[iano]

Just with the title I have probably betrayed my lack of knowledge of tubes, but just needed a word of advice. I recently bought a Minimax tube amp (no headphone connection) and founds the prongs (or stems?) of the tubes that came with it seemed fairly dirty...a little like a battery connection might be if left unused in an electronic item for too long.

I could not see inside the parts the stems plug into, but I assume they might not be 100% clean also.

I have started to clean then tube stems with Deoxit (and with a brush that comes in the Caig Audio Survival kit.

Is this what the tubes experts on the site would recommend?

As far as I can tell so far, the sound seems fine, but since its a completely new (to me) amp, I'm not yet familiar with it to truly tell.

Any (constructive) words of advice on this would be welcomed. Thanks.

Ian [iano]

 

[Hirsch]

Sounds good to me. I clean the pins of my tubes with DeOxit routinely. Just make sure to follow the directions and wipe them clean completely before inserting into the tube socket.

 

[djbnh]

If the tube pins look very bad, you can use a very fine grit sandpaper, then Caig DeOxit.

 

[iano]

Many thanks for both replies, I'll keep working with the Deoxit and try to sandpaper idea.

Ian

 

[gundam91]

Warning! Any cleaner might eat away the sealant between the glass and pins. Usually, just by pulling the tube in and out of the socket a few times will clean the pins somehow. Others have suggested some type of metal brush on the pins. But the consensus is to stay away with using spray on cleaners.

 

[jamato8]

In all my years of using tubes I have never had the sealant dissolved unless bad to begin with.

I would not use sandpaper. What I do use is a fine wire wheel on my Dremel. I then use a light application of Silclear (silver mix) and a bit of Pro Gold by Caig. This works great even on very hot tubes.

John

 

[gundam91]

It's been discussed to death over at the Tube Asylum. The consensus was that using chemicals to clean the legs would cause the seal to break or leak. No personal experience. I am just playing it safe.

 

[jamato8]

I would reread it that is not the general conclusion. I have been using Caig products for yeas, as others have, with no problems. If the tube was defective to begin with then that is another story and I guess the cleaner could advance the problem but on its own I have never had a problem. The increase in sound quality is worth it. And since people here may not get over to the Tube Asylum I do not see that as relevant.


John

 

[djbnh]

I've used the sandpaper, Deoxit, then Walker SST. LLoyd Walker's directions for SST report: Quote:

Treating Tubes We experienced a big improvement when we applied SST to the pins of the tubes in our amplifiers. We suggest cleaning the pins with fine sandpaper in the direction on the pins. Clean with a contact cleaner, then apply a thin, even coat of SST to about 2/3 the length of the male pin.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Now quote the posts about people shorting their tube amp from putting the silver contact enhancer on their tubes heh. *exercise auction, that stuff is conductive*

Biggie.

 

[djbnh]

Biggie - Why stop there? Get a good read about the sad cases who win the Darwins Awards for stupidity. Here's an example or two:
Quote:

Death by Lava Lamp 28 November 2004, Washington | We have a new Darwin winner, with the recent demise of a man at the hands of his lava lamp. "Why on Earth he heated a lava lamp on the stove, we don't know," said baffled police. No drug or alcohol evidence was found; Philip Quinn, 24, in his right mind, placed a lava lamp on his kitchen burner and turned up the flame. In due course, he rediscovered this favorite explosive generator of deadly shrapnel. He was found dead in his Kent trailer home, a shard of glass through his heart.

Quote:

Workin' at the Car Wash 2003 Darwin Award Nominee Confirmed True by Darwin (29 January 2003, Brazil) At work, Manoel Messias Batista Coelho was responsible for cleaning out the storage tanks of gasoline tanker trucks. He had been employed in that capacity for two months when he ran afoul of fuel. The 35-year-old began to fill a tanker with water, a standard safety procedure that forces flammable vapor out of the container. He returned an hour later to check whether the water level was high enough to proceed. But he had trouble deciding, because it was so DARK inside the tanker. A resourceful employee, Manoel forgot the very reason why he was filling the tank with water when he lit a cigarette lighter to shed some light on the situation. His little test successfully determined that the water level was NOT yet high enough for safety. The vapor explosion launched him through the air, and he landed in the company parking lot 100 meters away. Manoel suffered severe burns, blunt force trauma, and an injury to the head that exposed his brain. Our witless car washer had learned his terminal lesson in safety by the time the firemen arrived.

Quote:

New Dating Technique 1997 Darwin Award Nominee Confirmed True by Darwin (30 December 1997, Mexico) A security guard intending to impress female friends took a deadly gamble, losing his game of Russian roulette at a La Paz fast-food restaurant. Police say Victor Alba, 21, died instantly Saturday when he put his .38-caliber revolver to his head and pulled the trigger at a suburban hamburger outlet. Alba was trying to "impress some female friends," according to the newspaper Hoy de La Paz.

etc

 

[easypeasy]

So would the dirty tube prongs be responsible for the high pitched beep I hear everytime I shutdown my amp

I am not keep at the moment to open up the amp case, don't think it would do the warranty any good

 

[gundam91]

Just did some research over at the Tube Asylum to refresh my bad memory. It seems OK to use DeOxiT to clean the pins. Pro-Gold, on the other hand, either the low or the high-temperature version will create some type of gum residue between the pins and the socket and muddy up the sound after a while.

 

[jamato8]

All Pro Gold is now high temperature.I use it with no problem but use very little. Even Caig will tell you that if too much is used it will actually cut down on conduction. You want almost a gas state of application.

John