A quick Google search for "large tube factory in Hamilton, ON" brought unrelated nonsense, so I inserted the word "vacuum" in the appropriate place. That brought me back to diyAudio, and these words.
"That manufacturer was Westinghouse, in Hamilton, ON. The plant stayed open until the late 70's but was used a warehouse. No tube manufacturing was done. They made tubes for Marconi, Rogers, and even RCA for a while."
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/active-canadian-vacuum-tube-manufacturer.341842/
I spent 42 years working as an engineer for Motorola. It seems that Motorola never made any vacuum tubes. Most of the Motorola branded tubes I have seen were made by GE in the USA. Even in the heydey of tube manufacture, the brand name on the tube was not always the actual manufacturer.
"That manufacturer was Westinghouse, in Hamilton, ON. The plant stayed open until the late 70's but was used a warehouse. No tube manufacturing was done. They made tubes for Marconi, Rogers, and even RCA for a while."
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/active-canadian-vacuum-tube-manufacturer.341842/
I spent 42 years working as an engineer for Motorola. It seems that Motorola never made any vacuum tubes. Most of the Motorola branded tubes I have seen were made by GE in the USA. Even in the heydey of tube manufacture, the brand name on the tube was not always the actual manufacturer.
Two things I have turned up, neither particularly definitive:
I asked the question because there is a reputable online seller here offering NOS 6V6GT made in Canada and branded Motorola, and at what I think is a reasonable price (less than new production Tung Sol).
- I have seen some NOS tube listings offering tubes branded Westinghouse made in Canada
- Brent Jessee has this to say about 5881 tubes: "These brownbase tubes [Sylvania and GE] often have a silver getter spot on the side only, and both USA and Canada versions are equally excellent."
I asked the question because there is a reputable online seller here offering NOS 6V6GT made in Canada and branded Motorola, and at what I think is a reasonable price (less than new production Tung Sol).
Very good chance they are Canadian Westinghouse, marking appears identical to some Canadian 6L6G I have. Their octagon has a different look compared to RCA octagon.
I took another look at my box full of crusty old used 6V6GT tubes. There was a pair of clear glass RCA tubes. The box also yielded another clue. There were four Canadian made 5871 tubes that wear a Marconi brand. Google reveals that the 5871 is a high reliability tube similar to the 6V6GT. The data sheet was registered by the RADIO VALVE CO. OF CANADA LTD. TORONTO, CANADA.
Attachments
??? They look totally clean in the photo I posted. They are described as NOS and NIB and another photo in the listing shows the boxes
AFAIK there used to be a ton of tube manufacturing in Canada.
Here's some info on the TO factory: http://www.jproc.ca/marconi/tube_production.html
I believe the Marconi plant in Montreal also made tubes, but can't find a link
Here's some info on the TO factory: http://www.jproc.ca/marconi/tube_production.html
I believe the Marconi plant in Montreal also made tubes, but can't find a link
@leadbelly: that's interesting. I may be just coincidental but the person offering these Marconi branded tubes is in Quebec and has quite a lot of them in new looking boxes.
I am sure that these posts refer to my crusty looking tubes in the photo in post #10.
Over 20 years ago I was given over 100,000 tubes in exchange for the labor needed to clean up the warehouse that they were in into a condition good enough so that it could be demolished! The warehouse had been abandoned for at least 10 years and was occupied by vagrants, vandals, druggies and pigeons, lots of pigeons. There was bird and human waste everywhere and since every window in the place had been broken along with thousands of tubes, the place was a mess. I moved all the tubes 200 miles to the south and spent about 5 years sorting through them. Knowing that I would leave South Florida when my career ended, I sold or gave away the stuff that I didn't want to move 1000 miles north and trashed the obviously bad stuff. I kept a box full of 6V6GT's in unknown condition. So far other tubes from this collection have been 80 to 90% good, after cleaning the pins with a toothbrush and some WD-40.
The 6JB5/6HE5/6JC5 tube in your picture does seem to have a large 19 watt plate. The original 6HE5 has a 12 watt plate, the 6JB5 has a 15 watt plate, and the 6JC5 has a 19 watt plate. Some of the tubes with two or three of these numbers on them may, or may not be able to eat 19 watts, as they were sometimes relabeled versions of the smaller tubes.
Back when the 6EZ5 was on the dollar menu I ran them in my SSE boards. The 6EZ5 has characteristics somewhere in between the 6V6GT and the 6W6GT. They will run forever when wired as triodes, where the 6W6GT will not, many will eventually develop glowing grid syndrome followed by red plate runaway. They are octals with the same pinout as the 6V6GT and 6W6GT.
Back when the 6EZ5 was on the dollar menu I ran them in my SSE boards. The 6EZ5 has characteristics somewhere in between the 6V6GT and the 6W6GT. They will run forever when wired as triodes, where the 6W6GT will not, many will eventually develop glowing grid syndrome followed by red plate runaway. They are octals with the same pinout as the 6V6GT and 6W6GT.