Rescued some tubes - now what?

[Andy Tefft]

This is slightly off-topic but I knew some of you would have knowledge and interest :-)

I rescued some tubes from a couple of old (40's and 50's) radios that were getting the crowbar treatment (although I started to, that story is too sad to recount). One of them surprised me by having a magic eye tube, which I've never seen in person, which is what prompted me to pull out all the tubes I could. Wish I'd had time to salvage sockets as well.

Now, I am not a tube guy. I don't know if any of these work or whether they'd be worth ebaying if they did work. One of the radios did at least amplify the dust noise in the volume knob.  I'd love to make something with them (the magic eye especially) but don't have the time to learn or to do it.

What I do know is that I'd rather have them get used than end up in a dumpster. Is there any value at all in salvaged tubes? I think the magic eye is a 6e5 type (I don't have them with me and haven't made a list yet). Anyone seen a decent kit I can plug this into that will just do "something"?

[Instrument Resources of America]

6E5 is one of the most common eye tubes, but if it's still good and bright, (a tube tester will show this), it can still be used for something. Don't throw them away as they can still be used by someone. Put the whole lot up on Ebay if you have to. I have seen from time to time, projects out there using eye tubes. The 6E5 and IIRC the 6U5 and 6G5 were all really easy to use as they all had a triode amplifier built into the same envelope. Good for you for saving them. A shame for those old radios.    Ira.

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[Instrument Resources of America]

P.S. I may have an interest in some or all of those tubes as I'm an avid tube collector and radio/television restorer. If you want to find a home for them, please get back to me.   Ira.

On 7/13/2015 5:48 AM, Andy Tefft wrote:

[Charles MacDonald]

On 15-07-13 08:48 AM, Andy Tefft wrote:
> This is slightly off-topic but I knew some of you would have knowledge
> and interest :-)
>
> I rescued some tubes from a couple of old (40's and 50's) radios that
> were getting the crowbar treatment (although I started to, that story is
> too sad to recount). One of them surprised me by having a magic eye
> tube, which I've never seen in person, which is what prompted me to pull
> out all the tubes I could. Wish I'd had time to salvage sockets as well.
>

The 6E5 is a very popular tube, although as has already been said they
often get dim with age. This data sheet has some information and sample
circuits. Basically the tube acts like a small voltmeter with very low
effect on the voltage it is indicating. Besides radio tuning you will
often find them in Capacitor testers.

http://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/021/6/6E5.pdf

and a slightly different sheet
http://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/049/6/6E5.pdf

and this older one which going into a bit more detail
http://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/201/6/6E5.pdf

> What I do know is that I'd rather have them get used than end up in a
> dumpster. Is there any value at all in salvaged tubes? I think the magic
> eye is a 6e5 type (I don't have them with me and haven't made a list
> yet). Anyone seen a decent kit I can plug this into that will just do
> "something"?

Hard to tell as the 6E5 was used in a LOT of different radio designs, so
the rest of the tubes can be many different types for a 30 year
technology span. all we can say for sure is you could probably build a
radio. (or a audio amp using the two or three tubes from the speaker
driving part.)

Too bad about the radios. Any that would have a eye tube were probably
higher end units and worth considering restoring, unless waterlogged or
similar.

--
Charles MacDonald Stittsville Ontario
cm...@zeusprune.ca Just Beyond the Fringe
No Microsoft Products were used in sending this e-mail.

[Andy Tefft]

The magic eye tube was in a "Recordio" -- probably a 6B40B based on the date codes on the tubes -  that originally looked much like this one: http://78records.cdbpdx.com/RECORDIO/WGRC/ but had been in a damp basement with a frequently-wet floor for who-knows-how-many years (at least 20 but probably closer to 40). The top half wasn't too bad but the bottom half was all de-laminating. The chassis of the electronics part was pretty rusty. I have a feeling it didn't work when it was moved down there -- the power cord was half-severed and most people would have fixed that if it was otherwise working. Other than a heavy layer of dust, the tubes look in pretty good shape since their pins were protected by their sockets. I haven't cleaned the dust off since I don't want to accidentally remove markings. If I had had time to do a little research on it I might have tried to save more of it. Especially if I had noticed the magic eye before it was too late. The little window for it was so cloudy I had no clue it was anything significant.

My father-in-law had a tube tester but I haven't found a power cord that fits it. I have no idea how to use it but there's a book with it, so maybe I'll be able to at least light it up.

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[Instrument Resources of America]

If you can, send me a pic of where the power cord fits onto the tester. I'll see if I have anything around here that will fit it.   Ira.

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