unmarked tubes
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unmarked tubes
So I recently scored a huge pile of loose tubes, and I'm going through them looking for anything of use and just generally sorting them by whatever I can find. Quite a few of them have had any useful labelling eradicated. I assume that there is no practical way for an average guy to ID a tube from looking at the guts. Should I just toss 'em?
Are they safe to recycle with my soup cans and soda bottles, or is there a better way to dispose of 'em?
Are they safe to recycle with my soup cans and soda bottles, or is there a better way to dispose of 'em?
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At least give the freezer trick a try. When a tube is frozen, sometimes you can briefly see what indication was on there when you remove it from the freezer. Honest, just give it a try. It won't hurt the tubes and you have nothing to lose.
You might sort them by size/shape, etc and maybe there are groups of similar? LOL, maybe you have a bunch of 7167, 6BA6 or something like that! Donate them to an art college. A student will make a sculpture from them.
The metal has toxic stuff on it. You can't recycle.
You might sort them by size/shape, etc and maybe there are groups of similar? LOL, maybe you have a bunch of 7167, 6BA6 or something like that! Donate them to an art college. A student will make a sculpture from them.
The metal has toxic stuff on it. You can't recycle.
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the toxicity was one of the things I was curious about. I wonder if it's even something that should go in a landfill. Maybe I'll consider recycling with batteries, or at the next computer dump day...
I got about 40 unreadable tubes out of 1 box, with 3 or 4 more to go...these are just the big tubes, I haven't started the 7 and 9 pins yet!
I got about 40 unreadable tubes out of 1 box, with 3 or 4 more to go...these are just the big tubes, I haven't started the 7 and 9 pins yet!
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Remember that you can decode the Philips group codes to get the type in many cases. A lot of Amperex and Sylvania have these codes etched in the glass or written on the base, and RCA would relabel Mullard and Siemens & Halske products, among others. If you have that Philips/Mullard style code on anything, you can often work out what it is.
You can get the list here, in PDF format:
http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/fran ... tAB-v8.pdf
It is not absolutely accurate, but it could save you from throwing out some good stuff.
You can get the list here, in PDF format:
http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/fran ... tAB-v8.pdf
It is not absolutely accurate, but it could save you from throwing out some good stuff.
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