I saw one of those old Store Tube Testers in an antique store today...It is a
Sylvania Model 2500. Are these capable of givng restorers a good idea of the condition of a tube or were they put in stores just to sell more tubes? The price tag has $250 and looks to be in good shape with no reference if it works or not. Sound pricey to you who know?
Bob E

:I saw one of those old Store Tube Testers in an antique store today...It is a
:Sylvania Model 2500. Are these capable of givng restorers a good idea of the condition of a tube or were they put in stores just to sell more tubes? The price tag has $250 and looks to be in good shape with no reference if it works or not. Sound pricey to you who know?
:Bob E

Personally, I feel those things were to sell tubes and not test tubes. As for a shop piece of test equipment, I would say nix. For a curio to show how things were done in "the old days", it might be intersting.
Lewis

I have one made by Mercury that is in great shape. I paid ten bucks for the thing at a flea market. They pop up pretty often, as they do look neat, but usually sell for under one hundred dollars. These typically include the floor standing cabinet to hold all those tubes they are trying to sell you. I do use mine, but only as a pass/fail to check for shorts. The meter is not very forgiving, so many fine tubes check as bad/replace.

::I saw one of those old Store Tube Testers in an antique store today...It is a
::Sylvania Model 2500. Are these capable of givng restorers a good idea of the condition of a tube or were they put in stores just to sell more tubes? The price tag has $250 and looks to be in good shape with no reference if it works or not. Sound pricey to you who know?
::Bob E
:
:Personally, I feel those things were to sell tubes and not test tubes. As for a shop piece of test equipment, I would say nix. For a curio to show how things were done in "the old days", it might be intersting.
:Lewis

:I saw one of those old Store Tube Testers in an antique store today...It is a
:Sylvania Model 2500. Are these capable of givng restorers a good idea of the condition of a tube or were they put in stores just to sell more tubes? The price tag has $250 and looks to be in good shape with no reference if it works or not. Sound pricey to you who know?
:Bob E
:
:If you are really looking for a tube tester you may find something on ebay. I found my Heath IT-21 for $25. It was in excellent shape and worked. I did go through it and install new resistors, caps etc. Don't know if it works any better but it has always been reliable. $250 sounds spendy.
Johnny

Bob, they were simple emissions testers and the quality was the same as any other emissions tester that you maty find. Having said that, I bought on e-bay a EICO 625 that was factory assembled and was/is in pristine condition for $125. What your looking at is the same type tester (emissions) for double the price and no way to determine if it's operable. Your call. PL
PS: I went to $125 because it was advertised as having been recently "calibrated" and in excelant condition (I lucked out the seller was honest).

:I saw one of those old Store Tube Testers in an antique store today...It is a
:Sylvania Model 2500. Are these capable of givng restorers a good idea of the condition of a tube or were they put in stores just to sell more tubes? The price tag has $250 and looks to be in good shape with no reference if it works or not. Sound pricey to you who know?
:Bob E

Thanks for all of your responses.
I think it would be kind of neat as a display piece to mix with the display of your radio collection. Seems most radio items you find in Antique Stores tend to be on the high side unless you catch the item "on sale". I doubt whether I will buy it especially at that price but it would be a great Christmas gift for me :O)
Bob E

Bob, maybe you should consider just putting in an offer for the thing. Maybe you'll get it for fifty bucks. The worst that can happen is that it will sit their for years and years with that unchanging price tag.

:Thanks for all of your responses.
:I think it would be kind of neat as a display piece to mix with the display of your radio collection. Seems most radio items you find in Antique Stores tend to be on the high side unless you catch the item "on sale". I doubt whether I will buy it especially at that price but it would be a great Christmas gift for me :O)
:Bob E

I might do that.. and I *would* buy it for that..
I probably wouldn't even get a response from the vendor with an offer like that. This is a "classier" antique mall. They send post cards out for "special" weekend sales when they offer 15% off every couple of months. I don't know as if I really want to start the
Radio memorabilia collection or not. I have an ashtry with RCA advertising and a book of matches with
some Philco Radio Show advertinsing on it for display. I am trying to resist collecting more stuff (other than radios themselves) as my photographic memorabilia has taken over nearly the whole house already. You just can't have too much "stuff" though,
ya know? Also getting carried away with LPs with over 3500 in my growing collection..

:Bob, maybe you should consider just putting in an offer for the thing. Maybe you'll get it for fifty bucks. The worst that can happen is that it will sit their for years and years with that unchanging price tag.

The best tester I have used for more modern tubes is a B & K.

I also have an old , early fiftes Heathkit that works very well for four/five/six pin tubes.

Lou

:I might do that.. and I *would* buy it for that..
:I probably wouldn't even get a response from the vendor with an offer like that. This is a "classier" antique mall. They send post cards out for "special" weekend sales when they offer 15% off every couple of months. I don't know as if I really want to start the
:Radio memorabilia collection or not. I have an ashtry with RCA advertising and a book of matches with
:some Philco Radio Show advertinsing on it for display. I am trying to resist collecting more stuff (other than radios themselves) as my photographic memorabilia has taken over nearly the whole house already. You just can't have too much "stuff" though,
:ya know? Also getting carried away with LPs with over 3500 in my growing collection..
:
:
:
::Bob, maybe you should consider just putting in an offer for the thing. Maybe you'll get it for fifty bucks. The worst that can happen is that it will sit their for years and years with that unchanging price tag.
:
: