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Home Theater => Audio => Tubes => Topic started by: royc on Dec 05, 2015 at 07:13 PM

Title: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 05, 2015 at 07:13 PM
Any tip on who can sell and ship a non-chinese 5y3gt rectifier tube to lucena?
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 05, 2015 at 07:26 PM
why do you dislike a chinese rectifier? they are just as good.....i have some metal 5z4 us tubes if you like...;)

(http://tctubes.com/images/products/display/891_5Z4_800.JPG)
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 05, 2015 at 09:40 PM

why do you dislike a chinese rectifier? they are just as good.....i have some metal 5z4 us tubes if you like...;)

(http://tctubes.com/images/products/display/891_5Z4_800.JPG)

I bought a TAD 5y3gt for my guitar amp last May, started using it occasionally starting September, and it got busted this morning.

My amp is a fender champ clone. I'm not sure if the 5z4 would be a compatible substitute sir.
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 06, 2015 at 07:09 AM
I bought a TAD 5y3gt for my guitar amp last May, started using it occasionally starting September, and it got busted this morning.

My amp is a fender champ clone. I'm not sure if the 5z4 would be a compatible substitute sir.

if there is a sakura av 200  near you, you can borrow one for the meantime and try, that is the same tube as the metal one....
guitar amps are a different animal than a tube amo used for hifi....
tubes used in guitar amps are not meant to last, but to sound in a certain way. this is the difference..
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 06, 2015 at 10:36 AM

if there is a sakura av 200  near you, you can borrow one for the meantime and try, that is the same tube as the metal one....
guitar amps are a different animal than a tube amo used for hifi....
tubes used in guitar amps are not meant to last, but to sound in a certain way. this is the difference..

Thanks for the info. I just feel that a few months use is too short :-(
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 06, 2015 at 10:56 AM
Thanks for the info. I just feel that a few months use is too short :-(

i am not surprised at all.....guitar amps eats tubes for breakfast.....
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 06, 2015 at 12:27 PM

i am not surprised at all.....guitar amps eats tubes for breakfast.....

LOL :D
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 06, 2015 at 03:54 PM
LOL :D

aga kung hndi dahl sa mga guitarists, baka wala ng tubes ngayon....:D
Title: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 06, 2015 at 08:18 PM
aga kung hndi dahl sa mga guitarists, baka wala ng tubes ngayon....:D

Nahawa kami sa audiophiles :-)
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 10, 2015 at 11:35 AM
me nagparamdan na ba?
you can get in touch with Gerry StaMaria....+639424822580
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 10, 2015 at 01:04 PM

me nagparamdan na ba?
you can get in touch with Gerry StaMaria....+639424822580

Thanks sir! Sorry di ko agad na update nakausap ko kahapon ang Music Haven may NOS 5y3 sila. Paid this morning para madeliver dito sa lucena. I will save Gerry's number for reference :-)
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 10, 2015 at 01:08 PM
merong new production nyan....tube depot....https://www.tubedepot.com/products/jj-5y3s-rectifier-vacuum-tube

(https://d1sjrnpi226dnf.cloudfront.net/spree/products/large/JJ-5Y3S-2.jpg?1381945581)
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 10, 2015 at 03:01 PM
Ok na ko sa tube nya jan philips ecg mil spec madali kasi akong makasira :D
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 10, 2015 at 03:55 PM
depende yan sa design ng guitar amp, merong guitar amp
na sa halip na gamitan ng 5u4 ay ginamitan ng 5y3,
kaya madaling masira ang 5y3...kasi nga yung tunog ang basehan,
hindi yung tibay ng amp ang priority...
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 10, 2015 at 04:46 PM
Mine is a fender champ clone built by a local tube amp builder. The original has been used in popular recordings and I haven't read anything about its 5y3 dying in a few months so I'm assuming I had a bad tube. I will bring the amp to the builder if the tube dies again. Ang layo kasi ng lucena sa manila so it is not an option at the moment :-)
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 10, 2015 at 06:16 PM
Mine is a fender champ clone built by a local tube amp builder. The original has been used in popular recordings and I haven't read anything about its 5y3 dying in a few months so I'm assuming I had a bad tube. I will bring the amp to the builder if the tube dies again. Ang layo kasi ng lucena sa manila so it is not an option at the moment :-)

so now you know.....a 5y3 will sag the B+ more than a 5u4 will, that psu sag is what gives your guitar amp its distortion qualities.....some guitar amps are made with deliberately small output traffos also for the same reason....i do not think that your local builder was at fault there, it is just the nature of the beast...

eto ba? if you can ask your local builder to put the voltages in the schematic, i can give you advice
so that you can just ask your local builder to make the changes if needed based on the data you will supply...
and you do not have to go to manla.... ;)
(http://www.sophtamps.ca/images/champ/champ_5f1_schem.gif)
Title: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 10, 2015 at 11:01 PM
Thanks for the explanation! Yes I love the distortion of my champ. At first I thought the rectifier tube does not affect the tone coz I am more familiar with the preamp and power tubes. This was the reason I used a chinese rectifier tube. We guitarists don't like chinese tubes, probably coz most stock chinese tubes in guitar amps sound bad and we are expected to change them:-)

I asked him to build a 5f1 so that could be the diagram he used. He also built the transformers. We talk via text so I'm not sure how he can send the schematic with voltages. I actually never met him yet:-)

I do have diagrams of champ transformers. Will post tomorrow.
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 06:10 AM
i am not sure if the design was followed to the letter,  meaning the same transformers and output,
because everything in that amp affects the tone in a certain way as the designer intended...
even with hifi amps, it is never just about the tubes...
any amp is the sum of its parts....
but since tube amps have tube sockets, it is then very convenient to just unplug the tube
and stick another one in...
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 07:52 AM

i am not sure if the design was followed to the letter,  meaning the same transformers and output,
because everything in that amp affects the tone in a certain way as the designer intended...
even with hifi amps, it is never just about the tubes...
any amp is the sum of its parts....
but since tube amps have tube sockets, it is then very convenient to just unplug the tube
and stick another one in...

I will try to ask him for the voltages supplied to the rectifier
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 08:03 AM
yes and if you can post pictures of your busted 5y3, i can be able to guess what happened to it and recommend mods to make your tube maybe last longer and find out what it does to the sound....
i send you pm of my email so you can send pictures...
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 10:38 AM
Kakahiya naman sir. Will take pics of the tube later. As per the amp builder voltage is 5v and 350 volts.
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 10:57 AM
Kakahiya naman sir. Will take pics of the tube later. As per the amp builder voltage is 5v and 350 volts.

no problem...350-0-350 will you an unloaded dc B+ of 490v, which is quite high...
so we really need to know what the B+ is when the amp is ready to play and voltages have stabilised,
and what are the actual psu components used, a big cap after the 5y3 rectifier can be a cause of early failure...

i am going to isabela to visit another diy'er with problems in his diy, maybe i will swing by lucena...
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 02:50 PM

no problem...350-0-350 will you an unloaded dc B+ of 490v, which is quite high...
so we really need to know what the B+ is when the amp is ready to play and voltages have stabilised,
and what are the actual psu components used, a big cap after the 5y3 rectifier can be a cause of early failure...

i am going to isabela to visit another diy'er with problems in his diy, maybe i will swing by lucena...

Sent pics! I think I'm already taking too much of your time. Besides I believe Isabela is in the north while we are in the south. I also do no have a budget for a repair service right now after ordering the replacement tube:-)

I have a multimeter and can measure voltages from the socket if you will tell me where to connect the probes.

BTW the capacitor that the tube was connected to had its label peeled before. Value indicated is 47uF.

Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 02:59 PM

BTW the capacitor that the tube was connected to had its label peeled before. Value indicated is 47uF.


47uF aha, this is a red flag....schematic shows 16ufd, so that is the cause of tube failure....
5y3 datasheet says 20 ufd and we better follow it...http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/5y3gt.pdf

also measure the dc resistance of the traffo secondaries at both sides of the plate and ground,
if not 50 ohms or more, then add a series resistor to make the source resistance 50 ohms at least...
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 04:48 PM
I will try to check the values of the other caps.

Do I need to unsolder the connections before measuring the resistance?
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 05:10 PM
I will try to check the values of the other caps.

Do I need to unsolder the connections before measuring the resistance?

no need to touch anything, just measure dc resistances...
the othet caps are not as critical as the first one...
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 06:05 PM

no need to touch anything, just measure dc resistances...
the othet caps are not as critical as the first one...

Will check it tomorrow. Will also ask why the cap value is higher than those in the schematic which is just 16uF. Strange coz he is the best local guitar amp tech so there may be a reason why.
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 06:13 PM
Will check it tomorrow. Will also ask why the cap value is higher than those in the schematic which is just 16uF. Strange coz he is the best local guitar amp tech so there may be a reason why.

i think the reason is he wanted the ripple to be lower, which is okay but in so doing
the turn-on current is higher than what is good for the tube,
meron mga consequences ang bawat choices natin....
there are deliberate and there are unintended....
part of learning yan, no big deal... ;)
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 06:22 PM
Yun nga daw para mas fine. Okay daw na palitan ko hanap ako sa electronics store dito. Thanks sir Tony you are a big help! I appreciate you going out of your way to analyze the cause of the problem.

Do I still need to measure the DC resistance?
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 11, 2015 at 07:42 PM
Yun nga daw para mas fine. Okay daw na palitan ko hanap ako sa electronics store dito. Thanks sir Tony you are a big help! I appreciate you going out of your way to analyze the cause of the problem.

Do I still need to measure the DC resistance?

yes... if less than 50 ohms per side, then we need to add more resistance,
if more than 50 ohms then no need to add resistors...

i have a soft spot for diy'ers....i help them when i can....
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 11, 2015 at 08:11 PM
Thanks!!
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 12, 2015 at 06:02 PM

yes... if less than 50 ohms per side, then we need to add more resistance,
if more than 50 ohms then no need to add resistors...

i have a soft spot for diy'ers....i help them when i can....

275 ohms for pin 4 and 306 ohms for pin 6
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 12, 2015 at 06:05 PM
275 ohms for pin 4 and 306 ohms for pin 6

that is fine, no need to do anything further, just lower the filter cap from 47uf to about less than 20ufd.
Title: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 12, 2015 at 06:35 PM
that is fine, no need to do anything further, just lower the filter cap from 47uf to about less than 20ufd.

Sorry after checking the resistance I traced the connection again and noticed just now that the cap's - is connected to the + of another 47uF. It took a while for me to realize that there are 2 x 47uF caps in series so that is around 20uF and is within the typical value. I confirmed with the builder and he remembered doing that (it was around May when he started building it). That means the cap value is acceptable right? Probably just a case of bad tube?
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 13, 2015 at 06:42 AM
Sorry after checking the resistance I traced the connection again and noticed just now that the cap's - is connected to the + of another 47uF. It took a while for me to realize that there are 2 x 47uF caps in series so that is around 20uF and is within the typical value. I confirmed with the builder and he remembered doing that (it was around May when he started building it). That means the cap value is acceptable right? Probably just a case of bad tube?

yes a bad tube, just plug in a new one...
Title: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 13, 2015 at 07:23 AM
Thank you sir. I only noticed it while looking for the ground to get the resistance. I was expecting all three caps to be connected to ground and that is where my probe would touch. I was surprised that the cap was not connected to ground, even assumed that he did not follow the diagram. I then wondered why there are four big caps instead of three. I even had to google to understand what I saw :D
Title: Re: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: tony on Dec 13, 2015 at 07:51 AM
not at all bad, the cost of a new tube is peanuts compared to the knowledge gained...
Title: Where to order 5y3gt tube locally?
Post by: royc on Dec 13, 2015 at 10:22 AM
You're right. I gained additional knowledge with this experience:-)