New Vintage Audio Restoration HQ

Really do your level best to avoid using that stuff in the squeeze bottle. Its the sort of thing I mentioned earlier. I've seen people contaminate circuit boards by overzealous use on tube sockets. Nothing for it- the boards had to be replaced. There is a reason they instruct to wipe off excess when using it in the application notes.
 
atmasphere said:
Really do your level best to avoid using that stuff in the squeeze bottle. Its the sort of thing I mentioned earlier. I've seen people contaminate circuit boards by overzealous use on tube sockets. Nothing for it- the boards had to be replaced. There is a reason they instruct to wipe off excess when using it in the application notes.
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Will do. Thanks Ralph.
 
atmasphere said:
Really do your level best to avoid using that stuff in the squeeze bottle. Its the sort of thing I mentioned earlier. I've seen people contaminate circuit boards by overzealous use on tube sockets. Nothing for it- the boards had to be replaced. There is a reason they instruct to wipe off excess when using it in the application notes.
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Have you ever used tai-flow on the pot shafts? People seem to like it but not sure if using a drop of that would be safe.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
Have you ever used tai-flow on the pot shafts? People seem to like it but not sure if using a drop of that would be safe.
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I'm kind of conservative about these things. The shaft of a control is a mechanical thing an so long as the chemistry used isn't going to mess with the metals involved it should be just fine. The problems can start when that chemistry creeps onto the phenolic and other materials used to make up the control or switch. So you just have to be paying attention when you use such things and make sure there's no excess that can cause trouble down the road.

Good electronics are, IMO, built to last but age degrades things. So you want to give it every change to last as long as possible.
 
atmasphere said:
I'm kind of conservative about these things. The shaft of a control is a mechanical thing an so long as the chemistry used isn't going to mess with the metals involved it should be just fine. The problems can start when that chemistry creeps onto the phenolic and other materials used to make up the control or switch. So you just have to be paying attention when you use such things and make sure there's no excess that can cause trouble down the road.

Good electronics are, IMO, built to last but age degrades things. So you want to give it every change to last as long as possible.
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Thanks. I've found the issue I've run into usually isn't the pots/switches themselves, but rather the drying out over 80 years of the lube they used when made.

I agree with you that less is more - I like to use 2 short squirts of the cleaner - let it dry and then just two drops of the F100 lube. I use the plastic rated one as I *believe* it's more gentle than the regular stuff.
 
Since I already restored and refinished the wood case on my 1935 Supreme tester I got working again, I wanted to spend some time cleaning the faceplate.

Here are some before and after shots. 2 before - 1 during - and 2 after shots.

I spent about 3 hours carefully first wiping down with a car alcohol cleaner used for wax prep, then carefully and lightly applying about 9 applications of polish from medium up to super fine.

You can see in one image that not only does it remove dirt and grime, but also the gold lettering, so you need to be VERY carefully not to over do it and remove the lettering in the desire to get it clean and remove 90 years of scratches.

I also carefully polished the glass and outside of the meter. I know I can get the entire unit more glossy and cleaner, but I need to leave it as is so I don't damage any of the lettering.

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atmasphere said:
Dang! I've done stuff like that and have an idea of how much patience it requires. Looks fabulous, from one geek to another!
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Thanks! I found for me the hardest part is to resist temptation to simply wipe harder or use more aggressive compound.

I get the best results with as little harm to the gold lettering as possible if I do the opposite of car detailing:

On car detailing you'd wash and then go in with a strong abrasive compound and work you way up to a finer one - usually 2 or 3 steps.

For me I use an "underpowered" medium compound once or twice, then even before it would normally be ready to move up to a fine or super-fine compound I move up to them. Although it will take multiple applications to get to my finally level, numerous gentle applications for me yields better results than a few strong applications for saving the delicate lettering.
 
Well, this isn't audio restoration, but it's a table I had made by a guy in the Ozarks for my stereo gear. Don't worry, everything is on Isoacoustic feet. 2" thick black walnut, 6'x2'. It came with a satin finish. I added a bit of ceramic car finish to add a little more gloss. Crazy deep 3D figure in this slab.
- I'll have another post on some different audio wood later today or tomorrow..
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JDC said:
Well, this isn't audio restoration, but it's a table I had made by a guy in the Ozarks for my stereo gear. Don't worry, everything is on Isoacoustic feet. 2" thick black walnut, 6'x2'. It came with a satin finish. I added a bit of ceramic car finish to add a little more gloss. Crazy deep 3D figure in this slab.
- I'll have another post on some different audio wood later today or tomorrow..
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NICE!!!

Just remember when you use any car polishes or anything like that, you must make sure the grain is filled and 100% smooth as glass. Otherwise product will get stuck down in the pores and you'll NEVER be able to get it out.

Don't ask me how I know. :)
 
Michaels HiFi said:
NICE!!!

Just remember when you use any car polishes or anything like that, you must make sure the grain is filled and 100% smooth as glass. Otherwise product will get stuck down in the pores and you'll NEVER be able to get it out.

Don't ask me how I know. :)
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Good advice. Yeah I had the guy sand it down to 600 at my request and he used a satin compound varnish before I added the car stuff.
 
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Really interesting tube tester update today.

I spent about 3 hours going through the tubes I've received the last week.

My process involves first visually inspecting the tube for any obvious damage, then a light cleaning of the pins so I don't import junk/dirt/oils/grime into my tube sockets, and then I will test the same tube on 1-4 testers, depending on the results.

I have a TV-7 calibrated updated by the country's foremost TV-7 expert, so it's 100% set. I enjoy the TV-7, thought it's not my favorite. I really love my Weston 798.

However the TV-7 is fast to use and the reason I keep it is because it is universally recognized by tube buyers as one of the testers they prefer to see results from. HOWEVER, I've read quite a bit about it's many issues - for instance it overdrives some tubes so that tubes that are weak will sometimes look strong and give a false positive reading.

Well I experienced that today.

I tested a pair of 1930 CX-345 tubes I received first on my recently restored 1935 Supreme tester. They tested in the red - a bit below the red/green split.

Hmmmm.......

I put them on my TV-7 and it tested well.

I them put them on the Weston 978 (I find it more accurate than the TV-7) and sure enough they tested just into the red on the meter.

I kind chucked - my 1935 tube tester worked great and the super-duper military one did poorly!

I'll definitely be sending the tubes back for refund.



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Here is a picture of a tube I received that was advertised as testing "NOS". As you can see it was far from it.



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Michaels HiFi said:
Here is a picture of a tube I received that was advertised as testing "NOS". As you can see it was far from it.
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That really isn't a good metric. Look at the pins prior to putting it into a socket to see if there's any wear on them.

You can have NOS tubes that are duds. They are usually untested from the factory; not all of them were good.

I would send this one back in any case...
 
atmasphere said:
That really isn't a good metric. Look at the pins prior to putting it into a socket to see if there's any wear on them.

You can have NOS tubes that are duds. They are usually untested from the factory; not all of them were good.

I would send this one back in any case...
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Agreed. He had marketed it as "matched pair and tested on as TV-7 as NOS measurements". Both the tubes from him were well into the red so they were both extremely poor.

I also check across multiple testers in case one tester just throws a funny reading on a tube for some reason.
 
JDC said:
Well, this isn't audio restoration, but it's a table I had made by a guy in the Ozarks for my stereo gear. Don't worry, everything is on Isoacoustic feet. 2" thick black walnut, 6'x2'. It came with a satin finish. I added a bit of ceramic car finish to add a little more gloss. Crazy deep 3D figure in this slab.
- I'll have another post on some different audio wood later today or tomorrow..
View attachment 35218
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gorgeous slab, congrats
 
Thank you. I think they call that figure on walnut "feathering." I could stare at it all day but now it's covered with my components!..
 
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