Fake tubes

[ken99]

I have a couple of "Fake" tubes in my collection. They are 6X5GT Rectifiers. They say Westinghouse Electron Tube (337) in Yellow on one side and 6X5GT Made In England in white print on the opposite side. These are actually Russian Reflector factory tubes. They work well. I am told that a rectifier tube has nothing to do with the sound, so I guess it does not matter much. Ebay is full of some of these fake tubes.

I found this interesting site on some fake tubes:

http://www.jacmusic.com/nos/images/Fakes/index.htm

http://www.vacuumtubesinc.com/VacuumTubesHallofShame.aspx

So, the moral of the story is........ be careful out there in this big bad world. Do your homework. Buy from reputable dealers!

later,
ken99

 

[marty59]

Can you post a picture of them? I'm not aware of these being in any type of newer production. And they are plentiful in the NOS market and cheap. Also, there are several internal designs of this tube. Plenty of military versions too.

 

[scottfan]

I like the JJ Tesla rebranded as Siemens EL34(D83). There's a guy ebay selling those for $200 per quad!

 

[ken99]

Got to ebay and type in 6X5GT Russian. There they are. These are actual Russian NOS tubes. Somebody branded some of them as Westinghouse at some point and sold them. This would fetch a higher price for them. I got them with my preamplifier (bought it second hand). Apparently Westinghouse is a favorite brand to fake for some people.

I bought a set of 1578 Russian 6SN7 tubes a while back. Really had to do my research on that one before I bought them. Lots of tube sellers claiming that they were selling the real deal, but were not. Even found some on ebay that someone had put a new branded 1578 stamp on. Also found some at a very reputable dealer that were fakes.

Apparently there are lots of Telefunken fakes out there as well.

What a shame - crooks will find a way to rip people off.

later,
ken99

 

[GordonW]

Not to be overly snarky- but it's hard to believe that Russian 6X5s would be any worse than the POS old-stock ones.

6X5s- old-stock ones, especially the ones with stacked plates- are the most common reason many old radios have melted power transformers. Heater-cathode shorts, among other things, are rampant with these.

Not to mention, that they specs claimed for them for current output- well, the best advice is NOT to even TRY to run them close to their max ratings, ever.

In short, I've yet to meet an old-stock 6X5 that wasn't fundamentally a piece of s***, itself. Maybe if the Russians have cobbled another tube and relabeled it a 6X5, at least there might be a chance of it working BETTER than an original. Because it's hard to imagine worse, than the original design...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[rustnrot]

Gordon, can you recommend a replacement for the 6X5?

 

[Tom Bavis]

I have seen Russian tubes labeled Westinghouse, Raytheon, Sylvania, RCA, Mullard, others - new-in-box - and they're not "fakes", since they were labeled by the company whose name is on them. Just a matter of when they were sold - by the late '70s, there were only a few tube numbers made in the US - companies selling in the dwindling replacement market were getting them wherever they could.

As for 6X5, later production ones should be OK - the "X" plate style - but they're only rated for 70 mA. The 6AX5 is a plug-in replacement good for 125 mA - but it draws more heater current and has a fairly high voltage drop.

 

[jaymanaa]

I have seen Russian tubes labeled Westinghouse, Raytheon, Sylvania, RCA, Mullard, others - new-in-box - and they're not "fakes", since they were labeled by the company whose name is on them. Just a matter of when they were sold - by the late '70s, there were only a few tube numbers made in the US - companies selling in the dwindling replacement market were getting them wherever they could.

As for 6X5, later production ones should be OK - the "X" plate style - but they're only rated for 70 mA. The 6AX5 is a plug-in replacement - but it draws more heater current and has a fairly high voltage drop.

:yes:

 

[davek65]

Toasty Transformer

Right now there's a seller on e pay with an old RCA radio . Pictures of

under side . You can see the trans is Toast~6x5 rectifier .Probably doesn't
know much about it

 

[Trio]

It is possible since it is just a 5 tube radio, the filter caps were probably toast that led to that probable failure. But I have repaired a few that had transformers looked as bad or worse for heat that worked just fine. As long as they passed a high pot test, it is not a significant concern.

But, the reason so many tubes from the 60's and 70's have their numbers easily removed is due to some companies in that era washing old tubes and reselling them as "new". So there have been fakes out there even before many of us were born.