Bright (too bright!) Glowing Tube

[NDRU]

Trying to decude if I need new tubes. I just put these Electro Harmonex EL84's in my F30.

Today my amp went quiet & fizzy on me. I looked at the left power tube and it was glowing pretty bright. The manual describes this, and says to turn it to standby for a couple minutes. It fixed the problem but the manual doesn't mention if this is a temporary fix of a permanant one.

Should I race out & get new tubes? I'd rather not, since I just bought these, but I have shows coming up.

 

[ANIMATED SUSPENSION]

You can't just put any output tubes in a Boogie amp, they HAVE to be matched pairs and be within Boogie specs OR original Boogie tubes. Otherwise you're gonna wreck your amp big time. :shock:

 

[NDRU]

Thanks, I just picked up some Mesa tubes. Hopefully I didn't do any damage.

I am always reading about people using other brands of tubes on their Mesas, I just assumed it would be okay.

 

[fishyfishfish]

You can't get a matched set of EL84's from Boogie. I put a matched set of JJ EL84's in my F30 and it sounds fantastic! Good Luck.

 

[NDRU]

I just bought a set of matched Mesa EL84's. Maybe you mean you can't get them direct from Boogie? I got them at Guitar Center (much as I hate to set foot in there.

 

[Rocky]

I have never bought a set of matched EL84 Boogie tubes. I just buy singles and my Nomad is now coming up on 10 years old and is fine.

 

[stokes]

I have never bought a set of matched EL84 Boogie tubes. I just buy singles and my Nomad is now coming up on 10 years old and is fine.

You've just been lucky.Sooner or later you will get a tube like NDRU did and it will fry.

 

[Rocky]

No, I am buying Boogie EL84's. I go through a quad every 6 months or so....pounded through dozens of them.

A couple times I used Groove Tubes with a 6 rating (which is where the amp cooks em)

No probs on the Boogie tubes at all....I even called Mesa in the past when I was worried about killing the amp.

 

[NDRU]

I used the Mesa tubes last night. I was concerned because one tube still looked like it was glowing slightly brighter. But it was not ridiculously bright like the other tube was.

It seemed like the amp was fine for two hours at rehearsal volume.

Hopefully I didn't fry anything in the amp.

 

[stokes]

No, I am buying Boogie EL84's. I go through a quad every 6 months or so....pounded through dozens of them.

A couple times I used Groove Tubes with a 6 rating (which is where the amp cooks em)

No probs on the Boogie tubes at all....I even called Mesa in the past when I was worried about killing the amp.

My mistake,I took it that you werent buying Mesa tubes,just random singles.

 

[stokes]

I used the Mesa tubes last night. I was concerned because one tube still looked like it was glowing slightly brighter. But it was not ridiculously bright like the other tube was.

It seemed like the amp was fine for two hours at rehearsal volume.

Hopefully I didn't fry anything in the amp.

If you are describing the plate glowing,you have a problem.If it is just the heater glow,its okay,but if your plate is glowing,even just a little,you will burn the tube and possibly other parts eventually.

 

[NDRU]

I used the Mesa tubes last night. I was concerned because one tube still looked like it was glowing slightly brighter. But it was not ridiculously bright like the other tube was.

It seemed like the amp was fine for two hours at rehearsal volume.

Hopefully I didn't fry anything in the amp.

If you are describing the plate glowing,you have a problem.If it is just the heater glow,its okay,but if your plate is glowing,even just a little,you will burn the tube and possibly other parts eventually.

If the plate is glowing, does that mean I need new tubes, or is there something more serious going on?

 

[stokes]

The plate is the large greyish structure in the tube.If that is glowing it means the tube is drawing too much current.If you are seeing the filament glow,which is just a point of light visible at the top or bottom of the plate,and is visible in all the tubes,that is normal,but if the plate itself is glowing like a piece of metal just pulled out of a furnace,there is a problem.Try moving the tube that you say is glowing to another position and see if the glow follows the tube,or if a different tube glows in the same socket.If the problem is in the same socket there is a problem associated with that socket,if the same tube glows in a different socket the problem is with the tube itself.

 

[NDRU]

The glow followed the tube.

This is the second set of Mesa tubes in the amp. The previous set isn't marked for color.

Is it a bad idea to use one of the old set without knowing if it's the same color as the new one (grey)?

I'm getting mixed messages about the necessity of using matched sets of EL84's if they're both Mesa brand.

 

[stokes]

You should be able to use one of the good tubes from the other set,as long as they are Mesa tubes too.They may not match perfectly but they will be safe,as long as the plate doesnt glow.How old are the tubes?Maybe you can contact Mesa and they will exchange them.

 

[NDRU]

Damn this is odd!

I took the new Mesa tubes back for replacement, and put the new ones in.

Same thing. The Left (looking at the back) tube burned brighter, the plate glowing slightly.

I switched them around and the glow followed the tube, so the right one was now glowing brighter.

That's three sets where the glow started on the left, but two of them switched to the right when I switched the tubes around.