Don't know what I have

[tboy1337]

Hi there, I was recently going through my granddads old possessions that have been in storage (He was a keen amateur TV and radio repair man) and I came across a load of old valves and capacitors. My knowledge in electronics isn't the best so I was wondering if anyone could help me and tell me do I have anything useful.

Thanks

[ms660]

They are valves that would have been fitted to various televisions, only useful if the valves are reasonably up to specification, eg: heater continuity's ok, no shorts, no air inside and reasonable emission.

If you want to flog them stick 'em on Ebay, I doubt if they'll be worth much though.

Lawrence.

[G8HQP Dave]

TV valves such as those are in the curious position of being no longer made (so their value is likely to increase) but also being fairly readily available at present (so their monetary value is actually quite small). Many of us on this forum will have several boxes with similar contents to yours.

So yes you have something useful. Probably no you don't have anything particularly valuable. If you have no use for them then put them on ebay - it would be a shame to put them in the bin. It might be worth checking whether the valves look new (i.e. clean shiny glass) as some TV repairers will put old valves back into the box the replacements came out of. Even better, see if you can find someone local to check them for heater continuity - this will make them easier to sell.

[paulsherwin]

I can't see anything very valuable there, though I'm sure there are forum members that would be happy to give them a home.

The basic problem with TV valves of the 50s and 60s is the limited number of enthusiasts who restore and use TVs of that period. Even keen collectors may only own a small number of TVs because of the space they take up.

To compound the oversupply problem, valve TVs were part of the mass market right up to the end of the valve era. There were many warehouses full of spare valves, and thousands of one man band repairers each with their own workshop stocks. It was also standard practice to harvest the valves when a set was scrapped, and an awful lot were scrapped when BBC2 arrived on UHF in 1964.

With a few exceptions, TV valves don't have much use outside the vintage TV world.

There is a lull between something going out of common use (those valves) and then being needed, with old TV valves the lull is still ongoing. Please don't throw them away, if you have space keep them or if not offer them up here. It would be a shame to see them 'skipped'.

The basic problem with TV valves of the 50s and 60s is the limited number of enthusiasts who restore and use TVs of that period

audio enthusiasts who want a cheap valve amplifier are starting to use old TV valves because they are readily available and just as good (if not better) as some esoteric highly priced ones. They are a miracle of high precision mass production.

[Oldcodger]

Nothing I recognise ,but conversely, I remember keeping some of my first TV sets,( ancient hand me downs ) going with the help of valves from the repeater station store, and my parents old radio being the benefactor of a few valves from our friendly GPO mate. So who's to say, there's nothing useful- "useful 2 is a state of mind, IMHO- I just wish I had access to my old mate's valve store when the old TRS was demolished ( bearing in mind that he had some old/ancient 1+x CARRIER EQUIPMENT/ 12channel open wire stuff and other exotic kit).

[Peter.N.]

I have several boxes of valves I pulled from the last hybrid TVs with the thought that they might be useful one day - but they are still there and I have been retired for 12 years, I have quite a few PL509/519 that I thought might be good for building a linear but it never happened.

I would think there must be hundreds of thousands of these valves in peoples lofts and garages - but you never know, one day ....

Peter

[Sideband]

Yes agree with the above. They are standard TV valves typically of the 50's, 60's era. Nothing rare. I have all of those in duplicate (and triplicate in some cases) in my valve store. Ebay is your best bet but they won't make you a fortune. Offer them as a job lot starting at around a tenner and see what you get (or check for similar items and see what they are going for).

Better that than throw them out. They will be useful to someone

There is one radio valve amongst that lot....a UY41. Again very common.

[dave walsh]

I bought a small 405 line TV from a local chap last year [his dad once had a TV business] then he mentioned about 60 valves he had-half of them TV stock. I offered what I thought was a fair price based on some of the points rehearsed here. He was clearly a bit disappointed by this so I gave him various contact points and explained relative values. I suggested the Forum but he really wanted me to organise that for him. In the end I said it would be too difficult and time consuming for me but that he might well do better elsewhere.

To my surprise, he rang back a couple of weeks later saying some people wanted lists, dealers wanted to cherry pick, others wanted to go round [he was moving house]. He found it all a bit of a nightmare and asked if my offer was still available. He was very happy when I said yes and especially when I gave him a bit extra [his price for the TV had been very reasonable]. Job done but in general, I suspect e-bay will be the best option!

As Merlin said [p5] TV valves can be used in the audio field and the magazines [eg PW] had the occasional article using them for that purpose even when the regular valves were relatively common but I keep failing to list them when looking through the archives.

Dave W

[Andrew B]

I have quite a few PL509/519 that I thought might be good for building a linear but it never happened.

With the price of 6KD6's and 6146's getting ever higher, the prospect of changing them for PL519's (even with the 40 volt heaters + bases) is beginning to look very tempting indeed.

[broadgage]

I agree with those who say do not throw them out, that would be a sad waste.

If you have the space, then store them, as the years go by they should appreciate in value.
If you need the space, then yes ebay is probably best.

[dseymo1]

You mentioned capacitors, Tboy.
Depending on what they are, those might be more interesting.

[Heatercathodeshort]

The cut off point for these valves appears to be about 1965. I guess he packed up servicing around that period. Just a thought. John.