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Vintage WE Tubes

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maxseeley

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Joined 2010
#1
I have a bunch of NOS WE tubes. They are all stamped on the top of the box with "INSP. REJ." which I would interpret as "Inspected and Rejected". This doesn't make sense for two reasons - the tubes test out great and I know the full history of the tubes and they wouldn't have been purchased if they weren't in tip-top shape. So my next guess is this just means they didn't pass for inclusion into a matched set or some high grade designation???

Thanks for the help in advance 🙂
 
#2
Having worked at a semiconductor manufacturer, it's quite possible the tubes did not pass a certain series of test(s), whether that be electrical or visual. I know we would test test semiconductors at a certain level and if they passed they were bin 1's, those that didn't pass would be subjected to another set of parameters looser than the first, and if they passed those, they were bin 2's. We went all the way to bin 5's which were hobbyist grade.

Ray
 
#3
maxseeley said:
I have a bunch of NOS WE tubes. They are all stamped on the top of the box with "INSP. REJ." which I would interpret as "Inspected and Rejected". This doesn't make sense for two reasons - the tubes test out great and I know the full history of the tubes and they wouldn't have been purchased if they weren't in tip-top shape. So my next guess is this just means they didn't pass for inclusion into a matched set or some high grade designation???
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These could have been rejected for any number of reasons. May be they didn't meet a special requirement? Didn't come up to military specs?

Could have been rejects, based on appearance. Rat Shack used to buy up VTs that weren't quite "right" for some reason. I had some 6BQ6GTBs with the "Realistic Lifetime" brand that had been obviously overheated during the bake-out. Another 5U4GB had its getter flashed too soon. These types work, and test well, but have visual flaws. so Realistic would put bases on them with the fancy gold-colored pins, box 'em up under the "Lifetime" brand, and sell 'em at Rat Shacks.
 
#4
There are often "Cosmetic Rejects" which are still 100% functional but don't meet muster for commercial sales.

While in College, I used to get "Cosmetic Rejects" from Intel for free. It helped bias me towards their products in my later working life.
 
#5
Yes, I figured it out with your help and just opening my eyes.....

They all have a bottom glass plate that is either off-center a little bit or they are "pinched waist". Don't know if "pinched waist" is desirable in the WE tubes like it is in Amperex 6DJ8's??? They are 420A's or 5755 clear tops.


Thanks for the help.
 
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