Vacuum tubes

how do you test vacuum tubes to see if they are any good?

Reply to
bigjcw1023
Loading thread data ...

A mutual conductance tube tester works pretty well.

Reply to
mark

Realistically, with a tube characteristic tester ...

Otherwise, you might be able to test a few types for basic functionality by subbing them into a known working piece of kit that used the same types, but you probably wouldn't go down a storm when you popped a tube with an internal short into great uncle Jimmy's pride and joy vintage radio ... :-\

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Hi Smitty

I guess it probably comes from the theatre, although I'm not too sure about that. Perhaps someone else may have heard it in that context? Over here if an act is really well received - say a comedian or a singer or band perhaps, it's often said that they "went down a storm" with the audience, which I'm guessing probably referred originally to the 'storm' of noise created by the applause and general appreciation, so perhaps that gives you a better idea. Looking at the phrase again, "a storm" is used descriptively in this case, rather than as a noun, which is perhaps why its meaning comes across oddly your side of the pond.

So translated, it means "would not be accepted with much appreciation" d;~}

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Hey Smitty, I just took a look on the 'net to see if I could find anything that confirmed or otherwise what I said in the post above, and interestingly, there are several people asking what you did. Just as a matter of interest, we also say "go down a bundle" here to mean the same thing. That may come from the phrase "a bundle of laughs" but again, I'm not sure. It would seem reasonable though, as if something was 'bad' or not well received, then there would be no cause for laughter or other good cheer. "Go down a storm" does get used for both positive and negative meanings, but the same phrase using "bundle" tends only to be used in a negative context.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

In the good old days....

You could go down to your local Eckerd drugs and use their TUBE TESTER. It was a rather large console filled with knobs switches and buttons. You used a paper scroll to find your tube number i.e. 6V6. Then, you read the settings for the tube and set the machine accordingly. In the bottom of the console, were drawers containing new tubes. Hopefully, if yours was bad, they had a new replacement.

I wonder where they all went?

I have since aquired an old health kit suitcase model but I don't think it works. I havn't really needed it.

db

Reply to
D-unit

I think that "going down a storm" has been used equally in both connotations for as long as I can remember, over here at least ...

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

Back in those days I had a tube tester I bought from....I can't remember, either Heathkit or Allied radio or Lafayette electronics. It has several style socket types from 7 and 9 pin miniature, 12 pin, 8 pin octal, 11 pin and others. It had switches and knobs to set the filament voltage and stuff. A row of some 30 other switches that had to be set. you used a chart, looked up the tube number, plugged it in the right socket, set the switches and read the output on a meter. I wonder what happened to that?

When you test a tube you test several things, filament, cathode, grid or grids and the anode. It's not simple.

Reply to
Punjab The Sailor Man

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.