6GW8
6GW8 is also designated ECL86. Completed sales put the typical price at $27.70 per tube.
Overview
The 6GW8 is a miniature vacuum tube of the type used in television receiver and audio equipment applications. The surviving datasheet fragments indicate that it contains two independent control grids, consistent with a multi-unit construction, and that it is designed for use with a miniature socket.
Construction and Ratings
The tube is a miniature type with a 7-contact socket, per one fragment, while other fragments reference a miniature 9-contact socket and outlines sections 5C, 6B, and 6G. Heater ratings vary among fragments: one gives a heater voltage of 6.3 volts (ac/dc) with a heater current of 0.7 amperes, another gives 6.3 volts with 0.6 amperes, and a third gives only the voltage. The average warm-up time is given as 11 seconds. Maximum heater-cathode voltage is stated in one fragment as 100 volts peak, and in another as ±200 volts peak with 100 volts average.
Applications
The 6GW8 is described in various fragments as being used in gated-agc-amplifier circuits and as a noise-inverter tube in color and black-and-white television receivers. It is also noted for use in preamplifier and audio output stages of audio equipment and television receivers. The triode unit is used as a sync-separator or voltage-amplifier tube. The pentode unit is used as a video if-amplifier, agc-amplifier, or reactance tube. One fragment mentions a miniature type with a frame-grid pentode unit used as combined oscillator and mixer tubes in vhf color and black-and-white television receivers, though the sheet is too garbled to confirm whether this refers directly to the 6GW8 or to a related type.
| Designation | Evidence | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| ECL86 | 56 independent documents | confirmed |
Equivalence is asserted only where the archive's own literature states it directly, in at least 40 separate documents. Tubes that merely substitute in some circuits are not listed here.
| Measure | Per tube |
|---|---|
| Median | $27.70 |
| Typical range (25th–75th) | $22.95 – $37.25 |
| Most sales (10th–90th) | $15.39 – $48.55 |
| Extremes incl. outliers | $10.00 – $78.54 |
| Completed sales | 32 |
| Brand | Median | Range | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mullard | $24.59 | $22.98 – $30.00 | 8 |
| GE | $29.30 | $14.99 – $35.00 | 5 |
| Sylvania | $23.97 | $22.95 – $35.00 | 4 |
| Amperex | $35.75 | $10.00 – $37.99 | 3 |
| Siemens | $25.00 | $15.49 – $29.75 | 3 |
| Telefunken | $37.25 | $24.24 – $77.40 | 3 |
| Condition | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| NOS | $29.62 | 14 |
| used | $27.70 | 16 |
Per-tube prices from completed sales, 2026-04-08 to 2026-09-23. Matched pairs and quads are divided out. See the price index for how these move over time.
Original manufacturer datasheets for 6GW8, hosted by Frank Philipse's Electron Tube Data sheets.
| Manufacturer | Designation | Datasheet |
|---|---|---|
| RCA (RC30) | 6GW8 | PDF (800 KB) |
| RCA (HB3) | 6GW8 | PDF (61 KB) |
| Mazda-Belvu | ECL86 | PDF (856 KB) |
| Philips | ECL86 | PDF (555 KB) |
| Philips | ECL86 | PDF (344 KB) |
Documents held here and used to write this page.
- 6HB7
- CARACTERISTIQUES GENERALES (filed under ECL86)