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JJ Tubes EL34 failing too early

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  • JJ Tubes EL34 failing too early

    Good morning too you all

    Anybody having any problems with JJ EL34's failing early. Ive had 3 amps come back in warranty with failed JJ EL34s
    All come back dead and with blown fuses, When i test on the Orange DIVO Valve tester one failer
    I tend to bias always a little colder, Always check and redo soldering on the tube bases... never really get brand problems

    Trouble here in the uk is , That i have to pay to send a tube back for testing.And by the time you pay for it to be sent back ( Tracked)
    Sent it back in the past not postage tracking and it never arrived.. So i normally end up just paying for a new one.
    I have on my customer database put a couple of Fields where i can enter the matching data. so i can buy a single tube and get it matched

    I normally use Tung Sol or TAD for just about everything. Have used loads of JJ 6V6's without issue

    Rant over

    Any thoughts

    BBB

  • #2
    Other than our suppliers pushing back warranty costs for their bad tubes onto us? No, but I sympathize.

    Comment


    • #3
      I do not use JJ EL34 tubes.

      I would rather go with EH tubes.

      Comment


      • #4
        I use JJ lots and no issues to report.

        I had a box of Sovtek fail me 30 to 40%. Someone told me then I had got a box of factory rejects. Some tube matching companies sell their non-defective rejects for a lower price and they end up in workbenches for some reason.
        Valvulados

        Comment


        • #5
          Yeah, I think they all re-sell returns.

          Had a batch of Sovtek 12AX7's last month that most had nasty hum.
          New batch is perfect.

          I'm not a fan of JJ's the preamp tubes are usually microphonic or noisy.
          Some of the power tubes are okay.

          Comment


          • #6
            I've had lots of problems in the UK with many different tube brands. My main supplier over the past 5 years was treating me like dirt over returns - I even opened up a TAD GZ34 to find a used EL34 in the box (witnessed) and they said it was my 'mistake' and argued bitterly against refunding/replacing. I had spent £thousands on tubes with them. Each time I had a problem they argued it was a fitting error and my lack of skill. I never once got my return postage back.

            They have the best prices and good range, but the service is desperately poor. I dropped them and I now pay more and get better service.

            My main problems with JJs in particular have been severe microphonics with both EL34 and 6L6. My choice for EL34 is now Shuguang or EH.

            Comment


            • #7
              Hi BBB,
              I go through about 10-20 JJ power tubes a month. I haven't had any problems reported back so I keep using them.

              The only time I did try and return a tube was because the glass tip was broken on a posh mesa boogie ECC83 costing three times the normal price - seemed like a normal one to me but with a rubber O-ring wrapped round it. The supplier was less than helpful and blamed inexperience at my end.

              Mike

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              • #8
                I dropped them and I now pay more and get better service.
                I did the same thing with CE distribution here in the states a few years ago. They kept sending me junk. Easier to buy good tubes and pay more than to send tubes back over and over to try to get a few good ones. The return postage alone was far more than the price difference.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I think one problem with regular branded JJ tubes?
                  After all the select tubes are gleaned for private tube sellers, there is nothing left but the culls.
                  Now I pay more and buy TADs, Ruby's and the like.
                  It hurts to pay more at the beginning, but hurts less in the end.
                  I for one, quit buying regular JJs, failures are too frustrating for me.
                  T
                  "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
                  Terry

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    We went thru this one a couple years ago. One of the benefits was, a dialogue was started between CE and a couple of MEF members who told 'em what they needed to hear. After that CE upped their game, took QC more seriously, knowing customers would abandon them if they didn't. Another result was a couple of suppliers got good reports here - Mojo and Eurotube in Portland. Also, any tubes that were tested and matched came out better. No wonder there - if a distributor has tested tubes themselves, theres a chance to cull the bad ones and get 'em out of circulation. One not so good point about Eurotube, no discounts for quantities, repair shops or manufacturers, pay up, tough noogies. Within the last few years a couple of small outfits have opened and developed excellent reputations, try 'em out for a lark: Doug's Tubes on Long Island, and Valve Queen near Columbus Ohio. There may be more good places to go tube shopping - those who have had good experiences (or bad, what the heck) are encouraged to report.
                    This isn't the future I signed up for.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Has anyone had problems due to rough handling in shipping? If the tube comes from the other side of the world I doubt the difference between Long Island and Arizona is significant, just curious.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        How would you know??

                        Bad packing?
                        Crushed box?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Richard View Post
                          Has anyone had problems due to rough handling in shipping? If the tube comes from the other side of the world I doubt the difference between Long Island and Arizona is significant, just curious.
                          Originally posted by Jazz P Bass View Post
                          How would you know??

                          Bad packing?
                          Crushed box?
                          Right. Without evidence of extreme handling abuse, you'd never know how much physical shock the tubes were subject to.
                          I'm thinking that poor manufacturing rather than poor handling would be the culprit. After all, before mega-lane paved highways and everyday jet freight, the tubes in the golden age had to get to their customers. Certainly they had no better shipping conditions than today?
                          If it still won't get loud enough, it's probably broken. - Steve Conner
                          If the thing works, stop fixing it. - Enzo
                          We need more chaos in music, in art... I'm here to make it. - Justin Thomas
                          MANY things in human experience can be easily differentiated, yet *impossible* to express as a measurement. - Juan Fahey

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by eschertron View Post
                            After all, before mega-lane paved highways and everyday jet freight, the tubes in the golden age had to get to their customers. Certainly they had no better shipping conditions than today?
                            Good observation. Whether you're shipping a brick, or grandma's prize crystal wine glasses, you have to expect the boxes to get smacked around. A lot. Current sorting procedure has boxes travelling on conveyor belts, addresses read by computer, and mechanically kicked from one conveyor belt to another as they're routed to destinations. Best advice I got from my favorite UPS customer agent was "pack your items as if they're going to be dropped out a second story window onto concrete. If you think your packing with survive that, then you can expect your items to arrive undamaged." I mentioned on MEF recently, "fragile" stickers are simply an invitation for sorting personnel to give your box an extra brutal smacking around. You might as will put on "kick me here" stickers. Besides, there seems to be a sort of sub-industry going on within the last couple years, involving shipping insurance and damages. The shipping companies all seem to take damage claims in stride these days, it's just another part of the game now.
                            This isn't the future I signed up for.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Just consider any abuse during shipping to be beta testing or extra QC.
                              We do expect tubes to be able to withstand a lot of vibration and abuse on the road (in their amplifier "homes").
                              Originally posted by Enzo
                              I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


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