How do you clean tube pins?

I've been using contact cleaners of varying discriptions on tube pins for 30 some years. All it takes is reading the instructions and a modicum of common sense to use them successfully, and without any sort of damage.

I've had good luck cleaning steel tube pins on small signal tubes by cutting small strips of 1000-1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper and wrapping that around the pins and oscillating the paper over the pins. Really gets into all the hard to reach areas that are harder for me to reach with the steel wool method.

Bend a pipe cleaner 180* dip it in Kontak cleaner and you will be able to clean all sides of a tube pin.

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good listening....

Good info above but the tough question is how do you clean the tube sockets?

Any slight corrosion should get rubbed off the contacts when the tube is inserted, most are nickeled anyway. The ProGold or SST on the tube pin actually then somewhat seals(capillary action) the contact point, inhibiting oxidation. I've used small dental brushes(the kind that look like extremely small pipe cleaners for between the teeth) on tube sockets(of older equipment) in the past, with non-residue contact cleaner, to remove accumulated dirt.