Tube identification needed

[Imbanon]

Hey all!

I've got this NOS tube, bought as a spare one for a TV set bought around 1974. Apparently, it is an Ediswan ECL86.
Markings on the tube were wiped out, but I can still clearly read the 86 part.
Check the attachments.
So how can I reuse the tube? Is it for audio or something else?

Thanks! :)

[John Rehwinkel]

It's equivalent to a 6GW8. The triode is equivalent to half an ECC83/12AX7, and the pentode is equivalent to
an EL84/6BQ5. So it would be useful for audio service. In fact, the 6GW5 was popular for low-powered amplifiers
in Australia for a while. If you look for EL84 or 6BQ5 circuits, you should find plenty you could build with that tube,
as those have been popular output pentodes for quite a long time.

- John

[Mich...@aol.com]

I ran into a box of about 1000 various tubes and posted half of them on ebay.

 

Agreed... ECL86 is 6GW6   - they sold instantly.

 

ECC83/12AX7A - they also sell instantly

- many variations in price as well.  Have two left.

 

At least you know the tube you have has some value.  :)

 

Hard to find people wanting tubes for TVs; however, there seems to be a large following for Audio (amplifiers and CDs) still.  :)

 

Michail

[Imbanon]

Better something than nothing :)
Good to know what I have. I just might try to build some simplest possible guitar amp or something. In that case, would it be a shame to use modern amps with the tube in the circuit, or should I try to keep it amp only circuit?
Also, there's a guy here in my country selling the very same tube for ~13 dollars US. Is it worth it?

[John Rehwinkel]

> Good to know what I have. I just might try to build some simplest possible guitar amp or something. In that case, would it be a shame to use modern amps with the tube in the circuit, or should I try to keep it amp only circuit?

Yeah, you could make a one-tube amp out of it. I'd suggest using the triode for the input stage (MANY guitar amps use
that triode for their input stages) and the pentode as a single-ended output. There's not a lot of gain to be had, but
it should be enough, if you leave out fancy tone controls. It won't be very loud.

Or you could make a hybrid design, either using the triode as the input stage with a solid-state tone stack and driver,
or have a solid-state input stage and use the triode as the driver for the output stage.

Mullard offered a "Three Watt Economical Stereophonic Amplifer" using a single ECL86 (and a rectifier tube):

http://www.r-type.org/articles/art-003g.htm

It's popular for inexpensive, low tube count amps. Here's a guitar amp using one and a 12AX7:

http://www.albertkreuzer.com/pics/el/ecl86/schem/recycle.gif

There are even companies offering PC boards and kits to use this tube:

http://www.dbevolution.it/

> Also, there's a guy here in my country selling the very same tube for ~13 dollars US. Is it worth it?

Might be - since this TV tube has audio applications, it doesn't have the low price and high availability of most TV tubes any more.

If you want to build more things with 'em, you might use its less popular cognates with other heater voltages like PCL86/14GW8 and UCL86.

If you enjoy building tube stuff, you might investigate the funwithtubes and Tube Collectors Association mailing lists as well (I'm on both).

- John