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Where Can You Find Rare Electronic Parts?

Posted by Cliff on from the finding-replacement-electronics dept.

Famos Amos asks: "I recently blew a fuse on an old Phase Linear 400 stereo amplifier, and have since been on a journey around NY state and the web looking for an AGX-style fuse (8amps, 125v or 250v, 1"X1/4" cylinder style). I've been turned away by stereo repair specialty stores, online electronics warehouses, and Radioshack among others. I was wondering if anyone in the Slashdot community knew where I could obtain such an unusual item?" If you know of a store or website that sells AGX-style fuses or other hard-to-obtain or surplus electronic parts, list them here!

35 comments

  1. The rare electronics district by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why at the rare electronic warehouse, of course! They've got piles of the stuff!

  2. heh by TheDarkRogue · · Score: 0, Troll

    1) Find the place that sells these Rare Fuses
    2) ?
    3) Profit?

    --
    (Score:0, Interesting)
  3. Almost what you need.. by bsr · · Score: 3, Informative

    7 amp 125V AGX fuses: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productdetail.jsp ?xi=xi&ItemId=1611664725

  4. Is Google really -that- hard to use? by adolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to this document, AGX-type fuses are direcctly interchangable with 8AG-type fuses.

    8A, 250V 8AG fuses made by Littelfuse, Inc. may be found here. $0.274 ea, minimum quantity of 5. 2,655 in stock.

    NEXT!

    --
    Kid-proof tablet..
  5. Unavailabe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just use a piece of wire. Worked like a charm for me and if the house hadn't taken my amp with it when it burned down, my "fuse" would probably still work perfectly.

    1. Re:Unavailabe? by nocomment · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure if this is a joke. Was it maybe the amp that cause the fire to begin with? :-)

      --
      /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
      /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
    2. Re:Unavailabe? by voot · · Score: 1

      pfft, did your house burn down because of that :-P

  6. Fuses by XO · · Score: 2, Informative

    A fuse is a fuse, is a fuse. Since you're talking about an amplifier, that probably means you want a slow blow fuse.

    8 amp 250v 1.25" by .25" glass fuse

    Right size, it'll fit, it'll work.

    --
    "Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
    1. Re:Fuses by n3hat · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, you don't want a slow-blow fuse -- they're meant to protect motors and other high-inrush-current loads, when driven by wires and switches that can withstand momentary overloads. To protect the output transistor of your amplifier you want a fast-acting fuse.

      8AG and AGX fuses are 1/4 inch diameter and 1 inch long; 3AG and AGC fuses are 1/4 inch diameter and 1-1/4 inch long. There are other physical sizes including 2AG and 5x20mm. All come in slow-blow, normal-blow, and fast-acting. So you need the correct physical size to fit the holder as well as the correct electrical rating to fit the application.

      Check Bussmann and Littelfuse for tech data.
      Check Digi-Key, Allied, Newark, any other electronic distributor for price and availability. But watch for minimum order value rules. Radio Shack claims that if they don't have it, they can order it -- I've never tried.

    2. Re:Fuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A resistor is a resistor, is a resistor.

      I'm throwing out all my resistors and replacing them all with 1K 1/4W units.

      Later on...

      Dear Ask Slashdot,

      I just replaced all my resistors following XO's philosophy, and nothing works anymore. What do I do?

    3. Re:Fuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, you want a slo-blo fuse for an amp. Think of the monstrous 'thunk' of the filter caps charging up if you happen to throw the switch at the peak of the AC cycle?

    4. Re:Fuses by n3hat · · Score: 1

      Depends on whether the fuse in question is in the mains input to the power supply or in the speaker output lead.

      If it's intended to protect an output device against a shorted speaker lead, you *do not* want a slow-blow fuse. Fuses, and your time to replace them, are a lot less expensive than output transistors and the shop labor to replace them.

      In any event, the fuse should be replaced with one of the same size and rating as is marked on the equipment. The designer will (or should) have considered the inrush current in the specification of the fuse.

  7. fix the amp first... by Bazman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You don't want to keep blowing new fuses, so make sure you fix whatever was causing it to blow in the first place! It might be harder to find a replacement for the broken component (if that's what it was) than the fuse...

    1. Re:fix the amp first... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I second this - Phase Linear amps are notorious for oscillating; this condition will get worse and can destroy speakers

    2. Re:fix the amp first... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3rd,
      If you find just 1 blown output transister you'll have to replace the entire stack, 2SD555's aught to work, you'll never get the originals, or if you aren't driving it too hard you could just leave the bad one out. God help you if the driver transistors are NG.

  8. Rare Electronics by N3MCB · · Score: 3, Informative

    While this specific questions seems to have been answered by Digikey in the more general case I would suggest keeping an eye out for Hamfests. Many amateur radio clubs sponsor these events and there should be one near you at some time in the year. Most are good places to stock up on misc electronics.

    Just last week here in Melbourne FL we had one. Some of the goodies I saw were a 1949 RCA TV set and a Motorola repeater with a 1958 in service date on it (both items working). There were tubes galore, antennas, coax, radios, etc.

    1. Re:Rare Electronics by agentk · · Score: 1

      I agree, electronics flea markets are great fun and if you can't find your part you can probably find someone else who can.

      --

      VOS/Interreality project: www.interreality.org

    2. Re:Rare Electronics by Spamlent+Green · · Score: 1

      FYI, I submitted a story about Flea Markets & Swapfests a while back. All sorts of hamfests, surplus centers and the like were submitted:

      Computer/Tech Flea Markets?

  9. A few places... by mjpaci · · Score: 2

    Try:
    Antique Elcetronics Supply: http://www.tubesandmore.com/

    Triode Electronics: http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/index.html

    Or

    Angela Instruments: http://www.angela.com/

  10. Active Surplus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you're not too far from Toronto, Ontario, you might want to give Active Surplus a try. They've got all kinds of weird and wonderful junk, but their web site is crap. They take orders by phone, fax and snail mail, so they might even ship it to you, if they have it.

  11. try ranger audio in calgary, AB. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ranger audios got pretty much any old obsolete electronic part you can think of. i've bought from there recently. awesome.

  12. Not suprised about Radio Shack by MrResistor · · Score: 2

    I've recieved blank stares from Radio Shack managers when I've asked them about such simple things as vacuum tubes. The Shack is pretty much useless when you need actual information.

    However, here are some places I would try:

    Grainger(sp?), which was already mentioned in another post, seems to carry a lot of wierd stuff you can't find anywhere else.

    McMaster-Carr might be another place to look, for the same reasons as Grainger, and their online catalog is the best I've ever used.

    USENET, aka Google Groups. I'm sure there are a few groups dedicated to old amps, and I wouldn't be at all suprised if there were one dedicated to exactly the one you have.

    Search for equivalent parts. What things are called changes sometimes. There are various reasons why, but it's fairly common in electronics. You can buy gigantic books that deal only with what parts are equivalent to what based on manufacturer part numbers and such. Given that, you AGX style fuse could easily still be manufactured under a different name. Someone mentioned 8AG, and I wouldn't be at all suprised if there were at least 2 more.

    Finally, you could modify the amp, or make an adapter for it, that would accept a fuse type that is easier to find. This is actually what I would probably do (make an adapter, I mean, it's always a shame when people start hacking up old gear). This is not an uncommon thing to do, for instance Groove Tubes sells (or did 10 years ago, anyway) solid state replacements for rectifier tubes since they have become extremely difficult to find (and they're part of the power supply, so it doesn't effect the sound). You may be able to find such a thing for your situation.

    --
    Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
    1. Re:Not suprised about Radio Shack by drxenos · · Score: 0

      Yeah, what ever happened to the time when you could walk into your neighborhood Radio Shack, and the guy knew exactly what you wanted? Nowadays, I encounter punk kids who look at me with that blank stare and say, "I don't know what you are talking about."

      --


      Anonymous Cowards suck.
    2. Re:Not suprised about Radio Shack by perfessor+multigeek · · Score: 1

      What happened? They cut their salaries *way* down, the pool of available techies disappeared as the PC support/customization industry expanded beyond Silicon Valley and we all got better jobs, and the number of customers who cared about and understood things like impedence and rise times dropped waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down. For crying out loud! These days people think that making something with LEGO Mindstorms constitutes building it from "scratch".

      In MY day, mumble, grumble. . . ten miles of snow, every day! uphill! BOTH WAYS! . . . wound our own transformer coils with our TEETH . . . cast our own ferrite cores out of melted down cobbler's nails. . . bitch, moan, complain

      --
      Data is the lever, rigor the fulcrum, brains the force that drives it all.
  13. This is it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rare electronics? A freakin' FUSE?

    I was expecting a question along the lines of:

    My Nuvistor input stage on my 547 oscilloscope no longer supplies enough signal to the tunnel diode trigger circuit, so the TO-5 RTL inverter doesn't enable the CA3028A op amp to sweep the trochotron tube.

    A fuse...

    sigh

    1. Re:This is it? by wnl · · Score: 1

      I would be ROFL if it weren't so sadly true.
      Maybe we should start a "secret" internet for
      people like us who know it all ;-) Btw, do
      you know how I can find some of that porn on
      the internet that everybody talks about?
      (NO! Do not put me on any damn mailing lists
      you idiots, I was still kidding.)

  14. Creative solutions by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 3, Insightful
    You have to think back to the '70s, when that amp was made (they have fuses for a reason -- we didn't call 'em "Flame Linear" for nothing!). Electronics makers used the fuses commonly available at the time, which were AUTOMOTIVE fuses. Sure, most cars made since the early 1980s don't use those cylinder fuses anymore, but there's a lot more old cars on the road than old amps in people's living rooms, so for a fuse like that I'd try an auto parts store first.

    And if you can't find a fuse, can I have the amp? :-)

    --
    If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  15. The MIT Flea! by FrankieBoy · · Score: 1

    Since you're in the NY area you might want to check out the MIT Swapfest, it's about 3.5 hours from NY in Cambridge, MA. There is usally a good selection of junk, er...rare items from the computer and ham radio arena. Info is here

  16. Im afraid that you need to fly to Tokyo...... by jcrb · · Score: 1

    A short train ride to Akihabara (Electric town) is your only hope... they have everything you need right here under the train tracks

    --
    -jon
    1. Re:Im afraid that you need to fly to Tokyo...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been to plenty of events where 90% of the crowd,(all male, of course) was wearing something with elastic wrist cuffs, and I remember when 90% of the crowd had pocket protectors, but Akihabara was just too weird. What in the hell were these guys thinking/fantasizing about as they just stared and stared at the boxes of 30 year old electronic parts?

      Then they would take a little step over to the next box and start their staring again.

      There is nothing else like it in the world.

  17. Newark by pbrammer · · Score: 2, Informative

    Newark Electronics sells them...

    Here's your fuse

    Phil

  18. Danger, Will Robinson! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    "A fuse is a fuse, is a fuse"...NOT! The current vs. time curve varies considerably, as does the maximum short-circuit current they can stop safely (i.e., without exploding).

    Having replaced this very same fuse in a Phase Linear amp myself, I know it's the protection for your output transistors. Unless you feel the urge to scrounge up some really rare and expensive parts, use the 8 amp AGX fuse--nothing else, and especially not a slow-blow!

    Then after you've replaced it, make sure you have an acceptable load (speaker impedance), and reduce the volume to keep the output meters off the pegs. If you blew those fuses, you've been pushing that amp really hard.

  19. Where Can You Find Rare Electronic Parts? by commonchaos · · Score: 2, Funny

    Come over to my house!

  20. Newark! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was recently looking for a 1 1/4x1/4 quick blow 250v 100ma! fuse (for a $450k edm machine) and only place that carries that.. Newark Electronics... http://www.newark.com I *know* they'll carry one you want

    1. Re:Newark! by Jonny+290 · · Score: 2

      Bah!

      Just run some AWG 32 between the terminals! ;)

      AWG 16 make for a good ~30A fuse.

      --
      Hey Taco! Looks like you're using the "infinite monkeys and typewriters" scheme to generate Ask Slashdots again...