[Amps] Cleaning tubes

[Carl]

Windex

Carl
KM1H


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Brown" <ken.d.brown at hawaiiantel.net>
To: <amps at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2010 6:37 PM
Subject: [Amps] Cleaning tubes


> Hi all,
> 
> I have a bunch of old tubes which have not been stored properly. I want 
> to clean them up before checking filaments and then offering them for 
> sale or trade to hams.
> 
> I expect this topic must have been covered here before, yet a quick 
> search on "tube cleaning" did not find any results that were helpful. 
> What I would like to know is: What is the best way to clean tubes, 
> without leaving any residue that would have negative effects on the 
> tube's ability to dissipate heat, and which would also not remove the 
> part number and brand name from the tubes? Perhaps the best way is to 
> cover the label to protect it while cleaning the rest. How about the 
> aluminum bases on tubes such as 813? What is the best way the clean 
> those without scratching them.
> 
> I would also like to know if there are any easy ways to check tube 
> efficacy, without having an amplifier that uses the tube type I want to 
> check. Of course I already know how to light up the filaments with the 
> correct voltage to see if the filaments are good, and I would do the 
> basic interelectrode short testing with a VOM or DMM. Is there some easy 
> way to determine whether a tube is likely to be good, short of operating 
> it in a amplifier? Some sort of cathode emission test? I presume that I 
> would need most of a whole amplifier circuitry and power supplies to do 
> a real transconductance test.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any useful suggestions,
> 
> Ken N6KB
> 
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