Tube Testing - Offer of support

[Pilgrim]

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I own two tube testers.  If any of you folks need tubes tested and can't get it done locally, you are welcome to send them to me and I'll test and return them.  All you need to do is pay the shipping.  I know it's a pain in the butt to ship stuff like tubes, but there may be someone who is really in need of this...used to be that every supermarket had a tube tester by the checkstands, but now they're mighty scarce.

If you want to do this, just PM me or email me.

[Denis]

Wow, I remember those tube testing machines! The Eckerd Drugs near my house used to have one.

[Pilgrim]

Yup.  One tester I found while cleaning out an estate for a friend - it's about briefcase sized, and he gave it to me.  The other is suitcase-sized and came from a university as surplus.  Works great.  Of course, all I REALLY need in the world is two tube testers...............geez.

[Highlander]

Never, ever knowingly seen one, and the "drug-store" culture just did not happen here - plenty of "tea-shops"... 

You could always sell one, but if the other ever failed... 

and damn... wrong side of the "pond"... if you were round the corner or I were more active... 

[Dave W]

I don't remember them at pharmacies, though they may have been there. But every 7-Eleven had one, so did most other covenience stores. They would be on a stand which also had the store's stock of tubes. This was back when all radios and TVs were all-tube. Transistor radios didn't really get a foothold in the market here until the end of the 50s and even then it was a long time until tube radios bit the dust. Hybrid TVs were around well into the 70s.

Then there was Radio Shack, which actually once was a place with lots of tubes and radios. Now their main business seems to be cell phones and GPS units.

[lowend1]

Then there was Radio Shack, which actually once was a place with lots of tubes and radios. Now their main business seems to be cell phones and GPS units.

And cheapie RC cars.
With my dad fixing radios and TVs as a sideline, we were always in and out of Lafayette Radio and a local chain called Nidisco Electronics. Naturally, they both had tube testers, as did our local department store, Modell's. (Yes, the same Modell's that now sells sporting goods exclusively) I've had several tube testers over the years - but I've never owned a Hickock, which is pretty much the gold standard. I keep one around to check if a tube is completely toast or not before trying to use it, but the fact of the matter is that even the best ones are not capable of hitting the tube with actual operating voltage. My father used to say that the best tube tester is the "set" (old terminology) that it will be used in.

[the mojo hobo]

Radio Shack sold tubes under the "Life Time" brand, and guaranteed them for life. I worked at Radio Shack in the early Nineties and at that time you could still buy tubes from them. They had to be special ordered, of course.

[Dave W]

I avoided Radio Shack for years whenever possible because they were so obnoxious about pestering you for your name and address even if you were just buying a 50 cent part.

I finally started telling them I was "Mr. Cash" but still wouldn't give them my address.

[Pilgrim]

I ordered a couple of replacement tubes through Radio Shack a few years ago, then figured out it was less expensive and there were more options by ordering online.

[bobyoung]

And cheapie RC cars.
With my dad fixing radios and TVs as a sideline, we were always in and out of Lafayette Radio and a local chain called Nidisco Electronics. Naturally, they both had tube testers, as did our local department store, Modell's. (Yes, the same Modell's that now sells sporting goods exclusively) I've had several tube testers over the years - but I've never owned a Hickock, which is pretty much the gold standard. I keep one around to check if a tube is completely toast or not before trying to use it, but the fact of the matter is that even the best ones are not capable of hitting the tube with actual operating voltage. My father used to say that the best tube tester is the "set" (old terminology) that it will be used in.

I have a good Hickok tester and use it to check for shorts, weak tubes etc. but I'm a ham and have many many tube radios and transmitters along with my SVT's. I do too believe the best checker is the "set". Guitar amp tubes are pretty easy to diagnose without a tester, preamp tubes get noisy and microphonic and power tube's heaters make the outer metal jacket (plate) glow red when they're bad. Tubes can last a very long time especially if they're old American tubes.

[Pilgrim]

Tubes can last a very long time especially if they're old American tubes.

Ain't that a fact?  I have mostly original tubes in my 1967 Blackface Bassman - although it doesn't get used a lot.

[OldManC]

I wonder if (back in the day) where you found your tube testers was regional... In Southern California it was always the local Thrifty Drug Store for me (or other similar stores). I don't remember seeing tube testers in Radio Shack, but I didn't really start going into those until 1978 or so. Never saw one in a 7-11 in L.A.

 

[Dave W]

Could be, but keep in mind I'm talking about the 1950s, when 7-11 was still a regional chain. They were actually still only open from 7 to 11 back then.    And no Slurpees either!

[Pilgrim]

I'm pretty sure that they had tube testers in Safeway stores, and I know there was one in the front end of the local IGA affiliate for years.

[rahock]

They were actually still only open from 7 to 11 back then.    And no Slurpees either!

Ah yes, the Pre Slurppee period, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth and the great glaciers were just beginning to spread from the polar regions. These glaciers eventually covered the earth and their ice was later used to make Slurpees at the 7 11s that now cover the earth that the dinosaurs used to roam.
Yeah I remember that
Rick