Recently I came across an old Hickok 539C from an old gentleman who passed on. I have a few questions about this tester I would like to ask here as I found this board on the internet and it looked like a good place to ask.
I opened the ol' tester today and changed out the 9 pin socket as the old one was worn and I noticed the selection switches were pretty well grooved from much use over the years. Most of the switches feel a little stiff when turning except for the Cathode selector, which is smooth and turns easier then the rest. Maybe it was replaced, I am not sure. It got me to thinking about the other switches that are a little harder to turn. My question is ... Should I lube the switch contacts with some type of lubricant or oil to hold down on the wear of the brass contacts?... or is that a bad ideal.

By the way my name is Blaine... I am kinda new to the ol testing equipment but find it captivating.
Thanks in advance for any help you may give on this thread.

Bad idea. These sw are very sensitive to leakage paths that could be crated by oil and dirt mixture, also the phenolic material can swell from the oil. Best to use a non-residue electronic cleaner and just a tiny drop of oil on the bering part of the sw. Usually there is a detent mech in front of each sw that uses a captive ball bering or 2 that could use that drop of oil. Nice find on one of the most desirable testers out there

Thanks Lou
it was cool to find the old tester at an estate sale
its an old war horse of a tester.I tested tubes off and on for about 12 Hrs today with it,
I was thinking maybe I should put a fan in the old girl to help cooler it down but I hate the idea of cutting a hole in the side for the fan
do you think a fan would be a good idea for the 539c?
thanks again

It might be a real disaster introducing dust into all those switch decks . Leave well enough alone in this case .

You probably won't be running it for so long, once you get many of your tubes tested. You could temporarily prop up the panel on thin wooden spacers, to get a little ventilation.

As Lou mentioned, a tiny bit of lubricant on the contact surfaces and the bearing surfaces is all you need. The silver plating will be long gone by now, so it's brass on brass, but regular use will keep them relatively clean. The original grease on the steel parts will have dried out, but if you're lucky, some new oil will soak in and keep the bearings from freezing solid.

Whatever you do, DO NOT spray any of the switches with ANYTHING. Doing so will introduce leakage and the tester will never be accurate.

Gene

thanks for all the info guys .it is very much appreciated
I ran the old girl for another 10 Hr.s today testing a bushel of 6dj8's
its taking me about 7 to 10 min.'s per tube
I hope the old tester can handle the load.
I came across 15 of the big old Tektronix Type 585A and the like at an auction and man they where full of the old bugle boys
so I ended up with over a 100 6dj8's
all ready I can see my new 9 pen socket I just put in the other day is getting janky
thanks again for the info

avatar test

Careful. Them's fightin' words, pardner.
Many, if not most, of us on this forum go to truly -great- lengths to restore the fine equipment such as that which you seem to have so callously gutted. Seriously, that's considered by many here to be bad, bad juju.
Of course, it is yours to do with as you see fit.

BTW: Seeing as how the damage is done, you might could offer up some of the other parts for those of us who are bent upon restoration and homebrew. Just a suggestion.

My opinion? If you want truly great audio, let us teach you how to use the test equipment. If you just want piles of cash, well, to each their own.

I think I see ebay in someones future.

Dave

vid test of the old 539c I found

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hmmmmmm no worky for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXafFv9t ... ature=plcp

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Hmmmmmmmmm still no worky for me

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HXafFv9toxk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

maybe I should start with a simple pic,lol

looks like I can only do pics,O well,
I am going to put up a few pics of some of the stuff I got at an estate sale a few weeks back.
been trying to figure out what some of this stuff dose.
I was going to sale it all on ebay but it was just a little to cool to let go.
so I built a bench , hooked up the power and now just look at me, I am an old radio guy.lol
I herd you chuckling threw the wires.
here is a device that came with the old guys batch.I never met the man but I could tell he was cool from his house and his things.he was in his upper 80's and could still build every PC in his house,one of which I am typing on and using now .

some more things from that same sale

and some more stuff I don't know what da hell is but it looks cool enough

my new old radio guy room ,
if you didn't know any better you'd think I knew what the hell I was doing