tube sockets are annoying... noob needs help

[tube man in a kilt]

hey, first post, oh yea, im cool. anyway.  im building the real mctube and i ordered a parts express tube socket and i have no idea how to get it to fit and stay. if anyone could help me i would be very gratefull. thanks

[gtrmac]

There are several types of toob sockets and they each have different requirements so it would be hard to guess the answer to this question.

How about a part number so we can see the actual socket?

[Hal]

wait, whats your problem, getting the socket on the surface, on the board, or the tube to stay in the socket ?

[tube man in a kilt]

my prob is getting the tube to stay in the socket. idk the part # and im too lazy to get up, but go to partsexpress.com, search tube sockets, and clicke on the one w/ the shielding case and ceramic 9 pin socket.

[Hal]

duct tape

hahaha um...wrap the pins with something to make htem a bit wider, like copper foil?  I dunno...weird problem LoL.  Are you sure you bought a socket for the right kind of tubes?

[Peter Snowberg]

That doesn't sound good at all. The tube should fit VERY snugly in the socket, if it doesn't you could easily end up with a fried tube. Try to see exactly why the pins are not getting snugly locked in there. If the socket has deformed contacts, send that bugger back!

Best of luck to you and welcome to the forums!

Take care,
-Peter

[puretube]

wiggle the correctly orientated tube a little, till you got the feeling that all 9 pins found a hole, and then: push! (the first time is the hardest).

[tube man in a kilt]

ok guys, thanks.

[tube man in a kilt]

ok, so i got the tube in the socket nicely, but i cant get the darn thing to fit in the sleeve, its an odd configuration. i think i'll just call them.  1 other ques: could i just solder the socket points onto a PCB, or do i need some type of proprietary socket? thanks.

[Mike Burgundy]

sockets come in print-mount and hard-wire versions. I prefer never to mount a socket directly onto a PCB - in fact I haven't used PCB material at all for tube stuff, but it works ok, or so I hear
The tube, and therefor the socket gets *very* hot, and PCB's don't feel happy about this.
The usual hard-wired sockets are mounted into a suitable hole in the chassis, and bolted or riveted into place through openings in the socket specially designed for this purpose. Electrical connections are then wired from the socket to the rest of the circuit.
If you have a socket 055-500, that looks like chassis-mount. You use the ring that's under the shield in the picture to clamp the socket tightly into the designated 7/8"hole.
The shield should (pretty snugly) fit exactly over a 12AX7.Align openings to bumps on the base ring, push and twist and it's on.
hih

[tube man in a kilt]

no, you see, it wont fit in. its wierd.  i put the tube in the socket, and there is no way for me to fit the detachable part of the sleeve onto the tube. the morons at parts express said it wasnt meant to hold the tube inside, and i think he is an idiot.

[Ansil]

car audio shops ahve a great little device it is an inline dual crimpable wire clip to join two wires that have come apart or where a slpice was made.   take a tube down there and find out which ones fit the pins..  you crimp the end that accepts the wires from the circuit and you slide it on the pins.  this makes a great way to try different tubes out that don't have the same pinout..   i have a nice pentode that has a similar wiring to the 12ax7 but not quite  instead of wiring it up for that i jsut apply the correct wires to the correct pins..  a little bit lowfi yeas but it works

[tube man in a kilt]

acctually, if u could take some photos to show me how to make this work i would be very happy.  i can really piece together the directions, and the little i have understood hasnt worked. so if anyone had some step by step photos....

[tube man in a kilt]

my last post was in referance to mike burgandy, so mike if you could do the picture thing..