Divining intermittant cathode-heater leakage?

Any tips for doing so? My tester goes only to 25Megohm , consistent leakage usually shows itself in that range , would going higher by some modification elicit intermittants? Any other tips? heating the envelope with hot air gun? holding valve horizontally while testing ? testing at higher plate/anode voltage ?

Reply to
N_Cook
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For intermittent tests, you'd like to tap the tube (use a wooden stick). My preference would be to test with cathode warm, using a neon lamp and limit resistor to a plate supply (200V or so), returned to the heater.

An intermittent will make the lamp flash, but it isn't clear what, if any, motion you'd see on a meter needle. Leakage (like a gassy tube) might cause some flicker, too.

Reply to
whit3rd

For intermittent tests, you'd like to tap the tube (use a wooden stick). My preference would be to test with cathode warm, using a neon lamp and limit resistor to a plate supply (200V or so), returned to the heater.

An intermittent will make the lamp flash, but it isn't clear what, if any, motion you'd see on a meter needle. Leakage (like a gassy tube) might cause some flicker, too.

reply

you wouldn't happen to know what effective leakage resistance in say ECC83 starts to make its presence felt audibly on the output of an amp? I find neons rather temperamental and not reliable in DC situations. There is a mains neon on my bench ps that rarely lights unless the room light is very dim or off , very odd. If the ps packs up then I will sort that and the neon while in there

Reply to
N_Cook

Can't help you with a TEST, but I've had success blowing out shorts, intermittent or otherwise, with a stun gun.

At >25M, you're gonna need to look for issues with the socket and the circuitry hooked to it. Doesn't take a very big spider web or chunk of damp dust to make

25M.

I once had a spider build a tidy web across a CDROM read lens...but that's another story.

YMMV

Reply to
mike

Your copy of Outbreaks In Excess is missing an important patch.

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Reply to
JeffM

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