WYO: Superior model 80 tube tester
kcoc321
Posts: 1,788
I am looking for your opinions on a Superior model 80 tube tester??
I know it is an older model, and it sounds like it takes some (alot) of manual tweaking to test the different tubes but the gentleman who has it says it works perfectly and that it can test almost any tune, once set up.
His asking price is $60
thanks
KC
I know it is an older model, and it sounds like it takes some (alot) of manual tweaking to test the different tubes but the gentleman who has it says it works perfectly and that it can test almost any tune, once set up.
His asking price is $60
thanks
KC
Post edited by kcoc321 on
Comments
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bump cuz I gotta give the guy an answer tomorrow
He has actually updated me that it is a Model 85.
Here is a pic.
btw, he also has a Heathkit IG-102 RF Generator, Tektronics 465B 100 meg 2 channel oscilloscope with 4 probes,
For anyone in the Seattle area, he is asking $200 for the lot, so the RF generator and the oscilloscope would only be $140
pics...
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His asking price is $60
You haven't bought it yet?Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
You haven't bought it yet?
No I didn't get home til late and saw that he had called. I did email him and I am calling him in the morning.
Does your comment mean you think that is a good deal?
I did search on completed eBay sales, but they only had 2 Model 85's
Both looked about the same and had the manuals. One went for $70 +s and the other went for $3o +s. The $70 one did have alot of extra specs for testing American to European tubes also.
Thanks for the reply, btw
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Yeah, it's a working tester for $60.00..seems like a no brainer to me.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I'd wonder about the acccuracy of a tester that old IF it hasn't been gone through. Most testers will tell you IF it's safe to put a tube in an amp though.
I've had the 80 and sold it last year to a gent in France that collects them. It was still working fine though the test results read a little low in comparison with my other two testers. I think the $60 figure was about what mine brought.
As far as set up goes they're not much different than any other tester. Once you get used to it you'll never notice any more set up steps than most any other tester.
I'd say it's worth $60 in working condition.
Buy it. It's always good to have more than one tester. -
well at this point, it would be nice to have ONE tester..LOL
I have a box of tubes I wanna test and it would be nice to 'match' my tubes in my GF B283. (besides by looking at how bright they glow..hehe)
BTW: it's the model 85, I messed up the initial thread heading. He said it was a 80, but then updated me.
Would a 'normal' electronics repair guy be able to 'go thru' it?
Maybe there is a way to test it with my DMM?
Probably will know more once I see it. -
Yeah, it's a working tester for $60.00..seems like a no brainer to me.
kindof what I am thinkin -
well at this point, it would be nice to have ONE tester..LOL
I have a box of tubes I wanna test and it would be nice to 'match' my tubes in my GF B283. (besides by looking at how bright they glow..hehe)
BTW: it's the model 85, I messed up the initial thread heading. He said it was a 80, but then updated me.
Would a 'normal' electronics repair guy be able to 'go thru' it?
Maybe there is a way to test it with my DMM?
Probably will know more once I see it.
Yep, a normal electronics guy can go through it for you.
IF you're handy with an iron you can replace a lot of the resistors yourself.
They're dirt cheap, easy to get to and make a nice project giving you some "learnin' " while you're at it.
My old Sencore Mighty MIte II TC-114 needs a little work. It's giving the same reading on the strength of tubes now. All my 12AX7 and similar pinned tubes on my #3 socket read the same as far as the % goes. It still tests fine on shorts and grid leakage. I figure for about $10 and a couple of hours taking my time I can give it some new life. -
that would be a nice thread to post. I don't think I have seen one here.
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When I get around to it I won't be using "Mills". LOL! I'll probably get quarantined for using NTE generics
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Gunna go pick it up this morning
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Picked it up Sunday. It actually is a TV-12, which is even better than the model 85, as it has more settings. Had to get a new power cord @ GW,($1.99) but he is also mailing me the original. Unit seems to works great and I also was able to find the full manual and tube setting online (His was original but was missing a couple of pages of the manual, the tube settings are on a roller built in).
Does anyone know how/ if I can calibrate it with just a DMM?
I have been testing all of my tubes for my B232 and I also got a box from a guy on CL.
I discovered maybe why I was not as impressed with the Stock tubes that came with my B232...one of them tested at 22
I am guessing that is not a good thing.
I'll post some pictures once I clean it up a bit and open it up too
Anyone in Seattle need some tubes tested? I can hook you up. -
Sweet, KC has a tube tester. I don't have a need right now with all my adjustable bias equipment, but I'll let you know. Tube testers are sexy...
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Nice find. The rolling charts can sometimes be fragile. I would recommend making a "cheat sheet" of the most common tubes that you will test and put it in plastic next to you tester. This saves alot of wear and tear on the roller. The manual should give you insight into calibration, but it is sometimes worth having someone else with experience perform the work if needed.integrated w/DAC module Gryphon Diablo 300
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thanks for the feedback Doc. I found a PDF of the tube settings, so I don't 'have' to use the roll, although it doesn't seem too fragile. I think the guy I got it from was the original owner. I'll look thru the booklet again for calibration instructions.
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It looks like I'll be picking up a model TV-11 tomorrow KC, which I assume would be similar to your TV-12. I figure its about time as I've bought some tubes in the past that were bad on arrival, but no way to know that until I plugged them into the amp. I assume the tester will need some maintenance, but it looks in good condition overall. Even though its only an emissions tester, I figure I should start easy.
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Just confirmed the pick-up of the tester tomorrow afternoon, so I should probably clear my plate to allow a little play time tomorrow evening... :cheesygrin:
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Kool..IF you find out about calibrating it, LMK where and how much it costs
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I just emailed a guy who has one, and will be picking his brain. From what I've read, it's a pretty simple machine, and should be decent to adjust if it needs it. I will most likely be going through it and replacing resistors and caps since it won't cost very much, and it doesn't have many parts. If need be my father-in-law and I can break out the 'scope and figure out how to dial it in. I hope it has the tube values I need (6L6, EL34, KT88, 6922, 6N1P, 12AX7) or else I'll be scouring the internet again looking for that info.
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Well I picked up the tester, and it is in better condition than I hoped! Overall it's in great condition for the age, but I'm unsure of the circuit integrity. It does turn on and all parts seem to work, but appears to test tubes incorrectly. Hopefully this is just a calibration issue, but it might need a few caps or resistors replaced with age which would be very cheap. The unit also tests capacitors for leaks with is neat. I haven't taken it apart, but it looks like a pretty simple circuit from the manual and a fun project that would be a useful tube tester, as well as a piece of vintage Americana.
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After playing around with the tester last night, I realized that the tube "codes" I need are not including in the reel from 1951; EL34, KT88, 6922, 6N1P. In stead of searching all over the internet for these settings, does anyone know how I would figure out the settings myself? I know you need filament current and load, but then you have all the F N P K levers to set. If anyone's figured out this formula yet, I would be very grateful!
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The site I found my Tube listing on has a TW-11 but not a TV-11 ???
http://www.antiqueairwaves.com/nlee/tv-3&10.html
You might check some of the common tubes on my list against your "roll" and see if they are the same. I use a printout of mine rather than roll the old paper ones in the tester.
As Far as the tubes you are looking for, I found a reference for the KT-88's as a "6550", so that is what I used to test mine.
KT88 GEC 1960's rebranded "6550 ZAERIX" https://www.tubeworld.com/kt88.htm
FWIW: I did find a reference to the 6922's in a TV-10 updated tube listing
http://www.antiqueairwaves.com/nlee/tv-3&10.html
Tube Type - Fil. Volts - Selectors Bias Shunt Scale Press Mut. Cond. Notations Settings Source
6922 6.3 EV7-6080 30 --- C P3 2500 Triode # 1 3200-124
6922 6.3 EV2-1030 30 --- C P3 2500 Triode # 2 3200-124
I also found a reference for the levers:
F = Filament
N = Neutral
P = Plate Position
K = Cathode Position
G = ? (not on the Tw-11. is on my Tv-12) Ground?
"The elemental switches are numbered 1 to 9 to correspond to the RMA basing of the tube. The 10th switch marked "T.C." is used to connect the Top-cap lead into the circuit when needed" (From the TW-11 manual) It doesn't have it explained in my manual.
This guy lists a Suplimental tube listing for the TV-11....course he wants $24 but at least you know they are out there.
http://www.radiolaguy.com/Manuals/manuals_Test_Equipment2.htm#S -
Thanks for the info KC. Below is a response I got by posting to the Antique Radio Forum which is equally helpful, and I hope these posts can help other Superior testers.
If you open it up to repair it, be aware that this tube tester doesn't use a normal transformer. It's an autotransformer, and so it's not isolated from the power line. Although the chassis is not live, the test socket pins will be hot, and if any of the capacitors have shorted, other things like the headphone jack could be hot.
As for testing your tubes, I'd test the KT88 and EL34 as if they were 6L6's.
For other unlisted tubes you can follow this procedure:
Set the filament voltage rotary switch to the specified filament voltage of the tube. You can find this info from a tube data book or using one of the online tube databases.
Next are the lever switches:
Each of the lever switches corresponds with a pin on the tube base or the top cap. The number of the lever switch indicates which pin, and T.C. indicates the top cap. For each of these, set the corresponding lever switch as follows:
If it's the first filament pin, then set the switch to F
If it's the the second filament pin, set the switch to K
If it's a filament center tap pin, set the switch to N
If it's the plate pin, set the switch to P
For all other pins, set the switches to K
(Note, for multi-section tubes such as dual triodes, you test one section at a time. For the section you want to test, set the lever switch for plate to P as per normal, but set the switch for the other plate to K. Then to test the other section, alternate the plate switch settings.)
This only leaves the Load setting. Some guesswork will be required here. For that I would use the same setting as for another tube with similar gm and/or mu characteristics.
The TV-11 is not a great tester by any means, and it will only give you a rough idea of the tube's quality. But they are fun to play with.
BTW, you can download the January 1963 TV-11 tube supplement here:
http://electronbunker.sasktelwebsite.net/DL/TV11_Supplement.pdf
It includes tubes that came out after the TV-11 was made, but unfortunately it doesn't include your tubes. -
Did you ever get your tester working KC? After opening mine up, and checking all the connections, I found out that I had a loose resistors, and that brought my meter back in spec and the unit seems to be working great. Biasing yours should be as easy as replacing any caps that are out of spec, or just for good measure as they are around 50 years old. I've test tested two different tube types so far (6L6 and 6N1P) and the tester seems to read correctly, or at least close enough for an emissions tester.
My issue now is I have one 6L6 in a quad, not sure which one, that has run-away bias/hot spotting. I know that my emissions tester can't test for that, so I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to trouble shoot hot spotting with the equipment I have.
If you want help with your tester, or want to test some tubes on mine, give me a shout KC, and I'd be more than happy to help out anyone in the greater Pudget Sound area as well. -
sorry about your tester having issues buddy. I will be heading into Seattle later today and would be glad to let you borrow mine if you want. I have not done any replacements of any components, but it seems to be working okay.
Send me a PM or an email with you # and we can make arrangements to hookup.
Happy New Years
