Often when I buy or receive old tubes, pins on the tubes are oxidized. Big issue with oxidation is that it prevents pins making good contact with the socket. Because of that in the worst case, tube would appear to be completely dead or it will make strange noises during playback. Fixing this issue is quite simple. Just pray pins with DeoxIt D5, wipe in with a cloth and the problem will be solved in the majority of cases. If that don’t help, sometimes using a small screwdriver and cleaning pins one at a time to remove junk off the metal. They spray with Deoxit again to ensure that what ever is left is dissolved.

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