To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
Dear Mr Carlson, I used to mess with transistor radios as a child. In those days soldering irons were lumps of sharp ended copper on an iron shaft into a wooden handle. Your get them hot with a cooker hob or in the fire! Anyway my first radio was a little nine volt miniature transistor radio, which had one wire disconnected. I fixed it as a seven or eight year old in front of the fire in the front room in a Herefordshire farmhouse ... unsupervised. That was six decades ago. I never fancied working on valve [tube] circuits, because of the potential for a 400 or 500 volt zap. I have had three two-forty and three phase UK zaps on the house and farmyard mains ... Still got a scar from one of those. So I develop[ed a cautious approach to electricity ... Yours are the only long form vids that completely absorb me, and this valve tester was no exception. Thank you. I have two valve devices in use nowadays. One is a 1957 British VHF/FM tuner from HJ Leak in London [the originaL Trough-Line], and was developed to allow the BBC to test its experimental VHF radio broadcast before formal announcements of a public service with a consumer level device. It has a short tuning range of 87.5 to 100 Mc/s, rather than the 1958 UK standard of 88 - 108 .. It is mono and to this days is still the quietest [SN ratio] and best tuner I have come across - only one previous owner in Cheltenham. I got it five years ago, and it was re-capped and faulty resistors changed, but only two of the eight Mullard valves were weak, and so changed with NOS. The thing is that you need to tune it with extreme finesse, as the low geared tuning wheel require degree accuracy to be really quiet. But get that right and it is glorious! The other is a mono Quad valve amp made about twenty five years ago that has proven a high rent item in terms of reliability, but is a mighty pure sounding amplifier when firing on all cylinders. Quad II Forty. The end of the line is a first year [1957] Quad ESL, which was re-built at Quad HQ in Huntingdon in 2016. There are no non-generic parts in this speaker, so serviceability is infinite. Just craftsmanship ... My favourite radio ever was a four band [short, marine, medium and long wave] Radionette Kurer, made in the early 1950s in Norway. It belonged to my Norwegian grandmother, and I used it between 1970 and 1973 up in the mountains in Norway on summer holidays. It ran on 220 gvolt Norwegian mains or a 90 volt accumulator. I knew where the BBC World Service was for Northern Europe was - on the 31 metre band - so my grandmother took me to the radio shop in Geilo to buy a banana plug and 31 metres of aerial wire! Gone are the days when kids thought like that! Best wishes from George
Mr. Carlson, you have brought back so many memories. I started out in 1961 repairing black and white TV's, all tubes. I was checking our TV, when I touched the glass part of a 6U6 tube, the high voltage (20KV) literally knocked me across the room. The TV was unplugged at the time. In high school I was in IO Electronics class, you learned not to catch anything the first day. Some one would through you a charged capacitor. I later worked on CB radios and commercial FM radios (repairing radios for Halliburton). In 1961 I was 10 years old. later in that year my next door neighbor was an Electronics Engineer (Rick Massey) Rick worked for a company that had top secret government contracts. All of his work was top secret. Rick was my mentor. Rick gave me his book "Elements of Electronics" first edition. Sighed by the author, they were ship mates in the Navy. Anyway, thanks I really enjoyed the your tutorial.
My Father was an old TV/Radio repair man in the 50's and 60's. He had an old Navy tube tester in the basement that he used. Seeing these devices always reminds me of him and his workshop.
@@johnhannon Remember what the model number was? Most of the ones I've seen had stamped steel cases to stand up to the typical abuse soldiers put them through. 🙂
I remember seeing self serve tube testers in some convenience stores when I was a kid, and I am only 53. They were old, and I never saw them being used, but they were still there.
I do remember bringing a baggy full of tubes from our family TV into the store to test. That was my job. I was probably around 13 years old - 1968 or so.
65 here and we used them but it didn't take a kid long to figure out the scam based on what the set did wrong and which tubes were comdemned by the tester. In fact some times we just went there to buy the tubes we wanted because it was already apparent what was going on.
Three years ago a retired tv/radio repairman in his 90's heard through the grapevine that I was interested in repairing radios and amps. He gave me a Dyna Jet 707 as well as several boxes of tubes and old radios. I was very grateful. I didn't realize the Dyna Jet needs calibration until I saw this video. Thanks.
Many years ago I was an electronics tech at a local hospital. The nurse call systems used an octal socket for the pendant to plug into. We got so many trouble calls on these that I went to all 305 rooms and tightened the contacts on the 2 octal sockets. Our call rate for these dropped to almost nothing. The amplifiers in the nurse call units were also tube amps as was the paging systems. Eventually I went on to become the telecom specialist and maintained multiple Nortel pbx's for them.
Paul, I am 67 years old and have been around electronics most of my life. My dad owned a TV Sales and Service business when I was very young. I ended up going to Tech School for TV Repair and did that for several years after High School, 1975. I ended up getting into computers and Banking and am now in my 32nd year in Banking, retiring next year. The last 25 plus years I have served at CIO or CTO for a few regional Community Banks. BTY, I got my Ham license in 1977. WD4EVD then, now W4GHW. I miss working on stuff but as my Elmer would say if he were still alive, I have become an appliance operator! ☹ I absolutely love watching your videos! Thank you!!! I don’t say this lightly, you are the best, most intelligent and through Electronic Tech that I have ever seen! I wish you would do a video on your history so we could better understand what led you to where you are today.
Bought a new in the box Dyna-Jet 707 from an electronics store that was going out of business in 1980 for 100.00. I replaced the caps in 2009 and I haven't used it in a long time and learned some great restoration and alignment procedures from this video.
In high school I worked in a TV & Radio repair shop. I had been taught that ceramic caps were VERY reliable. Well, the first week of working there I was troubleshooting an audio problem on a hybrid television (part tube/part semiconductor ... Great for reliability... Hehe)... And guess what.... There was a shorted ceramic cap in the amplifier section.... Lucky me... First and only one in 50 years of working with electronics. Great job there Mr. Carlson!
Thanks Mr. Carlson for another fine video. The weak link in the 707 is the bulb/socket interface which becomes intermittent over time due to corrosion. My solution: bypass the socket and solder the leads directly to the bulb itself. Don't ask how long it took me to figure out that the bulb/socket was the problem!
When I was in high school, I got a job as a bench tech at a TV repair store. The owner taught me the trade and it led to my becoming an EE later in life. We had one of these tube testers in the shop and it was quite a workhorse. The sockets did wear out on the heavily-used tube locations (6GH8's for example). It never failed. That was in the 1968 to 1972 timeframe.
How timely! I just bought one of these and I'm in the process of restoring it. My mentor is a certified Hammond organ technician, trained at the Hammond factory in the 1960s, and has owned and used the 707 for decades. It is his main tester, which is why I bought one. The hardware of yours is very nice, but someone painted that case. The originals were always blue. But otherwise, it is in great condition.
Thank Paul. I always learn something from your videos. So I’m happy to be a patrion to your channel. That tube tester was one I tried to find years ago. Keep them coming, please. Brad
I did a quick look thru comments and didn’t see this suggestion yet, so here you go - it might be a good idea to put 2 reversed silicon diodes in parallel across the meter, which will protect it from overload. Given how rare original meters for tube testers are, this is the first thing I usually do. Well done as usual, Paul!
@@StuffnSuch Two diodes in parallel, facing opposite directions, and both also in parallel with the meter. It clamps the voltage applied to the meter to about .6 volts, while having no effect below that.
@@johndododoe1411 Nowadays almost any analog panel meter can be considered "special" or "rare". Just think the mounting ways and dimensions. If they match, then pay attention to a symbol that tells whether the face should be horizontal or vertical for optimal use. Then, what is the nominal current for full scale - can be 50 uA to 1 mA or more. I have mostly seen 100 uA, even if it is labeled 1 mA. The 1 mA is obtained by an internal shunt resistor that calibrates the full scale to the 1 mA. Further, it may or may not be indicated, but there are two movement and needle hanging ways - pivot jewels with "watch type" spring current paths, or ribbon torsion mount. These two have some critical characteristics differences, including vibration and mechanical shock tolerances. These characteristics may actually be really important for field use!
I bought one of these about 5 months ago and ended up changing a couple worn out sockets. So many sockets on this. If I encounter another bad socket I may try the pulling a pin trick you mentioned. I went thru the calibration this spring and looks like I did it correctly. It has the 83 rectifier and I left it in rather than convert to diodes. I'm glad I kept it. I had no clue it was a mercury gas type or had seen one demonstrated so thanks for that. I bet the environmentalists would ban that tube in a heartbeat nowadays.
Great to see this video! I bought a B&K 707 at a thrift store 20 years ago for $19.95.It's in primo shape cosmetically and works well. I've used it to test tubes for my guitar amplifiers. I'll be installing new capacitors! Thanks, John
Ive seen hundreds of Tv's, radios, laptops etc being repaired / serviced. First tube tester overhaul video , was refreshing and interesting to watch . Awesome work Mr C
Mr C has highlighted me . Bought my first American radio today to repair. A General Electric monogram solid state. was so excited to do diagnoses etc , It just had a blown fuse.
This was my first and favorite tube tester! It's much more hardy than the solid state 747 which came after . Really, worn-out sockets are the biggest issue, borne of the countless number of tubes this unit can check quickly. . I've bought a few over the years and given them to friends. But I'm sure I still have my original one somewhere. Thanks for this thorough go-through- I'll "favorite" it and call it up some fine day when I'm ready to dig in. What joy to see the aptly-named, jet age 707, 'with its proper '60s"Pan Am" mod blue face, be honored with the Mr. Carlson's treatment it so richly deserves. Please , find it in your heart to go over the Eico HF-81 integrated amp/preamp someday. My late father hand built his from kit form in 1959 and like the B&K 707 it has great sentimental value to me. I haven't the words to express how happy I am that this video exists!
This was extremely interesting. I like it when you evaluate, explain and repair the electronic oddities of the past. You have a way of making even the driest subjects absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for all your posts. From THE AUTISTIC WEREWOLF!
I worked for a TV repair man in the 70's when I was a teenager and we used to carry these types of testing boxes to test tubes in the field. Surprisingly enough people still had tube TV's running in the 70's. Very rarely we worked on audio equipment as most people had replaced their tube radios with solid state by that time.
Hey Paul, @17:00 thanks for sharing your consistent practice cap suspect, pulling and testing. Also for sharing with us, the logic behind the decision, the side of caution, testing and reason for replacement. Very well done. 😊 Great channel.
The bump and shake before putting the case on to help purge random conductive solder balls, wire strands, metal slivers, etc. is a very good tip that nobody talks about, but should be part of every repair as SOP. I like to give a good bump in at least two directions to make sure I'm not driving stuff in deeper.
i have this tester and other than having to repair top wood rail that holds the chassis top screws into the case (termites having a feast) i opted for socket savers for worn sockets.
That first capacitor was installed the way I was taught. First you create a solid mechanical connection and then you solder. I’ve been known to clip the leads and then desolder if I’m not reusing the components.
Your comments on touching up the case somehow triggered my memories of Antiques Roadshow "With the original patina, that tube tester would be worth ...."
I remember my dad taking the tubes out of my parents' Zenith TV to Walgreens Pharmacy to test them. I remember watching the tubes glowing orange and the meter needle moving. I also remember going to Radio Shack for replacement tubes.
I've always held a fascination with testing (specifically testers of this nature) equipment. Meant to cross between several sizes, platforms, purposes, with the specific purpose of returning a GO-NO GO, value. They are simple, but are they really? Every time i see one, i can't help but think that the simplicity is deceiving, because quite a bit of thought had to be put in uniting everything into a single result. Awesome episode, as always Mr Carlson never disappoints.
I sure could have used this when I was working on a B & K 650 a few months back! Thanks Mr. C for your clear, interesting and useful videos. Just picked up a barn find Philips BX998A for a winter project, so will be perusing your radio restoration videos for insights and advice.
"Im not gonna use it, but Capacitance, esr, leakage all a-ok with this thing" Is that code for "To ebay this capacitor goes"? hahaha. Watching you work in the evening, somehow, has become just as relaxing as working on my own projects isn't. Thank you for this service Mr Carlson.
Nice Video Interesting I have been servicing many Tube /valve teters over 20 years both English and US testers and i can say without doubt my favourite is the English Avo mk4 Thanks for great video
I remember pulling a tube out of our old TV set and taking it to a nearby store that had a tube tester so I could check the tube and get a replacement.
Interesting video, I remember as a kid most stores carried a tube tested built into a standing case. Along with some of the most common tv/radio tubes in the compartment below the tester. Thanks for the video.
I have a Sylvania 220, it works great. Just remember to set your heater voltage before you put your tubes in. The 1 volt tubes in Zenith Trans-Oceanics don't work after getting zapped with 6 volts.
I understand why they hooked the leads into the terminal strips. I was taught (in the Dark Ages of the 1950s) that you needed to make a firm mechanical connection before soldering. That is just the way it was done. I have learned from you that I don’t need to obsess about that now and it is adequate to just put the wire into place let the solder hold it together.
That is the cleanest 707 I have ever seen. In the early '70s I worked in a shop that had one of those. Much more worn than yours, but was always great to use.
I worked in a hardware store that had a do it yourself tube tester. We sold a lot of tubes that may or may not have actually fixed the TV. We also had a TV repairman that made house calls. Made a lot of money. I also remember the carrying case the tubes were kept in by the TV repairman. Oh, and don't forget to tap the tubes first to see if they were the problem.
Great video Mr C, thanks. Used to see these types of tube testers in many different businesses back in the day and usually no charge to test questionable tubes. With all the hand wiring involved, it must have been an expensive device to make not to mention calibrate and maintain. This restoration was definitely worth the time, few parts were needed and the alignment was all knowledge, well done. 73
When I was a kid the tube tester was at the hardware store, it was huge to me then. We also had a 25" Admiral color TV my dad bought for the moon landing. Occasionally it would need a new tube, and the person mom called would bring the big box of tubes. It was fascinating. I got the old tubes too. These days no one would have given a glass tube to a kid. This was a great video, and while I don't do tube work, tube testers have always fascinated me. This small one was very cool, almost something you would have seen in the real Mission Impossible.
Thank you so much for making such clear and in-depth videos full of all sorts interesting information. The new lab looks great! (I'll be enjoying the empty-shelf reverb while it lasts)
To preserve your tube sockets you can use a socket saver, on a tester like this you can use them on the sockets that get the heaviest use, a socket saver is a socket that piggybacks the socket, when it gets worn you can easily replace it
Mr Carlson needs some ElectroBOOM moments! Take one for the content... love the feel of 400v in the morning. Keep one hand in your pocket, of course. I've got a 707... it has the teal blue case... my fave tester. Thanks for posting this, now I can align mine. Otherwise, I've heard that B&K will work on any piece of equipment they've ever made... great company.
I own 2 of the B&K 707 tube testers. I have recently gotten back into vacuum tube electronics. I will definitely upgrade my 2 testers. Thank you for the useful and understandable video.
This was great. I have a Hickock 600 which is in rough shape and the innards are on the intimidating side. I am not doing so much tube work at this point, and if there is one thing I have learned in decades of working with electronic junk, you damn well be strongly motivated before you tear into something bigger than what you might complete in a day, otherwise you will have a future corpse laying on your workbench for 6 months and you forgot where you were or you're just tired of messing with it. I could kick myself for missing a $350 Triplett 3444 tester in the local Craigslist while I hesitated about paying so much for it...that is a superb tester (because it is mostly solid state and has minimal analog adjustments) and they go $1200 plus.
I'm no expert but I have restored a B&K 707 and a 700. I would add that you consider replacing the old power cord with a new grounded one. I would also consider the solid-state replacement for the #83 tube which has mercury inside. Great video.
I have this B&K ,and I remember reading that only the top section performs mutual transconductance testing, the bottom row is just emissions. Also, there is an excellent video on line on how to replace the 83 with solid state diodes.
I love your diverse selection of test equipment! You could have used a cheap VOM to test the 390 ohm resistor, but NO! You use an HP nixie tube meter! Got to use nixies when ever you can! Also if you were going from testing a 50c5 to a 2a3 tube the filament voltage switch clicking sound would much resemble the intro to The Diamond's "Little Darlin"! Love this beautiful atomic age piece of test equipment in near perfect shape with teal green and the "font of optimism" to boot! Great as always Mr. C!
I'm not sure there's enough test equipment in the wide lab shot at the intro to this video...😁 Thanks for your videos Mr Carlson. They are all very much appreciated 👍😊.
Love the channel i am a vintage tech at 70 i still build and service guitar amps and i also work on micro tech.. love the valve tester i have a CT160 which belonged to the uk weather service it was built in 1950’s and works great if you have one of these would love to see a calibration demo
I tested caps with aSencore z meter that did a leakage test with a adjustable voltage on it. As for restuffing mabe on a 1920's radio but anything after I consider insane never had anyone as that in 50 years. Tube test was nice transconductace ones were nice but expensive in the day. Good job restoring tube tester I would add testing shorts that you tap lightly the tube on shorts test to see if monophonk tube (ie noisey tube.) , Repired a regalar dugstore one for customers that had a giant meter stand up one with a lamp above it that got used alot by customers. We had alot of old tubes so many it took a latter to reach them all at that shop today in Clearwater Florida. Imagine what it be if it had a microcontoller in it today. I'm retired now. Great series show.
Very nice video, that meter you used towards the end, that you were talking about reading a negative voltage, I found one seemingly very similar to it at my job. I found a Simpson 260 Series-3 meter that the batteries have corroded the insides. I've been meaning to disassemble it, though I have removed the batteries, thankfully.
Mr. Carlson, I would like to see a video sometime of how to reverse engineer a device from PCB analysis and probing to the final schematic, I think that would be very interesting as are all your videos.
Thx for the video, I have a hickok 752 and an EMC 206 to test tubes from the 752 and to test for emmisions, would like to replace the emc 206 for another hickok tester like the 800A or 600a. I really enjoy working with tube equipment
I grew up around all this equipment, but I was more into the cars. When he passed 20 years ago I had no idea I would come to wonder what happened to all that gear.
I have tube testers going back to the early 1920s . One neat one is a Weston model 47 ,lab quality tester. Only 4 and 5 pin tubes. You can have it if I can get some way to arrange it. Tom
To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
Hi @mrcarlsomslab where to find old manuals circuit diagrams and etc for theese type of things? How. Do u find them
I may need some help at One point
Perfect, I have 3 of them!
After watching many if your awesome videos, I decided to signup for your patreon account.
@@ReyciclismoMTB Welcome aboard!
Dear Mr Carlson,
I used to mess with transistor radios as a child. In those days soldering irons were lumps of sharp ended copper on an iron shaft into a wooden handle. Your get them hot with a cooker hob or in the fire!
Anyway my first radio was a little nine volt miniature transistor radio, which had one wire disconnected. I fixed it as a seven or eight year old in front of the fire in the front room in a Herefordshire farmhouse ... unsupervised. That was six decades ago. I never fancied working on valve [tube] circuits, because of the potential for a 400 or 500 volt zap. I have had three two-forty and three phase UK zaps on the house and farmyard mains ... Still got a scar from one of those. So I develop[ed a cautious approach to electricity ...
Yours are the only long form vids that completely absorb me, and this valve tester was no exception. Thank you.
I have two valve devices in use nowadays. One is a 1957 British VHF/FM tuner from HJ Leak in London [the originaL Trough-Line], and was developed to allow the BBC to test its experimental VHF radio broadcast before formal announcements of a public service with a consumer level device. It has a short tuning range of 87.5 to 100 Mc/s, rather than the 1958 UK standard of 88 - 108 .. It is mono and to this days is still the quietest [SN ratio] and best tuner I have come across - only one previous owner in Cheltenham. I got it five years ago, and it was re-capped and faulty resistors changed, but only two of the eight Mullard valves were weak, and so changed with NOS. The thing is that you need to tune it with extreme finesse, as the low geared tuning wheel require degree accuracy to be really quiet. But get that right and it is glorious!
The other is a mono Quad valve amp made about twenty five years ago that has proven a high rent item in terms of reliability, but is a mighty pure sounding amplifier when firing on all cylinders. Quad II Forty.
The end of the line is a first year [1957] Quad ESL, which was re-built at Quad HQ in Huntingdon in 2016. There are no non-generic parts in this speaker, so serviceability is infinite. Just craftsmanship ...
My favourite radio ever was a four band [short, marine, medium and long wave] Radionette Kurer, made in the early 1950s in Norway. It belonged to my Norwegian grandmother, and I used it between 1970 and 1973 up in the mountains in Norway on summer holidays. It ran on 220 gvolt Norwegian mains or a 90 volt accumulator. I knew where the BBC World Service was for Northern Europe was - on the 31 metre band - so my grandmother took me to the radio shop in Geilo to buy a banana plug and 31 metres of aerial wire!
Gone are the days when kids thought like that!
Best wishes from George
I don't understand a single thing that you're talking about, yet I watch in awe of your knowledge. I'm glad you're sharing it.
Mr. Carlson, you have brought back so many memories. I started out in 1961 repairing black and white TV's, all tubes. I was checking our TV, when I touched the glass part of a 6U6 tube, the high voltage (20KV) literally knocked me across the room. The TV was unplugged at the time. In high school I was in IO Electronics class, you learned not to catch anything the first day. Some one would through you a charged capacitor. I later worked on CB radios and commercial FM radios (repairing radios for Halliburton). In 1961 I was 10 years old. later in that year my next door neighbor was an Electronics Engineer (Rick Massey) Rick worked for a company that had top secret government contracts. All of his work was top secret. Rick was my mentor. Rick gave me his book "Elements of Electronics" first edition. Sighed by the author, they were ship mates in the Navy. Anyway, thanks I really enjoyed the your tutorial.
My Father was an old TV/Radio repair man in the 50's and 60's. He had an old Navy tube tester in the basement that he used. Seeing these devices always reminds me of him and his workshop.
The military testers were all very good, and ruggedly built to handle field use. They go for a premium now.
@@drtidrow I wish I had saved his. It had a solid wood outer case.
@@johnhannon Remember what the model number was? Most of the ones I've seen had stamped steel cases to stand up to the typical abuse soldiers put them through. 🙂
I remember seeing self serve tube testers in some convenience stores when I was a kid, and I am only 53. They were old, and I never saw them being used, but they were still there.
There's a thrift store in my town that has one for sale. $650 asking price, too rich for my blood.
same age; same memories 🙂
I do remember bringing a baggy full of tubes from our family TV into the store to test. That was my job. I was probably around 13 years old - 1968 or so.
Yep, I remember seeing them in the local drug store near the entrance, back when I was in grade school in the early '70s.
65 here and we used them but it didn't take a kid long to figure out the scam based on what the set did wrong and which tubes were comdemned by the tester. In fact some times we just went there to buy the tubes we wanted because it was already apparent what was going on.
Three years ago a retired tv/radio repairman in his 90's heard through the grapevine that I was interested in repairing radios and amps. He gave me a Dyna Jet 707 as well as several boxes of tubes and old radios. I was very grateful. I didn't realize the Dyna Jet needs calibration until I saw this video. Thanks.
Many years ago I was an electronics tech at a local hospital. The nurse call systems used an octal socket for the pendant to plug into. We got so many trouble calls on these that I went to all 305 rooms and tightened the contacts on the 2 octal sockets. Our call rate for these dropped to almost nothing. The amplifiers in the nurse call units were also tube amps as was the paging systems. Eventually I went on to become the telecom specialist and maintained multiple Nortel pbx's for them.
Thanks for sharing your story!
I am studying electrical engineering and i want to be like Mr Carlson. Thank you for you great job.
Paul, I am 67 years old and have been around electronics most of my life. My dad owned a TV Sales and Service business when I was very young. I ended up going to Tech School for TV Repair and did that for several years after High School, 1975. I ended up getting into computers and Banking and am now in my 32nd year in Banking, retiring next year. The last 25 plus years I have served at CIO or CTO for a few regional Community Banks. BTY, I got my Ham license in 1977. WD4EVD then, now W4GHW. I miss working on stuff but as my Elmer would say if he were still alive, I have become an appliance operator! ☹ I absolutely love watching your videos! Thank you!!!
I don’t say this lightly, you are the best, most intelligent and through Electronic Tech that I have ever seen! I wish you would do a video on your history so we could better understand what led you to where you are today.
Thanks for sharing your story, and your kind comment too!
Just landed a nice job in electronics! You've been helping me alot with memorizing component names and functions. I wish I found your channel sooner!
Bought a new in the box Dyna-Jet 707 from an electronics store that was going out of business in 1980 for 100.00. I replaced the caps in 2009 and I haven't used it in a long time and learned some great restoration and alignment procedures from this video.
In high school I worked in a TV & Radio repair shop. I had been taught that ceramic caps were VERY reliable. Well, the first week of working there I was troubleshooting an audio problem on a hybrid television (part tube/part semiconductor ... Great for reliability... Hehe)... And guess what.... There was a shorted ceramic cap in the amplifier section.... Lucky me... First and only one in 50 years of working with electronics. Great job there Mr. Carlson!
Thanks for sharing your cap story Marty. Indeed that is rare!
Thanks Mr. Carlson for another fine video. The weak link in the 707 is the bulb/socket interface which becomes intermittent over time due to corrosion. My solution: bypass the socket and solder the leads directly to the bulb itself. Don't ask how long it took me to figure out that the bulb/socket was the problem!
I think this is my favorite Mr Carlson video.
It's like magic. How does anyone ever learn this stuff to your level? Pleaae keep posting. Love it!
When I was in high school, I got a job as a bench tech at a TV repair store. The owner taught me the trade and it led to my becoming an EE later in life. We had one of these tube testers in the shop and it was quite a workhorse. The sockets did wear out on the heavily-used tube locations (6GH8's for example). It never failed. That was in the 1968 to 1972 timeframe.
Thanks for all your time producing these videos Paul.
My pleasure!
I appreciate their attempt to make most calibrations possible from the front. This was a very practical video. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Love restoration videos. Thanks for the thorough background on the item!
How timely! I just bought one of these and I'm in the process of restoring it. My mentor is a certified Hammond organ technician, trained at the Hammond factory in the 1960s, and has owned and used the 707 for decades. It is his main tester, which is why I bought one.
The hardware of yours is very nice, but someone painted that case. The originals were always blue. But otherwise, it is in great condition.
actually I have had a dark grey or black one and it was not painted
Thank Paul. I always learn something from your videos. So I’m happy to be a patrion to your channel. That tube tester was one I tried to find years ago. Keep them coming, please.
Brad
Thank You for your kind feedback Brad!
This one brought back memories of the 70"s! Thank you!
I did a quick look thru comments and didn’t see this suggestion yet, so here you go - it might be a good idea to put 2 reversed silicon diodes in parallel across the meter, which will protect it from overload. Given how rare original meters for tube testers are, this is the first thing I usually do. Well done as usual, Paul!
Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, but what do you mean by “reversed”?
@@StuffnSuch Two diodes in parallel, facing opposite directions, and both also in parallel with the meter. It clamps the voltage applied to the meter to about .6 volts, while having no effect below that.
Are these rare meters or just common standard meters with custom backplate markings?
@@johndododoe1411 Nowadays almost any analog panel meter can be considered "special" or "rare". Just think the mounting ways and dimensions. If they match, then pay attention to a symbol that tells whether the face should be horizontal or vertical for optimal use. Then, what is the nominal current for full scale - can be 50 uA to 1 mA or more. I have mostly seen 100 uA, even if it is labeled 1 mA. The 1 mA is obtained by an internal shunt resistor that calibrates the full scale to the 1 mA. Further, it may or may not be indicated, but there are two movement and needle hanging ways - pivot jewels with "watch type" spring current paths, or ribbon torsion mount. These two have some critical characteristics differences, including vibration and mechanical shock tolerances. These characteristics may actually be really important for field use!
@@johndododoe1411 I would consider it lucky, if I were simply able to find a meter that could be adapted.
I bought one of these about 5 months ago and ended up changing a couple worn out sockets. So many sockets on this. If I encounter another bad socket I may try the pulling a pin trick you mentioned. I went thru the calibration this spring and looks like I did it correctly. It has the 83 rectifier and I left it in rather than convert to diodes. I'm glad I kept it. I had no clue it was a mercury gas type or had seen one demonstrated so thanks for that. I bet the environmentalists would ban that tube in a heartbeat nowadays.
Great to see this video! I bought a B&K 707 at a thrift store 20 years ago for $19.95.It's in primo shape cosmetically and works well. I've used it to test tubes for my guitar amplifiers. I'll be installing new capacitors! Thanks, John
Ive seen hundreds of Tv's, radios, laptops etc being repaired / serviced. First tube tester overhaul video , was refreshing and interesting to watch . Awesome work Mr C
Mr C has highlighted me . Bought my first American radio today to repair. A General Electric monogram solid state. was so excited to do diagnoses etc , It just had a blown fuse.
This was my first and favorite tube tester! It's much more hardy than the solid state 747 which came after . Really, worn-out sockets are the biggest issue, borne of the countless number of tubes this unit can check quickly. . I've bought a few over the years and given them to friends. But I'm sure I still have my original one somewhere. Thanks for this thorough go-through- I'll "favorite" it and call it up some fine day when I'm ready to dig in. What joy to see the aptly-named, jet age 707, 'with its proper '60s"Pan Am" mod blue face, be honored with the Mr. Carlson's treatment it so richly deserves. Please , find it in your heart to go over the Eico HF-81 integrated amp/preamp someday. My late father hand built his from kit form in 1959 and like the B&K 707 it has great sentimental value to me. I haven't the words to express how happy I am that this video exists!
This was extremely interesting. I like it when you evaluate, explain and repair the electronic oddities of the past. You have a way of making even the driest subjects absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for all your posts. From THE AUTISTIC WEREWOLF!
I worked for a TV repair man in the 70's when I was a teenager and we used to carry these types of testing boxes to test tubes in the field. Surprisingly enough people still had tube TV's running in the 70's. Very rarely we worked on audio equipment as most people had replaced their tube radios with solid state by that time.
The irony of having to have 2 tube testers to test the tubes in the tube tester
Who tested the tubes in the first tube tester to make sure it worked right?
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Xzibit: yo dawg, we heard you like tube testers….
Wanna test your tube? A tester for all sorts and sizes.
Isn't it ironic, asked Alanis Morrisette. No, that's not what ironic means, replied Ed Byrne.
I would love to see a video of you restuffing an old capacitor and learn something from that 🙂
Hey Paul, @17:00 thanks for sharing your consistent practice cap suspect, pulling and testing. Also for sharing with us, the logic behind the decision, the side of caution, testing and reason for replacement. Very well done. 😊 Great channel.
The bump and shake before putting the case on to help purge random conductive solder balls, wire strands, metal slivers, etc. is a very good tip that nobody talks about, but should be part of every repair as SOP. I like to give a good bump in at least two directions to make sure I'm not driving stuff in deeper.
i have this tester and other than having to repair top wood rail that holds the chassis top screws into the case (termites having a feast) i opted for socket savers for worn sockets.
Keep this one and restore the ugly ones for resale. Thanks for the video, Mike, in the USA.
This is the tube tester I use. It is always spot on.
That first capacitor was installed the way I was taught. First you create a solid mechanical connection and then you solder. I’ve been known to clip the leads and then desolder if I’m not reusing the components.
I've never seen a 707 in such pristine shape. These testers deserve restoration!
He's got to deal with the tax problem somehow!!
Your comments on touching up the case somehow triggered my memories of Antiques Roadshow "With the original patina, that tube tester would be worth ...."
I remember my dad taking the tubes out of my parents' Zenith TV to Walgreens Pharmacy to test them. I remember watching the tubes glowing orange and the meter needle moving.
I also remember going to Radio Shack for replacement tubes.
I've always held a fascination with testing (specifically testers of this nature) equipment. Meant to cross between several sizes, platforms, purposes, with the specific purpose of returning a GO-NO GO, value.
They are simple, but are they really? Every time i see one, i can't help but think that the simplicity is deceiving, because quite a bit of thought had to be put in uniting everything into a single result.
Awesome episode, as always Mr Carlson never disappoints.
Awesome; thanks Mr Carlson! I must have missed some episodes, but looks like you gained some space in your new shack! Looks really great!
Great video. I can now feel good about purchasing a used 707 not in perfect condition and know I can feel comfortable in restoring it.
I sure could have used this when I was working on a B & K 650 a few months back! Thanks Mr. C for your clear, interesting and useful videos. Just picked up a barn find Philips BX998A for a winter project, so will be perusing your radio restoration videos for insights and advice.
Your usual great educational video. The tips about getting the debris out before re assembly is a great reminder.
"Im not gonna use it, but Capacitance, esr, leakage all a-ok with this thing"
Is that code for "To ebay this capacitor goes"? hahaha.
Watching you work in the evening, somehow, has become just as relaxing as working on my own projects isn't. Thank you for this service Mr Carlson.
Glad you are enjoying the videos!
I really liked that you compared the elements of the tube to modern equivalents. That's very instructive. Hope you keep doing that
Nice Video Interesting
I have been servicing many Tube /valve teters over 20 years both English and US testers and i can say without doubt my favourite is the English Avo mk4
Thanks for great video
Love the point to point spaghetti wiring. Very interesting. Thank you.
You are welcome!
I remember pulling a tube out of our old TV set and taking it to a nearby store that had a tube tester so I could check the tube and get a replacement.
Interesting video, I remember as a kid most stores carried a tube tested built into a standing case. Along with some of the most common tv/radio tubes in the compartment below the tester. Thanks for the video.
I have a Sylvania 220, it works great. Just remember to set your heater voltage before you put your tubes in. The 1 volt tubes in Zenith Trans-Oceanics don't work after getting zapped with 6 volts.
I understand why they hooked the leads into the terminal strips. I was taught (in the Dark Ages of the 1950s) that you needed to make a firm mechanical connection before soldering. That is just the way it was done. I have learned from you that I don’t need to obsess about that now and it is adequate to just put the wire into place let the solder hold it together.
Very nice restoration! Thanks, Paul.
That is the cleanest 707 I have ever seen. In the early '70s I worked in a shop that had one of those. Much more worn than yours, but was always great to use.
I worked in a hardware store that had a do it yourself tube tester. We sold a lot of tubes that may or may not have actually fixed the TV. We also had a TV repairman that made house calls. Made a lot of money. I also remember the carrying case the tubes were kept in by the TV repairman. Oh, and don't forget to tap the tubes first to see if they were the problem.
Great video Mr C, thanks. Used to see these types of tube testers in many different businesses back in the day and usually no charge to test questionable tubes. With all the hand wiring involved, it must have been an expensive device to make not to mention calibrate and maintain. This restoration was definitely worth the time, few parts were needed and the alignment was all knowledge, well done. 73
Well done...I'm always amazed at your knowledge of electricity..And ability to calibrate sensitive equipment...
Some great little and big tips there Paul. Thanks!
No problem 👍
What a great video Paul. I sure learned a lot on testing tubes after the alignment and restoration of this tube tester.
Great to hear!
Just another brilliant video as always, I learned a lot from this. I've always wanted to pick up a tube tester for the bench.
Mr Carlsons lab you are good at restoring vintage shortwave receivers and alignment of vintage shortwave receivers my friend 😊😊😊
I had the opportunity to buy a tester once, should have. Now I have hundreds of NOS tubes I inherited from my late Father.
When I was a kid the tube tester was at the hardware store, it was huge to me then. We also had a 25" Admiral color TV my dad bought for the moon landing. Occasionally it would need a new tube, and the person mom called would bring the big box of tubes. It was fascinating. I got the old tubes too. These days no one would have given a glass tube to a kid. This was a great video, and while I don't do tube work, tube testers have always fascinated me. This small one was very cool, almost something you would have seen in the real Mission Impossible.
Thank you so much for making such clear and in-depth videos full of all sorts interesting information. The new lab looks great! (I'll be enjoying the empty-shelf reverb while it lasts)
To preserve your tube sockets you can use a socket saver, on a tester like this you can use them on the sockets that get the heaviest use, a socket saver is a socket that piggybacks the socket, when it gets worn you can easily replace it
Great video Mr Carlson sir. nice tester I enjoyed the show sir
Great Video Paul. I learned a lot!
Mr Carlson needs some ElectroBOOM moments! Take one for the content... love the feel of 400v in the morning. Keep one hand in your pocket, of course. I've got a 707... it has the teal blue case... my fave tester. Thanks for posting this, now I can align mine. Otherwise, I've heard that B&K will work on any piece of equipment they've ever made... great company.
I own 2 of the B&K 707 tube testers. I have recently gotten back into vacuum tube electronics. I will definitely upgrade my 2 testers. Thank you for the useful and understandable video.
A series of tube tester restoration and alignment would be really nice.
This was great. I have a Hickock 600 which is in rough shape and the innards are on the intimidating side. I am not doing so much tube work at this point, and if there is one thing I have learned in decades of working with electronic junk, you damn well be strongly motivated before you tear into something bigger than what you might complete in a day, otherwise you will have a future corpse laying on your workbench for 6 months and you forgot where you were or you're just tired of messing with it.
I could kick myself for missing a $350 Triplett 3444 tester in the local Craigslist while I hesitated about paying so much for it...that is a superb tester (because it is mostly solid state and has minimal analog adjustments) and they go $1200 plus.
Because he looks to be about 31 years old, plus the level of knowledge presented in these videos? I am suspicious that he is from another planet.
Hey Paul. Loved this one. Very nice tester and relatively easy to follow the more technical details. Let's see what's coming next. Cheers
Nice piece of test equipment. 73, Martin
Mr Carlsons lab your utube videos are awesome my friend 😊😊😊😊
I'm no expert but I have restored a B&K 707 and a 700. I would add that you consider replacing the old power cord with a new grounded one. I would also consider the solid-state replacement for the #83 tube which has mercury inside. Great video.
I have this B&K ,and I remember reading that only the top section performs mutual transconductance testing, the bottom row is just emissions. Also, there is an excellent video on line on how to replace the 83 with solid state diodes.
I love your diverse selection of test equipment! You could have used a cheap VOM to test the 390 ohm resistor, but NO! You use an HP nixie tube meter! Got to use nixies when ever you can! Also if you were going from testing a 50c5 to a 2a3 tube the filament voltage switch clicking sound would much resemble the intro to The Diamond's "Little Darlin"! Love this beautiful atomic age piece of test equipment in near perfect shape with teal green and the "font of optimism" to boot! Great as always Mr. C!
Awesome video Paul the way you explain everything is so inspiring and i use a AVO MK2 tube tester and very old , but stil working.
Mr Carlsons lab your B@K Dyna Jet 707 tub tester is awesome my friend 😊😊
I'm not sure there's enough test equipment in the wide lab shot at the intro to this video...😁 Thanks for your videos Mr Carlson. They are all very much appreciated 👍😊.
Love the channel i am a vintage tech at 70 i still build and service guitar amps and i also work on micro tech.. love the valve tester i have a CT160 which belonged to the uk weather service it was built in 1950’s and works great if you have one of these would love to see a calibration demo
Excellent video
I have the 707, great video.
Thank you for this fantastic video! 🙂 The best to you from LB1NH 🙂
I tested caps with aSencore z meter that did a leakage test with a adjustable voltage on it. As for restuffing mabe on a 1920's radio but anything after I consider insane never had anyone as that in 50 years. Tube test was nice transconductace ones were nice but expensive in the day. Good job restoring tube tester I would add testing shorts that you tap lightly the tube on shorts test to see if monophonk tube (ie noisey tube.) , Repired a regalar dugstore one for customers that had a giant meter stand up one with a lamp above it that got used alot by customers. We had alot of old tubes so many it took a latter to reach them all at that shop today in Clearwater Florida. Imagine what it be if it had a microcontoller in it today. I'm retired now. Great series show.
Very nice video, that meter you used towards the end, that you were talking about reading a negative voltage, I found one seemingly very similar to it at my job. I found a Simpson 260 Series-3 meter that the batteries have corroded the insides. I've been meaning to disassemble it, though I have removed the batteries, thankfully.
Oh man that looks like a really nice tube tester. As always another awesome video Mr Carlson.
Mr. Carlson, I would like to see a video sometime of how to reverse engineer a device from PCB analysis and probing to the final schematic, I think that would be very interesting as are all your videos.
Awesome as Always... Love the way you explain things... Pleasure to watch and Learn
Great video Paul!
Thanks!
Thx for the video, I have a hickok 752 and an EMC 206 to test tubes from the 752 and to test for emmisions, would like to replace the emc 206 for another hickok tester like the 800A or 600a. I really enjoy working with tube equipment
@1:06:13 - Excellent advice from a experienced professional. Deprecate Murphey now! 😊
I grew up around all this equipment, but I was more into the cars. When he passed 20 years ago I had no idea I would come to wonder what happened to all that gear.
I loved these as a kid.. I would go find old tubes just to test them.
I have tube testers going back to the early 1920s . One neat one is a Weston model 47 ,lab quality tester. Only 4 and 5 pin tubes. You can have it if I can get some way to arrange it.
Tom
its such a beautiful bit of kit. i hope to own one soon, i have so many valves never been opened as well.
Always wondered what was in a tube tester. Thanks. I'd like to understand more of what/how the tester actually makes it's measurements.
Nice! Another full restoration! Love the long videos!