RFT Junk

John4021

John4021

Well-known member
Had 2 of these do the EXACT same thing.
Anyone else had issues with these turning into junk?

ctSbQPFl.jpg
 
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I have some as well; no issues. Those must have been way past their prime..I’ve had the same thing happen with vintage amps with original tubes; but they were advertised as such. Any RFT I’ve bought has been solid.
 
Racerxrated said:
I have some as well; no issues. Those must have been way past their prime..I’ve had the same thing happen with vintage amps with original tubes; but they were advertised as such. Any RFT I’ve bought has been solid.
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+1 Never had any issues and I have them in every amp I own.
 
Wow, never saw something like this with old tubes.

Can you give more details? The amp, voltages at the tube, etc?
 
I would guess they are fake - I don't use them, but I've put them in other people's amps, and literally everyone raves about the reliability.

So, either you're really unlucky, or you're unlucky and got ripped off
 
John4021 said:
Had 2 of these do the EXACT same thing.
Anyone else had issues with these turning into junk?

ctSbQPFl.jpg
Click to expand...
A lot of what is left of them out there is hit and miss. RFT 12ax7's are all I use in my preamp sections and the good ones last forever and sound great. I have bought them from Eastern Europe sellers online through Ebay and other tube sellers like the Tube Store.
 
RedPlated said:
Only time that's happened to me is when I drop one.
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That's what I was going to say. And often times with old NOS tube, who knows how often they've been dropped, chucked in a drawer, fallen out of the amp, or kicked around.

Physical abuse is usually the #1 culprit with these. Could've also occurred during shipping to you or the seller. Not enough to break them... but enough to weaken the glass envelope so they go BOOM!
 
Nope. Well I did buy 3 and the logo/markings were all different. Kind of a whitish yellow.
Not burnt by head, but by handling over the years I assume.
Bought them used off a forum member.
 
Thats what we call a "Revese Unkle Fester"


By the way for anyone interested I did order some replacements from Mike at KAC tubes.
He told me the RFT preamp tubes have a very thin glass and constant "rolling :them in and out of amps
causes a ton of strain on them cause crack/breakage.
 
It just popped like that while it was running in an amp? Or were you installing/pulling it?
 
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