[Amps] 3-500Z socket types

[Will Matney]

Bud,

I think you'll find it will most likely keep doing this with about any 
socket. The reason being is the heater pins are getting too hot and 
causing the temper to go out of the clips and open up. Heat causes the 
metal to expand and will also ruin the spring quality of the clip if it 
gets too hot. There is another socket, forget the part number, which 
uses a round steel ring. QRO uses these and they mount them on 
standoffs. The real cure is to cool the heater pins. The tubes can get 
so hot that the solder will melt out of the tubes pins themselves. This 
goes to show just how hot they get. However, flowing cool air over them 
generally cures the problem. Those steel ring sockets I mentioned above 
are available from RF Parts and Richardsons Electronics.

Best,

Will


W2RU - Bud Hippisley wrote:

>I have a very early Amp Supply Co. LK-550 which uses three 3-500Zs.  I have had recurring problems with getting all three bottles to "light up" when I power up.  The problem appears to be excessive resistance at the junction of the filament pins and tube sockets.  The ceramic sockets in this rig have a removable spring clip at each of the five tube pins, and I have re-bent some of these for temporary relief.  But getting underneath the aluminum platform the tube sockets are mounted on is a real hassle, and I risk damaging the plate choke each time I do it.
>
>Is there a different type of socket for the 3-500Z that I could install?  Otherwise, my next step may be to solder the tube filament pins directly to the filament choke leads....:-)
>
>Tnx & 73 -- Bud, W2RU 
>
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