Tubes. I have no idea how many tubes I have in storage waiting to be tested. Thousands certainly, maybe 5,000? 6,000? More? I really don't know. However many there are, before I can list them online, each and every one has to be tested.
If you're not familiar with tube testers, the process is pretty straight forward. Open the tube box, make sure the tube matches the label on the box, change nine or ten settings on the tester to match the tube requirements as shown on the roll chart (or book, or addendum, etc.). Insert the tube (after making sure the pins are straight), give it time to warm up, then follow the testing process. Tubes with separate triodes/diodes/oscillators/amp sections, etc. have multiple tests that have to be done for each tube. Resetting the tester two or three times to test each section of the tube is pretty common. If the tube passes all the tests, then it's reboxed, numbered, marked on a legal pad as good, put in line to be photographed, put in a listing here on FatCat.Parts, and finally synced with the Fat Cat eBay store.
It's a time-intensive process, but one I enjoy. And I guess it's good that I enjoy it, because each and every tube, new or used, has to be tested.
In the fall of 2022, I bought about 1,200 used/boxed tubes from an older gentleman. His strong selling point was each tube had already been tested as good, and that sounded like a great time saver for me. Except..... When I sell a tube, it's my reputation on the line, not his, so I have been retesting all those tubes. One tray of tubes holds about 132 tubes. The tray in this photo had 116 tubes in it when I started testing it, so it was almost full. After testing all of them, the tray was down to 76 tubes. That's 35% of the tubes tested had to be tossed because they either didn't pass, or they passed but just barely, and those go in the trash as well. The photo included in this article is the tray after testing was complete.
The tester I use most of the time is a Hickok 533A, and my backup is a Triplett 3414. The Triplett doesn't see a lot of service these days, but I keep it nearby, just in case.
It took six hours and several cups of coffee to test 116 tubes. That's a little over three minutes per tube for testing time. It helps if I have a several tubes with the same number to test in a row, so I can set the tester only once for several tests.
Once the photography is complete and the website listing is finished, I have around 10-12 minutes of time in each tube listed. Ten minutes doesn't sound like a lot of time, but multiplied by the thousands waiting to be processed, the act of getting a tube ready to sell is time-intensive.
But, in the end, it's worth it. I know the tubes I'm selling are good, and that means I can sell them with a solid level of confidence. Better results for me, less frustration for you, and a better transaction all the way around.
Thanks for visiting me here at FatCat.Parts!