How do you clean tube pins?


I'm sure there must be some discussion on how to clean tube pins (both power and small input tubes), but I haven't been able to find much on the subject. Specifically:

1) As tube pins are so close to each other, what tool do you use to clean the pin?
2) What solvents do you use?
3) How often should you clean tube pins?
4) Any other advise / suggestions you'd like to share.

In advance, thanks for any suggestions you may offer.
louisl

Showing 4 responses by tbg

Take a normal pencil. Drill a small hole in the end centered. Fit tube pin into drilled hole and rotate. If you need to get SST off use an emory board.
Mrjstark, I don't think you want to go so far as to say there is no benefit from cleaning gold pinned tubes. Most plating is ultra thin and I have seen dirty quetips using cleaner on gold pins. Also pipe cleaners, I have found, work better than compressed air in sockets.

It is hard to find a "plain metal polish," as most try to retard oxidation. I have no idea what voodoo crap means.
Markphd, I have found that rotating RCAs slightly each night and doing clockwise on even days and counter clockwise on odd days does wonders. I often forget, however.