13-06-2011, 08:25 AM
In the mid 70s, when valve TVs were the norm, a TV engineer gave me a tip for cleaning valve pins by using a small wooden block with a 1" hole drilled in it to a depth of an inch, filled with Plasticine into which iron filings had been incorporated by rolling the filings into the Plasticine. You just 'stab' the valve pins into the Plasticine a few times till the pins as clean and shiny. After a few months, the Plasticine tends to harden, so I make another block, which I've recently done. Just a block of wood about 2" cube, drilled as above, and a blob of Plasticine, and filings picked up with a magnet from beneth my grinder from when I sharpen tools. Any old bit of scrap will do for making the filings on a grinder if none are to hand. I've attached a couple of pics to show what I mean, one of which shows a couple of valves - one before cleaning the pins, the other after cleaning. Simple, but effective.
Hope that's of interest.
David
Hope that's of interest.
David
