# Octal tube question



## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Just rec'd a quad of RCA 6V6GT's and the guide on one of them looks to have come off in transit. Can this be reglued and used or has the vacuum been compromised as a result?

Thanks in advance for any/all responses.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Should be fine. Reglue it if you can, just make sure you have it lined up properly.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Post a photo


Octal basses are replaceable, and there are guide pin fixes out there too. AES has em. But, the BIGGEST tell is the getter. If you see that nice metal silver shine you are ok, if it is white, you are SOL. If it is a metal tube, only way to find out is put 6.3 on the filament and see if it goes POOF! Unless, in a photo it is obvious you cracked the sealing nipple.

OH and yes, you can give it a reglue, just not sure what works with strength on bakelite.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

keeperofthegood - 6V6GT's are glass, 6V6's are metal. These particular RCA/Radiotron's have dense powdery grey shielding, so it's virtually impossible to do a visual of the internals to see if there's any white showing. FWIW, I used SuperGlue to refasten the bakelite guide to the base and it seems to be holding nicely. I'll do a functional test on this tube this weekend...

BTW, I didn't crack the sealing nipple or anything else for that matter; in fact, this damage was done in transit. Looks like the small box they came in got crushed by larger/heavier pkgs. The seller showed me a pic of the tubes before they got packed and everything was hunky-dory (pardon the Bowie ref, ha ha...).

Thanks to both for your feedback/suggestions.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Nipple cracks and pin cracks are the two most common OH CRUD! experiences people have. That internal black, if I understand it, is a carbon layer baked to the glass, it works the same as the metal cans. LOL and the GT (glass tube) came after the G (didn't refer to the glass and was used and done before metal tubes came about) convention and I ALWAYS brain fart when reading that on a tube designation.

Interesting read 6V6 tubes from Brent Jessee Recording

OH found the page selling the key, 10 dollars for a 4 pack: More Info for item P-STKY-1

P-STKY-1









Qty 

*Octal Tube Keyway Replacement, package of 4*

Do you have valuable octal type tubes that work fine except the keyway has been broken off the base? Fix it with this simple and inexpensive product. Simply clean the remainder of the broken keyway from the base and slip one of these on. Will stay on by itself, or you can use a dab of silicon to attach if you wish.


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