blue light arround glass tube its risk?


i have quad el34 nos 2007 year that have some blue light in glass what its mean?

israrami

Huh? There is some blue light coming from a tube where there was none before? Turn it off and replace tube, before it takes out the channel.

Some tubes are more prone to do this than others. It's from trace gas left over when it was manufactured and is being ionized causing it to glow. Usually harmless but can sometimes indicate a tube that is gassy. Have access to a tube tester? They will usually have a test for that. 6L6GC tubes can sometimes have a beautiful glow.

 

BillWojo

@israrami

https://www.thetubestore.com/blue-glow

Blue Glow in Tubes, Tube Getters, and other Tube Info


Blue Glow – We often get asked if blue glow inside of a vacuum tube is a sign of a defect. Thankfully, it is rarely a sign of a defect at all. In fact, many tubes have a blue glow, especially modern tubes. Photo 1 shows a tube with a healthy blue glow. This was also seen in tubes from the golden age of vacuum tube production.

In the 1960’s Sylvania printed the following article:

 

“BLUE GLOWS:

 

Blue Glows are not tube detriments per se. They are, however, suspects in the eyes of many receiving tube users for lack of a full understanding of their origins. There are several types of Blue Glow which can be described as follows:

Blue glowFLUORESCENCE (Photo 1)- this type of glow is usually violet in color and most noticeable around the inside surface of the glass bulb. It is most pronounced on power tubes and is the product of electron bombardment of the glass taking place within the tube. It generally has no adverse affect upon receiver performance, and in fact, tubes displaying this phenomenon are particularly good with respect to gas content.

And FWIW the Tung Sol 7581 tube ( 6L6 / KT66) has the prettiest blue glow I’ve ever seen. Sounded good too.

I’ve always liked the blue glow. I think my Quicksilver Monos did it. I’m almost certain my Fender Vibrolux tubes did it. What were those tubes anyway? 8417’s?

One of my RCA Globe 45 tube (from the 1930s) dead soon after the purple glow show. 

I had a bright blue glow in one of my KT 120 tubes on a Cronus Magnum Integrated.  Then it turned bright orange and poof. Tube was gone.  I Had to replace the fuse for that tube and the tube of course.  I would definitely keep my eye on it. 

The blue glow can be natural if the plate voltage is very high, usually above 500VDC+  - for example, all my 807 power tubes glow blue with 700 VDC supply, and I am getting an average of 10,000hrs lifespan out of them. In all those cases when it's natural, it happens from the get go, the tubes have the blue glow right away or develop it during their first few hours of life. Sometimes it can fade a little over time, but it does not get more prominent over time.

However, if you have been listening to a tube for 100s of hours and then it turns blue out of nowhere, that is likely a danger sign.