"N_Cook" wrote in message
...
In this case someone has been moving all 12AX7 type tubes around and
forcing
them in or something. Anyway pins are bent and drunken and deforming the
sockets. Any tips for straightening ? A brass block with precisely
engineered holes to push back all into alignment ? a metal cylinder with 9
peripheral axial channels to go inside the pinning and something to run
around on the outer sides of the pins ?


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/



Years ago when I was a TV engineer with a rental company, I had a pin
straightner / valve remover in my toolkit. At one end, it had a 'pseudo' B9A
valveholder one side, made from some kind of hard plastic - maybe bakelite
even, with slightly 'coned' entries to the pin holes, and a B7G holder back
to back with it. These were used to straighten pins. This part of the tool
was then attached to a soft(ish) plastic tube, slightly conical in shape.
When you had to change a valve in an awkward place, such as at the front of
an old turret tuner, especially when it was mounted upside down, you just
pushed the tool over the valve and then pulled. The softness of the plastic
gripped the glass of the valve, probably assisted by vacuum, and out it
came. The replacement valve could be fitted by first inserting it into the
plastic tube, and then using it as an extension to your fingers to manoeuvre
it into the valve holder. Once in place, the tool could be gently rocked and
removed, leaving the valve in place. I have a vague suspicion that this tool
was actually supplied by Mullard, but I could be wrong there. I have a clear
memory of it being a baby blue colour. Happy days ...

Arfa