[Amps] SB-230 Grid Ring

[K4MT]

I am still refurbishing my SB-230 and I have noticed the grid ring on the tube looks badly tarnished. I have checked it with an ohm meter and I see a low resistant connection but that tells me nothing about the RF connection. I have replaced the stud mount bypass caps and re-tightened grid ring. I assume a bad contact on the grid ring would hurt stability. I had both bypass cpas open and the amp worked fine and I saw no difference after replacing them.

What would be the symptoms of a dirty grid ring?  I do notice that when producing full power of over 600 watts I never see more than 10 MA grid current no matter how the amp is tuned. I have rebuilt the entire grid circuit replacing all out of tolerance resistors and caps.  The power supply has been rebuilt, TR relay cleaned, Tank circuit rebuilt and bandswitch cleaned (I am retired an have too much time on my hands). The input circuit is fine and I have low SWR between amp and radio on all bands.

Should I try to clean the grid ring or leave well enough alone?  Looks like I would have to remove the tube and I have read some posts that the socket might fall apart trying to remove it.  Can the grid ring and collet be cleaned without removing the tube?