VACUTRACE Vacuum Tube Curve Tracer
14
Miscellaneous
Tube Life
Always set the plate voltage limit to minimum before coming out of standby. Do not
turn up the plate voltage until the heaters have warmed up, otherwise you could
cause cathode-stripping damage.
Be careful not to exceed any of the tube’s maximum operating specifications.
VacuTrace can deliver a lot of voltage, current and power to a tube. Small signal
types such as a 12AX7 are vulnerable to such overdrive.
It is not necessary to turn off VacuTrace when swapping tubes or socket adapter
cards. That is what standby mode is for. All signals to the output connector are shut
off in standby and it is safe to change tubes.