[Preachy1]

I have to admit that I think sometimes about Verite, then look at my wallet, then continue to think.

Get out of my head!!!!!

 

[Scutey]

I have to admit that I think sometimes about Verite, then look at my wallet, then continue to think.

I've thought the same thing about the Auteur

 

[OctavianH]

Well guys, there are moments in life when you need a good weapon. So I've bought for fun this weapon of mass destruction:

I have to admit it was at a big discount and the main purpose is to measure the temperature of some food products, but since it supports temps in range of -32C up to 400C I would say it might be suitable to find what temps reach the tubes on Elise. Next point would be to measure my backplate from the videocard of my gaming rig.
Oh, and in order to drag a conclusion I determined some fixed points of measurement:

And then just turned on Elise and measured these 10 temps from 15 to 15 minutes:

Now, honestly, I have no idea if this "thing" measures with precision or if these are just some fake results, but I was able to see that with a room temperature of 25C we reach in 1 hour a temp of around 60C in drivers and 120C in power tubes.
A curious thing was that the right channel tubes were not as hot as the left channel ones. Hard to say if these are real temps or I was just fooled by this wonder weapon. Anyway I thought I might share this with you. Of course, I'll try to take 2h and 3h temps aswell because I am curious.

Later edit: Of course, this has nothing to do with overheating or amp internals. The temps of the capacitors and the components inside the chasis are a totally different thing.

 

[mordy]

Hi OctavianH,
I have one of these inexpensive IR thermometers for a while now and find it very useful.
One thing to know is that you have to find out from the instructions how far away to hold the thermometer to get the correct temperature. I found that by waving the thermometer up and down along the tube I can catch the hot spot in the tube.
If you go to the spec sheets of the tubes, you can easily find the the range of operating temperatures.
Being that the thermometer has a visible red spot projected where the measurements hit, you could position the beam to measure inside the amp through the ventilation holes.
It seems to me that tubes measure hotter when they are burning in, and afterwards they operate at a lower temperature. In general, it takes a while, maybe 1/2-1 hour, before the tube temperature stabilizes. Room temperature is also very important since it effects the overall temperature readings.
Socket savers help to lower the chassis temperature, acting as insulators, and a small fan pulling air away from the amp can lower the temp another 10C which may be beneficial.
And as you mention, two identical tubes may show different temperature readings. An educated guess is that a 10% difference is completely normal.

 

[OctavianH]

Indeed, this device is very funny. I found, however, 2 things which are fundamentally influencing my measurements:
1) Psvane CV181T2 tubes are coated, so the laser spot cannot reach the interior of the tube to measure a metal part -> therefore the temps are much lower
2) on Tung Sol 5998 I measure through the clear glass the Domino plate from "exterior" of the amp and because of the amp position I was measuring the Domino plate of the right tube from the interior, when I measured the power tube from the right channel on the exterior I found 120C. So both tubes are almost the same temp. I never thought the domino plates heat differently.

Anyway, I just play with this device, so do not take my actions very seriously. However, it is interesting to check these temps because I always wondered about them.

 

[Scutey]

Well guys, there are moments in life when you need a good weapon. So I've bought for fun this weapon of mass destruction:

I have to admit it was at a big discount and the main purpose is to measure the temperature of some food products, but since it supports temps in range of -32C up to 400C I would say it might be suitable to find what temps reach the tubes on Elise. Next point would be to measure my backplate from the videocard of my gaming rig.
Oh, and in order to drag a conclusion I determined some fixed points of measurement:

And then just turned on Elise and measured these 10 temps from 15 to 15 minutes:

Now, honestly, I have no idea if this "thing" measures with precision or if these are just some fake results, but I was able to see that with a room temperature of 25C we reach in 1 hour a temp of around 60C in drivers and 120C in power tubes.
A curious thing was that the right channel tubes were not as hot as the left channel ones. Hard to say if these are real temps or I was just fooled by this wonder weapon. Anyway I thought I might share this with you. Of course, I'll try to take 2h and 3h temps aswell because I am curious.

Later edit: Of course, this has nothing to do with overheating or amp internals. The temps of the capacitors and the components inside the chasis are a totally different thing.

Indeed, this device is very funny. I found, however, 2 things which are fundamentally influencing my measurements:
1) Psvane CV181T2 tubes are coated, so the laser spot cannot reach the interior of the tube to measure a metal part -> therefore the temps are much lower
2) on Tung Sol 5998 I measure through the clear glass the Domino plate from "exterior" of the amp and because of the amp position I was measuring the Domino plate of the right tube from the interior, when I measured the power tube from the right channel on the exterior I found 120C. So both tubes are almost the same temp. I never thought the domino plates heat differently.

Anyway, I just play with this device, so do not take my actions very seriously. However, it is interesting to check these temps because I always wondered about them.

Nicely done Octavian!, especially the way you have broken it down it to sections. I have always wondered how hot our amp/tubes get, I would imagine with something like the Mullard 6080 it would be even hotter, also it would be interesting to know how much cooler the EL32 is or EL38.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Interesting to note:
The heat emitted by the tube represents inefficiency in preforming it's duty. If a tube was 100% efficient, the only heat would be a slight warmth from the heaters.

Traditional incandescent light bulbs - same...the finger burning heat is from inefficiency of the bulb to convert the mains power, to light.

 

[mordy]

Nicely done Octavian!, especially the way you have broken it down it to sections. I have always wondered how hot our amp/tubes get, I would imagine with something like the Mullard 6080 it would be even hotter, also it would be interesting to know how much cooler the EL32 is or EL38.

These IR thermometers are very inexpensive - you can find them for less than $15.

 

[OctavianH]

I think those measurements are not precise at all, but anyway I would say that the 5998 are going up to 150C. The higher part of the Domino plate was hotter than the lower one, around 14x C. For the drivers I guess I need to use some 6SN7 clear glass and check what's inside. Of course if this makes sense I can try to repeat the measurements for EL or 6080.

 

[Scutey]

These IR thermometers are very inexpensive - you can find them for less than $15.

Well I might as well get myself one, then I can check out all my tubes.

 

[OctavianH]

I've attended during the weekend a concert which quite impressed me at Posada Rock Festival 2019. A quite unknown band from Belgium called Evil Invaders had an incredible performance.



This band is not for everyone, but for sure, for the ones it is it will soon reach top 10. Now time to enjoy the music on CD and let Elise show us the way.

 

[LoryWiv]

My 1st adventure in Elise tube rolling is the NOS Tung Sol 7236 pair below. One of the tubes was quite difficult to insert but now both are glowing gloriously and gorgeously in the power positions. Compared to stock 6AS7G, 1st impression is expanded stage width and treble extension, slightly more prominent and tighter bass. Surprisingly, they actually sound a bit less "tubey" and more analytical, but in part I suspect that's based on better staging, instrument separation and micro detail retrieval.

Not sure what year these are, if anyone can help me interpret the date codes that'd be welcomed. Also, recommendations for a 6SN7 that would pair well would be appreciated, as I suspect the stock Psvane 6SN7 "UK's" may be holding the Tung Sol's and Elise back from their best. Considering some 1950's Sylvania brown bases but open to ideas from the more experienced Elise tube rollers here. Thanks!

 

[OctavianH]

I do not have enough experience but I think the date codes are on the top in form of YYWW (year - week). On mine I see on one "6207":

 

[LoryWiv]

I think you are right, @OctavianH. Over in the 6AS7G thread, @JKDJedi has the same top code as you!

 

[mordy]

My 1st adventure in Elise tube rolling is the NOS Tung Sol 7236 pair below. One of the tubes was quite difficult to insert but now both are glowing gloriously and gorgeously in the power positions. Compared to stock 6AS7G, 1st impression is expanded stage width and treble extension, slightly more prominent and tighter bass. Surprisingly, they actually sound a bit less "tubey" and more analytical, but in part I suspect that's based on better staging, instrument separation and micro detail retrieval.


Not sure what year these are, if anyone can help me interpret the date codes that'd be welcomed. Also, recommendations for a 6SN7 that would pair well would be appreciated, as I suspect the stock Psvane 6SN7 "UK's" may be holding the Tung Sol's and Elise back from their best. Considering some 1950's Sylvania brown bases but open to ideas from the more experienced Elise tube rollers here. Thanks!

Hi LW,
What you are describing about the TS 7236 is similar to my impressions - they sound more solid state like. Personally, I prefer a more tubey sound, and did not find much use for the 7236.
However, it is all about synergy, and I would not be surprised if people came up with great sounding tube combinations using the 7236.