← Reference

EF86

also 6267 · 6267 (US equivalent — the designation the published AC15 redraw prints beside the valve)

Philips/Mullard A.F. small-signal pentode — the Normal-channel input valve of the Vox AC15, and the valve that gives that channel its gain. A pentode amplifier delivers several times the voltage gain of a triode stage in the same place, so the amp is already working hard at modest settings. The trade is fragility: the EF86 is famously microphonic in a combo cabinet, which is why the louder AC30/6 substituted an ECC83 for it in the same position.

Basing (pinout)

Bottom view — the socket as you see it from the wiring side. Hover, tap, or focus a pin to name it. Read from the datasheet basing diagram (how to read these →).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Hover, tap, or focus a pin to name it.

  • High voltage (B+)
  • Control grid
  • Cathode
  • Heater / filament
  • Internal connection

Viewed from below (socket / wiring side) · noval 9-pin (B9A) · basing —

⚡ Oxblood pins sit at B+ — hundreds of volts in service, lethal, and still charged after power-off.

Datasheets

Primary manufacturer data, via public tube-data archives. The model below is fitted to the tabulated "average characteristics" in these sheets; the datasheet files themselves are linked, never rehosted.

PublisherTypeSource
Philips / Mullard EF86 frank.pocnet.net ↗
Philips EF86 (1956 issue) frank.pocnet.net ↗

Circuit Codex model

A CC0 ngspice model in the Koren form, fitted here to the published anchor — no parameters copied from other model collections. Methodology →

Anchor
Va=250 V, Vg2=140 V, Vg3=0 V, Vg1=-2.2 V → Ia=3.0 mA, Ig2=0.6 mA, gm=2200 µmho
Source
Philips/Mullard EF86 data sheet, January 1970 (A.F. Pentode), typical characteristics
Note
µ is the grid-No.1-to-grid-No.2 amplification factor (38), the tabulated amplification factor on the same typical-characteristics row as Ia/Ig2/gm; the sheet prints Ri=2.5 MΩ alongside. Ig2 is tabulated at the plate/gm point, so KG1 and KG2 both anchor there. EX=1.5 and KVB=30 (pentode) are project defaults per METHODOLOGY.md. Note that Philips' earlier (1956) issue of the same sheet prints the typical point as Vg1=-2 V, S=2.0 mA/V with identical Ia/Ig2/µ/Ri; the 1970 issue's -2.2 V / 2.2 mA/V figures are the ones fitted.
File
models/ef86.inc ↗

See these parameters drawn: the load line explorer plots the EF86's plate-curve family from this model and solves an operating point on it.

Maximum ratings

Limiting values under the design-centre rating system. One watt of anode dissipation and a 6 mA cathode ceiling put this valve firmly in small-signal service — it is a pentode, but it is not an output pentode, and the AC15 works it at a couple of milliamps. The unusually generous grid-No.1 circuit resistance is the tell of a valve designed for a high-impedance input stage.

Anode voltage, no current
550 V
Anode voltage
300 V
Anode dissipation
1 W
Grid No.2 voltage, no current
550 V
Grid No.2 voltage
200 V
Grid No.2 dissipation
0.2 W
Cathode current
6 mA
Grid-No.1 circuit resistor
10 MΩ if Wa < 0.2 W · 3 MΩ if Wa > 0.2 W · 22 MΩ with grid-current biasing
Cathode-to-heater voltage
100 V cathode positive · 50 V cathode negative
Rating system
Design centre — carries an allowance for manufacturing spread
Source
Philips EF86 data sheet, January 1970 — limiting values (design-centre rating system) ↗