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Valves, can anyone please explain the basic differences between them..?

S

steveinspain

pfm Member
I've just bought a valve amp, this one -
pinkfishmedia.net

[FS] - Firebottle Dulci El84 SE power amp

Reluctantly up for sale, as i have bought a pair of quad II monos and it's not going to go down well unless i sell something. I have owned this twice, having sold it and bought it back again on Pinkfish. That's how much i like it. It's the piece of kit i have owned the longest. I have used...
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net

It sounds wonderful to me, and came with a box of spare valves, but before I try any of the others out I'd like to know what the basic differences are between valves - E34, E84 etc.
I'm going to assume that these two do the same job so are interchangeable?
What does getter mean?
Looking on ebay there are so many variations that I've no idea what I'm looking at, and if they are tested and figures are quoted, what's a good or bad figure?
Is there a simple guide for a simple person to read?
Thanks for any help and guidance!
 
This is a massively complicated question to answer.
For equivalents, refer to the Valve museum - DO NOT assume anything - http://www.r-type.org/index.htm

When a valve is made, the machinery can only get so much gas out of the valve before it is sealed. Also, the inside parts will always have traces of gas and moisture absorbed into them. To clean up the out-gassed components, and to get a lower vacuum, and especially to remove oxygen from inside the vale, a getter is used. By far the best known is barium metal, which is visible as a "mirror" on the inside surface of the bulb (outer jacket of the valve). Barium is deposited onto the inside of the glass from a component attached to the frame of the actual valve - commonly a ring (polo). This is heated via induction after the valve is sealed and barium evaporates from the ring onto the glass.

Figures for many small valves are meaningless - as posted by people here with vastly more expeience than me.
 
Vinny said:
This is a massively complicated question to answer.
For equivalents, refer to the Valve museum - DO NOT assume anything - http://www.r-type.org/index.htm

When a valve is made, the machinery can only get so much gas out of the valve before it is sealed. Also, the inside parts will always have traces of gas and moisture absorbed into them. To clean up the out-gassed components, and to get a lower vacuum, and especially to remove oxygen from inside the vale, a getter is used. By far the best known is barium metal, which is visible as a "mirror" on the inside surface of the bulb (outer jacket of the valve). Barium is deposited onto the inside of the glass from a component attached to the frame of the actual valve - commonly a ring (polo). This is heated via induction after the valve is sealed and barium evaporates from the ring onto the glass.

Figures for many small valves are meaningless - as posted by people here with vastly more expeience than me.
Click to expand...
Brilliant, thank you Vinny, and I'll take a look at the link shortly!
 
A VERY quick look and there are no E35 or E84 valves.

Lots of information was printed onto valves apart from the type and the printing was mostly very shoddy, so you do need to know what you are looking at/for.

Maybe they are EL84 and EL85?
 
Are you sure they're EL35s? I didn't think they were EL84 equivalents.

A lot of this stuff is also somewhat circuit dependent. As this is a custom built one-off I would contact Firebottle for advice if you're unsure.
 
paulfromcamden said:
Are you sure they're EL35s? I didn't think they were EL84 equivalents.

A lot of this stuff is also somewhat circuit dependent. As this is a custom built one-off I would contact Firebottle for advice if you're unsure.
Click to expand...
Sorry, that's my typo, they are EL34`s and EL84`s
And @Vinny that link is going to take me days to read!
 
steveinspain said:
And @Vinny that link is going to take me days to read!
Click to expand...

I was not suggesting that you read the entire site!!!!

It has a page for each valve type, which will contain most of the information that you need.

SOME amp's will run OK with valves that are not equiviaents, and for that, you need advice from here or the manufacurer, as @paulfromcamden suggests. To be inter-changeable they would, at the very least, have to have the same pin-out, which is on the link.
 
All the data for valves is on Franks pages.... https://frank.pocnet.net/

You probably won't understand it, but that's where all the information is. Together with these 2 handy sites


EL 84, Tube EL84; Röhre EL 84 ID412, Vacuum Pentode | Radiomuseum.org

Tube EL 84 or Röhre EL84 ID412, Vacuum Pentode, Noval, 9 pin miniature (USA pico-9) B9A and Power/Output shown. Radio tubes are valves.
www.radiomuseum.org

You'll get some useful descriptions and prices on Watford Valves.

Watford Valves :: Valves - el84

Watford Valves, one of Europe's leading suppliers of tested, graded and guaranteed valves to the professional music industry. We offer some of the most comprehensive testing facilities available today.
www.watfordvalves.com
 
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