Vintage Audio Lab/VALAB sockets

[RRJackson]

These sockets are really pretty great. I ordered a set just to see if they were as nice as they seemed and they really seem to be an amazing design. They don't quite fit in the stock holes in a JTM45 chassis, so I done adapter-ized 'em with these steel washers that I ended up paying a machine shop WAY too much money to drill out for me. But it seems to be a good mounting solution.

Just thought I'd share my enthusiasm.

-Rob

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_jackson/8180710321/

[RRJackson]

BTW, a couple more photos of the sockets just for kicks.

-Rob

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_jackson/8158552577



http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_jackson/8180076614



http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_jackson/8199485474



http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_jackson/8212144344

[RRJackson]

I love the design, but the gold plating is a terrible idea, apparently. I had never heard of this before, but NASA calls it, "Gold Embrittlement." The short version is that I soldered four wires onto the first two sockets, gave them a tug after they'd cooled down and the joints made a little crunch and came loose. Apparently NASA has a rig that applies and removes extremely hot solder which removes the gold plating on connectors in one step. My solution is apparently going to be a steel brush on my Dremel tool. It would be really nice if I could just buy the sockets without the gold plating.

-Rob

[demonufo]

I was just thinking it's a shame about the gold plating.

[RRJackson]

I was just thinking it's a shame about the gold plating.

I started to use a steel brush in my Dremel tool to take the gold off and it had some kind of reaction with the gold. Like a galvanic process of some kind or something. I tried to search for info, but you put steel and gold in a search and what mostly seemed to come up were advertisements for jewelry. It was strange, though, 'cause as soon as I started using the brush the white ceramic of the socket turned black. Like some kind of carbon deposit or something. I cleaned off the ceramic with a tub and tile cleaner called, "The Works" that's based on phosphoric acid and it cleaned up pretty fast.

BTW, just to digress for a second..."The Works" is great stuff, but the original phosphoric acid formula is apparently not working out well for consumers who need warnings not to use it to rinse out their eyes and nose or whatever, so now I'm seeing it pop up in formulas that use very dilute hydrochloric acid and most recently a mixture of oxalic acid and glycolic acid that's almost useless against really nasty stuff. I wish we could have a high shelf in hardware stores with chemicals for adults who passed basic chemistry and understand the dangers involved in using these things so we don't all have to end up using citrus-based cleaners for things that would move faster with a little mad science-y motivation.

Anyway, I actually ended up using sulfuric acid ("One-Shot" drain cleaner) to burn off the gold on the pins and then neutralized it with baking soda and water. Worked fine.

However, I kinda wonder if just using enough flux might do the job just as well. The gold plating is very thin.

-Rob

[demonufo]

Aaaahhhh, yes, wonderful citrus based cleaners. I'll never forget when a previous employer told us we would be getting rid of our Trichloroethylene baths and given this wonderful stuff that stank of oranges, and did absolutely f'k'all except leave a horrid residue on everything.

I'd actually be more concerned with the gold pin contacts than the solder terminals. At least the solder will hold the air out, but gold vs tin on the tube contacts... not so good.

Actually, I've just though of another concern with regards to the octal bases. Tesla's in particular have rather larger (and not uniform in surface) pins and would stretch the contacts a little. They don't exactly look easily re-tensionable like standard octal bases do. Fitting other brands of tube afterwards could be a bit of a disaster...
Just a thought.

[RRJackson]

That's an excellent point. Once something pushes these contacts apart I imagine they just plain aren't going to accept a tube with smaller pins. You might be able to get in there with something very small and push them back together. There are flat shims that locksmiths use that might reach in there and push the contacts back into place.

I've emailed the manufacturer about maybe having a run done with standard tin contacts. Or even a silver-tin alloy like in the old Amphenol sockets. I still haven't received a reply from them, though. Which could be all kinds of things, not the least being that I am mono-lingual and trying to communicate with a Taiwanese manufacturer. Or maybe they just find my inquiry annoying. Heh...you just never know.

-Rob

[demonufo]

Yeah, google translate might not quite do the trick.