Larry you hit the nail on the head.
I have bought a pile of tubes off eBay none of them have come from Russian
Sources. If the seller claims not tested, or good tube, whatever, I always
contact them, tell them I am able to safely test the tube and I will only
bid on his product if I get a 100% satisfaction.
I will pay return postage, but expect my purchase amount promptly refunded.
I promise I will test it within 24 hours of it getting here. I expect a
pull 8877 or equivalent to make at least 2000 Watts out in the 6 meter
amplifier without having to crank the knobs more than 1 turn either
direction. So far so good. There's been a couple guys who refused.
If they can't guarantee this situation and work with me, I'm not going to
bid on their tube. Well if it is super cheap I still might, but the guys
who are tough customers usually don't get much bidding anyhow.
I have bought mostly 8877 equivalent tubes and only 1 was bad so far. That
one was from a gentleman in Colorado and he promptly refunded my $$$ plus
also paid my return postage. It was a really sweet looking new date code
3CPX1500A7 that had NO CATHODE IN IT. Its really too bad too.
I have found I have been most unhappy with items purchased from out of the
country. Dive gear that ended up top price, high shipping, wasn't clean and
didn't function (However I was able to fix etc) My son now dives a top of
the line ATX200.
I have a buddy who runs one of those QRO amps (not me) that runs a couple
Svetlana 4cx800's so he thought he'd get a couple spares. He cycled through
4 tubes from the guy in Texas with the Russian supplier. Each time the amp
was blown up by the shorted tubes. They sure were cheap though and claimed
good. He finally gave up and after some time I believe was refunded money.
The guy wanted to keep cycling him tubes. He got tired of replacing parts
in his amp beyond the fuses.
For the guys who want to buy big tubes off the net I recommend you have the
amplifier built and running before bidding on another tube. Or have a buddy
with the same device and the ability to promptly test a tube.
If not, you better be buying new with a factory warrantee.
Not only is it unprofessional to "STICK" another guy with a bad tube, but it
will get you a very bad reputation quickly. I learned this basic philosophy
from Tom Bruckner who he and I had traded on many tubes over the years (him
always buying from me)
BOB DD
-----Original Message-----
From: amps-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:amps-bounces@contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Larry
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 3:17 PM
To: AMPS
Subject: [Amps] Bad tubes from ebay, update
Several months ago I posted a note about my experiences buying tubes
from east European sellers on ebay. Some of the details are at
http://w7iuv.com/badtubes.html
The problems with the seller "exland" were never resolved. That guy was
insulting in his email responses and never did a thing to help. Clearly
an irresponsible seller.
The other seller, "AnthonyWelsh", told me he would refund or replace the
bad GS-35B I received if I sent the bad one back. Well it's not easy to
send a tube back to the Ukraine from the USA. It took a bit of money and
very long time to get it back to him. Then it took a long time and many
email exchanges to sort it all out. Finally after 6 1/2 months, I got
the replacement tube. It's good and I'm happy. It was a very frustrating
experience and it took a long time to resolve but it was resolved to my
satisfaction. You can put "AnthonyWelsh" down as a responsible seller.
I'm not sure I'll ever want to take a chance on something like this
happening again. I much prefer to buy tubes from someone close by so
that I can strap on my .45 and personally carry the tube back if there
is a problem.
In any case, now I can get back to building amps!
73, Larry
--
Larry - W7IUV
DN07dg
http://w7iuv.com
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