Aquired A Tube Caddy Today! Super Surprise!

[plexi50]

I saw this on Craigslist here in Clearwater,Florida but the Caddy was in Tampa. My vehicle grew wings and we flew to Tampa. I expected a caddy full of tv sweep tubes. NOT!!!
This has been the most incredible week for me in a while. First the Standel and now this and the lady i got this all from has more but has to dig them out yet. Estate disposal / Look at this. I payed $100.00 for this:

[tubesornothing]

SCORE!

[plexi50]

No super doubt on the score. This isnt real is it?

Well i got them 6SL7's for the Rockola Steve.  Will make time tommorrow and put them in and post on that thread the results from the 6SN7 to 6SL7 difference in gain /

There are so many tools the like of which i can not remember seeing before

Here is a 15 sec video of one of them /

[jjasilli]

 

[HotBluePlates]

If you wind up with no use for the 6CB6's and 6U8's, I have some HP meters which use them (as either amplifiers or in the power supply). I don't necessarily need spares at the moment, but who knows? 

[plexi50]

That fine with me. I dont think i will ever use them of course. PM me when you need em and i can send them to you
I appreciate all your patience in what you have taught me and what i have learned from your answers and threads over the years / If i go back there next week and she has 6L6GC'S and EL34's i will be getting a six pack

I dont drink anymore. A waste of time ,money and health but i will make an exception should that happen

[PRR]

The only way the Fisher-branded 12AX7s wound up in a tube-caddy is because someone pulled them as "bad".

I have a feeling that most of these tubes are take-outs from sick sets, not virgins and not known-good test tubes. That does not mean they ARE bad, but....

It is an amazingly audio-useful set.

Don't lick the Selenium rectifiers. I would Baggie them ASAP, then wash-up.

[DummyLoad]

give those CBS 12BZ7's a try in you flavorite amp in any 12AX hole... the 12AZ7s will sub for 12AT7s.

[plexi50]

Surprise is an understatment. Im in disbelief. I am still checking them out. So far all these tubes have pegged my tester with no emmision leakage. The Fishers and the one Bugle Boy tube were in a box wrapped in brown paper. They have tested as well excellent. The RCA 12ax7's are NOS in there sleeves. The 6SL7's are NOS wrapped in a cardboard holder and then slipped into the box. The wrapper is glued so you have to break the wrapper to get them out. I am leaving them alone except for the (2) i just put in Steves Rockola i built. I found a Brown base 6V6 tube as well.
This is stranger than fiction /

[G._Hoffman]

My envy meter is pretty well pegged at the moment.


Gabriel

[plexi50]

I just woke up. It's almost 10:00 a.m. / I stayed up till 1:30 last night carefully using a small screwdriver to open the old box's big and small. I finished up checking all the 5Y3GT tubes. They are all NOS as well. I have learned to be very careful when handlng old tubes with mint printing on them. I was almost affraid to slip them back in there box's. I need a break today /

[FYL]

I payed $100.00

Really a nice find.
 

[plexi50]

Thanks FYL. It still hasnt really sunk in. This just dont happen these days. I hope she calls and has more of them. The gentelman that owned all of this was 86 when he left earth last month. He had a huge collection of other goods. I am waiting to hear back from the estate liquidators / If i accidentally lick the Selenium i will leave them to PRR

[FYL]

If i accidentally lick the Selenium i will leave them to PRR

Selenium is actually beneficial when taken in very small quantities, such as those naturally present in foods such as cereals, eggs, fish (tuna is one of the main sources of selenium to the organism), meat or nuts. You can safely ingest up to 30 micrograms per pound body weight or 400 mg per day w/o any side effects. Going briefly above that level can lead to acute selenosis -bad, for a long time to chronic selenosis - very bad.

BTW beryllium is the worst element found in common electronic components - it's used in oxide or CuBe form for heatsinking applications and it's dust is *very* dangerous.

[sluckey]

Selenium rectifiers smell a lot like rotton eggs when smoked. This was a characteristic I discovered while in tech school during the '60s. Just take a tv cheater cord and connect a selenium rectifier across the line. Then discretely plug it into a bench outlet and walk away. There was just enough delay to 'get away' and not be blamed. The diode would emit it's stink in a small puff of smoke. It rarely tripped the breaker. I'd never do that today, but it was fun back when we didn't know better (or care). I bet Jeff Foxworthy could really capitalize on selenium smells!

I have a set of beryllium alloy tools (screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.) for working around the strong magnets in my radar transmitters. They're not magnetic and I think they are 'spark resistant' too. Don't know if there's a better modern tool. These tools were original issue items for long range radar systems back in the early '60s. They may be classic today.

[FYL]

I have a set of beryllium alloy tools (screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.) for working around the strong magnets in my radar transmitters. They're not magnetic and I think they are 'spark resistant' too. Don't know if there's a better modern tool. These tools were original issue items for long range radar systems back in the early '60s. They may be classic today.

Beryllium copper tools are still manufactured and used for their non-sparking and non-magnetic properties. They aren't dangerous in stock form. Ditto for springs, coils or other BeCu stuff.




 

[RicharD]

[plexi50]

LUCKY is still rollin. Go checkout the Solidstate section /

[HotBluePlates]

The only way the Fisher-branded 12AX7s wound up in a tube-caddy is because someone pulled them as "bad".

I have a feeling that most of these tubes are take-outs from sick sets, not virgins and not known-good test tubes. That does not mean they ARE bad, but....

It is an amazingly audio-useful set.

OR...

The previous owner of the caddy recognized that Fisher always bought really great tubes for their "house brand". Maybe a quarter or more of the Telefunken 12AX7's I have are Fisher-branded, and I yanked them out of service because I recognized who the manufacturer was. There was no Telefunken label (just "The Fisher"), but there was a diamond between the pins on the bottom of each.

Oh, and I also have some Amperex preamp tubes with the Fisher label. Kudos to those guys for picking what was probably the best. Maybe they got a great deal from european manufacturers trying to break into a bigger slice of the american market; I'd imagine Sylvania, RCA, G.E., Westinghouse and other domestic brands would have been cheaper, unless they were positioned with a stranglehold on the american market at the time.

[FYL]

Fisher always bought really great tubes for their "house brand".

So did Dyna and others.

[PRR]

> OR... The previous owner of the caddy recognized

99 of 100 tube caddy owners didn't know Telefunken from Volkswagen.

It is now clear that this guy was the 1%, some true-blood audio nut.

And that the caddy could be broken-up for FAR more than price paid.

Beryllium dust is very toxic. Beryllium-oxide is OK, except it is somewhat friable, and generally you don't want to mess with it if there is any alternative; even then, get hazardous-duty pay. Beryllium metal may be handled gingerly (get expert advice). Beryllium-copper metal should be pretty safe as long as you don't file/sand it. They even use it to hit golf balls. The Be-Cu clubs seem to be out of production, probably for factory-safety and cost ($330 a pound!) reasons than for golfer-safety concern.

A trace of Selenium is good. A rectifier is more than a trace. Handling it is probably very-very low exposure; the workers did it 8 hours a day and there was not the surprise as in the Radium-watch or Beryllium workshops. Still, there's no good reason to use Selenium today, and you aren't getting even $1/hour like the workers did. Bag it and wash up. Maybe someone buys this stuff.

(eBay only shows Selenium rects for classic motorcycles, nothing found in a tube-caddy; and even the NOS Honda/Kawa parts don't get big bux.)

> It rarely tripped the breaker.

Be at least 10 ohms in any domestic Selenium rect. 120V/10r= 12 Amps, no the breaker does not blow even while we have 1,440 Watts in maybe 50W worth of fins.

[plexi50]

I have thought of selling some of the tubes but old Ebay is pretty much a waste of time anymore

Most times when i list some thing it wont sell until relisting many times

I not playing that game any more. I list once and thats it. I listed the Amperex Bugle Boys and they didnt sell

I saw one NOS tube go for $140.00 some thing last month. I listed (2) of them at $200.00 / No go /

Maybe i wil list some in the Sell/Trade section on this forum

I am more apt to trade some for a Bogen CHB 30A. I need PT and Output transformers also in the 40-50 watt range. Someting new to play with  

[jjasilli]

I think that selling old tubes is in a class by itself.  Buyers like to see that old tubes are fully tested, spec'd-out & and guaranteed, from a tube selling specialist with lots sales and high +feedback.  It's not worth the price of a transconductance tube tester for casual sales of tubes.  But without that, buyers may be wary.  (Some sellers go even further & then put the tubes in an amp to test for microphonics and general audio quality; and guarantee your satisfaction with that too.)