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Cleaning Vacuum Tube Pins?

post #1 of 17
2/11/12 at 11:42pm
Thread Starter 

What is the best way to go about cleaning vacuum tube pins? I've been getting some noise for a while, and it's finally become a bother to me. I've heard folks say there is a special solution+brush that you can buy that will remove oxidization, but I don't know where to find such a thing. Any particular brand I should get? Links would be very helpful too!

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post #2 of 17
2/12/12 at 12:12am

I use an aluminum handle brush with .003" Stainless Steel Bristles, ( like a tooth brush)... sold by M.G.Chemicals(WWW. mgchemicals.com) the catalog number is 858 I believe it was about 13 or 14 bucks...you just hold the tube with a cotton towel to protect the markings on the tube and brush each pin back and forth until each pin is clean...... I don't use any liquid cleaners just the brush.... Some guys use pencil erasers, but they're hard to get every part of the pin........Be gentle you don't want to bend your pins... hope this helps.  

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post #3 of 17
2/12/12 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 

Looks like that particular brush was discontinued. Any other ideas?

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post #4 of 17
2/12/12 at 1:30am

The following 2 items work for me.

 

1. 99% (Isopropyl) alcohol

 

This is actually the main ingredient in many of the so-called "branded" cleaners.

You can get this from any nearby pharmacy.

 

2. Cotton Q-Tips

 

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post #5 of 17
2/12/12 at 2:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Soth View Post

The following 2 items work for me.

 

1. 99% (Isopropyl) alcohol

 

This is actually the main ingredient in many of the so-called "branded" cleaners.

You can get this from any nearby pharmacy.

 

2. Cotton Q-Tips

 


 

Would Q-Tips work? I was under the impression that you needed something a little tougher to scrape the oxidized metal off.

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post #6 of 17
2/12/12 at 2:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kukuk View Post


 

Would Q-Tips work? I was under the impression that you needed something a little tougher to scrape the oxidized metal off.

 

The Q-tips have to be used in combination with the alcohol.

 

This method works because the 99% alcohol can easily dissolve just about anything.

 

With the Q-tips, all my vacuum tubes become "squeaky" clean.

 

For those really nasty cases, yeah, I'm talking about 1950s NOS tubes, I let the tube pins soak in alcohol for a few minutes.

 

 


Edited by Lord Soth - 2/12/12 at 2:19am
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post #7 of 17
2/12/12 at 2:23am
Thread Starter 

Oh, coolness. I'll have to give that a try.

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post #8 of 17
2/12/12 at 11:50am

I use fine emery sand paper. I sand the pins horizontally which helps to burnish the socket contacts when the tube is inserted/removed.

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post #9 of 17
2/12/12 at 5:13pm
Thread Starter 

Just tried cleaning with alcohol, didn't work. Wondering if it's just because suck at cleaning the pins though. lol.

 

I don't think the tube itself is going bad though, because if I wiggle the tube the noise will stop for a moment.

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post #10 of 17
2/13/12 at 8:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kukuk View Post

Just tried cleaning with alcohol, didn't work. Wondering if it's just because suck at cleaning the pins though. lol.

 

I don't think the tube itself is going bad though, because if I wiggle the tube the noise will stop for a moment.


Hi Kukuk,

 

Do you swap tubes very often?

 

Coz' your problem sounds like it could be due to loose tube sockets.

This usually happens to those who swap tubes a lot.

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post #11 of 17
2/13/12 at 10:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kukuk View Post

Just tried cleaning with alcohol, didn't work. Wondering if it's just because suck at cleaning the pins though. lol.

 

I don't think the tube itself is going bad though, because if I wiggle the tube the noise will stop for a moment.



Try lemon juice or a fine emery board to clean the pins.

Use Deoxit Gold to coat the tube pins and then put them back.

That should enhance the contact between tube and socket.

 

Hope it helps.


Edited by rosgr63 - 2/13/12 at 10:00pm
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post #12 of 17
2/13/12 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Soth View Post


Hi Kukuk,

 

Do you swap tubes very often?

 

Coz' your problem sounds like it could be due to loose tube sockets.

This usually happens to those who swap tubes a lot.



I only have these stock tubes, so the only swapping I'd do is to check to see if the noise follows the switch (which is does).

 

Sounds like an emery board would be my best bet. I'll have to grab one, since up until now I had no reason to own one. tongue.gif

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post #13 of 17
2/14/12 at 5:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kukuk View Post



I only have these stock tubes, so the only swapping I'd do is to check to see if the noise follows the switch (which is does).

 

Sounds like an emery board would be my best bet. I'll have to grab one, since up until now I had no reason to own one. tongue.gif


Hi Kukuk,

 

Please let us know if the emery board eventually works for you!

 

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post #14 of 17
2/14/12 at 5:12am

An old school trick is to use a pencil erasor. It works well

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post #15 of 17
2/25/12 at 7:45pm

Try DeoxIT ... http://www.caig.com/

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