Hi All,

I've never owned anything that's used valves before and was wondering what to do with the layer of dust that's collected on the 7 in my recently acquired Kriesler Radiogram?

Can I leave them and and wipe them with something, can I removed them easily and clean or should I let them be?

Thanks,

Bob

Hi Bob

Clean them with a damp cloth. Do not rub the valve numbers as they will rub off. It doesn't matter if they have dust on them, cleaning them will not generally make them work better. Its for looks only!

Thanks,

Yeah I wasn't sure how hot they got and if the dust might impact the temperature. It's only really the tops of mine that are dusty, the bottoms are clear (as expected).

They are mounted horozontally, so top meaning one side.

As I favour a completely dust free valve I usually write down the number on a piece of paper and then clean the valve with an alco-wipe. This usually takes the chalky number markings right off which is not really ideal but because I wrote the number down elsewhere it gives me a chance to write the number back on the valve with an Artline texta. I usually write the number close to the base of the valve and on the side of the valve facing away from the back, mainly for the sake of appearance.

Tube manufacturers on purpose made the markings on tubes wash off with water. So people couldn't collect worn out tubes, wash them and sell them as new tubes.

Using a dry paper towel should get most of the dusty fuzz off the tubes. That won't make them look squeaky clean, but it should remove enough crud to allow the tube to radiate and convect heat away. This would only matter for a power stage tube.

I use a dry tissue, then clean off any remaining bits of muck using a damp cotton bud, avoiding the marked areas.

wa2ise:

"Tube manufacturers on purpose made the markings on tubes wash off with water. So people couldn't collect worn out tubes, wash them and sell them as new tubes."

That's the first time I've heard that explanation. Makes sense.

Sadly, they used the same muck on dial glasses. I've washed a few away over the years and will one day hopefully set myself up a screen printing rig to reproduce them. Cutting glass is easy enough.

Seems there's a pretty constant demand for dial glass reproductions. Could be a good sideline for an existing screen printing works.