss on what to do. Hoping I didn't ruin the socket. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Colonl_Charisma]

Hi Knightstick,

I had this exact experience after I built my Crack about a year ago. The 6080 tube was easy to insert, but the 12AU7 was tough. One technique that I've picked up in order to insert tubes into a tight socket is to gently rotate them as you are pushing the pins down into the socket.

If you do some tube rolling later down the road, the sockets will loosen up.