Jackson 535A tube tester information

[New2oldradios]

Hello everyone, I just joined the group today and as my name says I am new to working on old radios but I am going to be learning. I have a Westinghouse H164 that belonged to one set of grandparents, a Knight Star Roamer my father built from a kit in the early'70s and I was recently given an old tube tester that belonged to my other grandfather. While information on the two radios has been available the tester is a different story.

It is a Jackson 535A which as near as I can tell was made between 1935 and 1940. I haven't been able to find any information about that model online so I have started emailing people who use, collect or sell vintage tube testers asking for help. In my searching I came across this forum and after reading some posts and threads it looked like a place that might be able to help me find information as well as pointers for working on old tube equipment.

I have no literature for this unit. I would like to rebuild it to working condition simply because it was my grandfathers rather than any practical use I could get out of it. I am hoping to get some leads on where I can get the instructions, reference chartsor schematics. Any help would be appreciated, so far this particular model had been very elusive.

Thanks for your help,

Scott

 

[anatech]

Hi Scott,
This one is an emission type tester. It's a great idea to rebuild it, just don't trust it for service work. If a tube measures bad on it, it's bad. But a tube that measures good may also still be bad.

It's a good brand. I might have the same tester down here somewhere. My plan was to rebuild it as well.

-Chris

 

[New2oldradios]

Hello Chris,

I took the back off of it the other day, doesn't look too bad. I removed the old 71A tube on general principal and my local electronics store had one in stock. Before I go much further I plan to trace the wiring and make a schematic as I haven't been able to find one. I also found a large 1uf 200V capacitor loose inside, it had come off on both sides. If you do happen to have a 535a in your collection could you please send me a picture of the inside so I can see where the replacement needs to go?

I'll try to upload a couple of pictures of mine. I haven't tried that yet so I might not get it to work.

Thanks for responding,

Scott

 

[New2oldradios]

Upload of pictures