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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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25th Nov 2003, 10:55 am | #1 |
Heptode
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Ayr, Ayrshire, UK.
Posts: 631
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Rebranded Valves
I recently aquired a Burndept 313 radio whose output valve had been changed from an EL3 to an EL33 branded 'Bentley Acoustic Corporation Ltd'.
Nothing wrong with that you might think. However on testing this 'EL33' the anode current was far too high. I later discovered, after close inspection and measurement of the heater current, that it was in fact a 6V6G. Has oneone else ever come across a rebranded valve which is not as it is marked?
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25th Nov 2003, 2:26 pm | #2 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: Rebranded Valves
I've heard before that the Bentley Acoustic Corporation weren't too fussy when relabelling their valves. A case of 'near enough is good enough'.
I did buy valves from them, many years ago, as they generally seemed to be at pocket money prices compared to lot of other suppliers at the back of PW. I can't say I personally experienced any strange substitutions, but back then I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. |
25th Nov 2003, 3:59 pm | #3 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Livermore, California, USA.
Posts: 139
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Re: Rebranded Valves
Hi
I've seen this in the US. Companies pick up seconds from manufacturers and identify them with their names. Found a 6AU4 remarked as 6AX4. I could still see the original number. 6AX4 draws 1.2 amps filament current, 6AU4 1.8 amps. Might be a problem if the power transformer was marginal. Norm |
26th Nov 2003, 11:18 am | #4 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Birmingham, West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 785
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Re: Rebranded Valves
I once come across a 6K8 which had been branded as a 6A8, but apart from the designation there was no manufacturer marked on the valve.
Caused a lot of confusion - it was in a Pilot set and actually worked in a FC role, although the 6K8 was a triode-hexode rather than the 6A8 heptode the set should have had. The indifferent performance caused me a bit of a headache for a while as the last thing you would suspect was a wrongly branded valve! |