Homemade power tube retainers?

[Cliff Schecht]

Anybody have a good recipe for a homemade power tube retainer? I'm building a little Champ for a Leslie some friends and me put together and I don't have room to mount the tubes vertically. I have a preamp socket with a tube shield I can use for the AX7 but I'm not sure how to make sure the 6V6 stays in socket. I'm sure I could rig something up but I'm curious what others have done. Google hasn't been very helpful, just commercial products.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Not sure I understand ? Can you clarify ? Maybe an EL-84 with a wire/over lock ? An angle bracket in the mounting screw holes and a car radiator hose clamp might work..?

[tubelectron]

For 12AX7, when non-shielded, I use big guitar string to model my tube spring retainer, because it is simply not so evident to find. For 6V6/6L6 etc... I bought it... That's cheap !

A+!

[FUCHSAUDIO]

It would seem even a an angle bracket with a little heatshrink tubing on it, mounted to rest on the tube top should work...?

[Cliff Schecht]

I'll clarify a bit. I have a few amps where the power tubes or rectifier tubes seem to work themselves loose easily (especially when you break off the guide pins!). For me it doesn't matter so much whether the tube is horizontal or vertical, I'd just like a way to keep the tubes from moving around in their sockets. I'm cheap and crafty enough to make something myself and I didn't want to have to drill on the amps or change out sockets. For the little Champ I might just pay the $3 for an octal socket with clips on the base but I didn't want to have to modify my existing builds too much.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

I buy 8-pin retainers by the hundreds, and usually add them to Champs and Princetons and amps Fender did not use them on. That's the simplest solution, and should require no drilling. I thought you had a situation where that might not work. Sometimes if tubes are too close to transformers or one another, they won't fit....

[Cliff Schecht]

Ah shit I guess I'll just buy some. They sure aren't expensive.. Do you prefer the over the top spring retainers or the base clips? The over-the-top ones can be mounted into the screws that mount the socket right?

Point me at which ones you prefer for bottom pointing tubes ala Fender.

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Either work fine. The top mounted can be nice if you use a 6550 or KT-88. For 6V6, EL-34, and 6L6's the bottom mounts are fine.

[ChrisM]

[img:600:394]http://angela.com/images/products/detai ... beClip.jpg[/img]

Uses the socket's existing mounting holes.

[Structo]

Yeah the bear traps work pretty good on octals.

But, be sure you buy the good ones.
There were some around a couple years ago that the metal was brittle and they would break near the screw when used a couple times.
I can't remember where I bought those but it might have been AES.

[Luthierwnc]

A blob of GE clear silicone if it doesn't have to be pretty. Takes up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and has to be cut off when you change tubes.

For a more elegant solution, here's a pic of a Hot Cat with a shock-insulated clamp. Looks a lot like the clamp for a multi-section canister cap -- a variation of the hose clamp idea above. I was looking at something like this for a build I never built but I think Mouser has mounting clamps like this for some of their computer electrolytics in sizes that would work for a tube. sh

[pablogt]

I bought some of these http://www.ebay.es/itm/Tube-Retainer-Br ... 2c54de40a7

They look great and are very effective with shouldered tubes. Not only Kt's, it's good for shouldered 6v6's like the 6V6G/VT

Pablo

[greiswig]

...here's a pic of a Hot Cat with a shock-insulated clamp. Looks a lot like the clamp for a multi-section canister cap -- a variation of the hose clamp idea above.

My Bad Cat had these, too. I think you're right about them being the clamps for caps. The red part on mine was a layer of felt. Not very thick, either. But the screws and the socket were mounted to rubber grommets in the chassis to isolate the whole assembly mechanically.

[joCCe]

Home made by Bruno and involves drilling

Those tubes aren't going anywhere though.

Joakim

[dorrisant]

That looks like it came off a Peavey Classic 50...