Vacuum Tube Repair

Good health to all J&K readers, supporters, and most importantly customers! 

Just a little update on the COVID-19 outbreak - latest news is that some of our suppliers will resume work on 24th FEB 2020 - hope that situation improves that much to enable them to resume production. 

Now back to our agenda here - vacuum tube repairs, or vacuum tube revivals!

I believe, transformers repair is nothing new to our followers. We've repaired hundreds, if not thousands of them over the past many years. 

Another critical part of the solution chain would be on vacuum tube repair and revival, especially on those exotic NOS tubes that cost quite a considerable amount of money. We now offer vacuum tube repair or revival service to our customers through our long time partner (a tube maestro). 

Do note that not all vacuum tubes can be repaired or revived. Some are dead for good. For some that are still having some life in it, or failed prematurely, or even fail as DOA, maybe they could be repaired. In some cases, some even be buying those expensive exotic NOS tubes that are dead at a dirt cheap price, and sending them to us for repair! If by any chance those dead exotic NOS tubes can be repaired, they could save thousands of dollars comparing to buying good exotic NOS tubes. Those that are worth repairing are those Western Electric signal or power tubes, Genelax / Gold Lion signal or power tubes, or even any old big power tubes that worth fortunes. 

Since repairing or revival could a 50-50 or worse kind of odds, one may need to weight the pros and cons before sending for repair. Vacuum tube repairs or vacuum tube revival starts at U$100 per piece, and could be more depending on the type of tubes and illnesses. 

Loose base, no connection at tube pin due to broken wire or cracked solder, or broken pin can be easily repaired by base replacement or re-connection internally at the base. Broken filament, could possibly be repaired, on case by case basis. 

Here are some things to be considered before sending vacuum tubes for repairs or revivals: 

1. Are they worth the trouble or worth the price? Repair price could be more than buying them new or  or buying NOS. 
2. Mechanically broken vacuum tubes are not repairable - such as broken glass or vacuum loss (inside appears all white). 
3. Severely broken tube internally (massive internal structure failure, broken plates for example).

For other cases, please send us some pictures and descriptions and we shall see what we can do. 

Examples for some cases on vacuum tubes that could possibly be repaired:

1. Crackling noise
2. Keep blowing fuses 
3. Filament shorted 
4. Internal pins shorted 
5. Open connections 
6. Intermittent operation
7. Missing base / base repair / base replacements
8. Oxidized tube pins / internal wires
9. Weak tubes 
10. And etc... can't list all since there could be other illnesses 

Contact us, if unsure.

Now, go dig your storeroom and see if there are any vacuum tubes you'd like to be repaired. Better still, go ask all your tube audiophile friends for used tubes, broken tubes that they do no longer use, and see if they are worth repairing or reviving! They could save you a fortune, or make you some good money after being repaired! 

Tubes that are worth repair, for example, could be 212, 4212, 211, 4211, 4300B, 300B, 2A3 single plate, 2A3 double plate, 801A, PX4, AD1, 53KU, 52KU, U52, EL156, KT88, KT66, Telefunken, Western Electric, Genelax, and various other expensive exotic tubes. 

Vacuum tube dealers, sellers, shops owners - if you have tubes that you think are worth repairing, please contact us and we may be able to repair them for you for re-selling later. The same 3 rules above apply. 

Start digging! You may encounter a few gold mines! Don't let the exotic tubes go to waste - recycle them! 

J&K Audio Design
18/2/2020