2.3.3 Causes for Faulty Tubes
There are different reasons for failing tubes. Often tubes fail prematurely due to strong
vibrations. Tubes are very sensitive to mechanical impacts and vibrations, such as happen
when transporting an amplifier or unloading/loading etc. The inside filaments of a tube
deform easily and will cause a short inside the tube, resulting in it’s early demise. This is
why we can not extend our warranty to the tubes. A relatively new, but defective tube
can be replaced by a matching unit, no need to replace the entire set. (Unless you want
to, which is always a good solution) This is not age or wear related, but accidental
damage.
Tube Failure due to normal wear and old age is also a common cause. If this is the case,
then it makes more sense to replace the entire tube set with a matched quartet. Testing
has proven that matched sets last longer and are more reliable than mismatched sets.
Also, if one tube of a matched set fails after a few years, then the general status of the
remaining tubes is no longer a secret, because the tubes in a matched set will wear
evenly, and at the same rate. Yes - this means that the remaining tubes are likely to fail
very soon and it is time for a new set of matched tubes.
The aging process is a slow depletion of the anode’s coating ( Wolfram). The more power
the tube has to produce, the quicker this coating wears off.
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