Tube Amp Maintenance Tip...


Interesting maintenance tip story.....My C-J LP66S amp has been creating a 'variable volume sign wave' type hum in my speakers lately. The hum did not go away with warm up. I pulled the 4 power tubes and 3 signal tubes out of their sockets. I blew out each socket and pin with Can-O-Air. I also pulled the two fuses & blew out the holders /holes. Then I applied a very thin coating of Di-electric grease to each tube pin hole. Finally, I crossed the 4 power tubes (6550) left to right and just rotated one position each of the three signal tubes. Performed a re-bias once the amp powered up. No new parts involved, let's just call it a 'dusting & cleaning'. Long story short, issue resolved. Not sure what I did to correct the noise or why it even started. Perhaps a mote of dust in the wrong place? Moral: If your having some noise issues with your tube equipment perform some basic cleaning procedures prior to going into any type of panic mode. Hope this helps someone in the future!
quincy

Showing 1 response by jetrexpro

I clean resistor leads, capacitor leads, internal hook up wire, tube sockets etc, with 99% alcohol. About once every two months.