cleaning the pins of NOS tubes...bad idea?

It isn't a bad idea to clean the pins from time to time. Hopefully the market will go towards creating tubes with gold-plated pins:-)

I'm not a tube old-timer, but I clean my tube pins with either Caig Pro gold, Flitz, or whatever appropriate product at hand. I then apply a thin layer of contact enhancer, in this case Sil-clear, fine silver paste to insure best contact. As elsewhere in electronics, clean, tight, connections are job one in trouble free use of audio equipment. Do use clean hands or gloves when handling your tubes, however.

Regards,
Dan

For heavy oxidation, I use a dremel fitting with a polishing wheel and jeweler's polishing rouge. Use a very light touch.

It is a good idea to make the contact as clean and smooth as possible, the above ideas are good. I recall that Andy Bouwman also sands the pins in the tubes that he sells.

Caig has a brand new product out that is specifically designed for this type of cleaning. I received an e-mail from Music Direct the other day that showcased this cleaner. Just do a search for Caig on the music direct site and you'll find it. I think its $40 or so.

I just ordered it, and what you are getting is a bottle of the original G100 formula of ProGold, with cleaning bruhes and applicators. I haven't found the G100 available in any other form, I like it better than their current available cleaning products.

Dan

Use care when removing tubes with a base.Its easy to break the base loose.Also,you need to be careful about the writing if you want to resell them.The writing rubs off fairly easy.

Thanks all -- much appreciated.

--dan

Clean pins do better contact/better sound than dirty ones.Not rocket scientist idea.

If you are not absolutely sure that your contact enhancer will not rub off and bake into and onto your tube socket, then don't use it. Instead, as suggested, do a very light sanding or buffing of the oxidation.

Pencil eraser and alcohol wipes. Safe, effective, cheap, tried and true.

The **most** I ever use is a simple contact cleaner like you get at Radio Shack. After cleaning the tube pins, I wipe them down to remove all excess.

The reason I am careful about this is it is very easy to contaminate the base of the tube and/or the socket itself. Some contact enhancers are conductive or have capacitive effect, or break down in the presence of high voltage. Some 'enhancers' and creep from contact to contact, causing reduced performance!

You can RUIN your equipment if any such materials get into your sockets- I've seen it happen. That is why I am very careful about this. Some sockets have really high voltages across them at turn on and certain materials can contribute to arcing. That can damage the socket, possibly an output transformer or power supply part... its not worth it,

Im always careful when handling tubes, as they dont tolerate any kind of oils, like the ones we have on our hands. I generally use contact cleaners.