Can you touch the tubes?


I was talking to someone at the tube store about replacing some KT 150 tubes and he said it was perfectly fine to touch the tubes.

I've always thought you're supposed to handle these things very carefully with white gloves or a microfiber cloth.

Handling them with my fingers makes it easier to pull them out , insert them more securely.

Does it really matter if my fingerprints get on the glass or should I clean them off with a microfiber cloth after I touch them?

emergingsoul

Transistors was just coming into television sets when I started into electronics.  The only time we did not grab a tube with our bare finger was when it was hot.  We then used a cloth, napkin, paper towel...

Couple funny story now.  Wasn't then.

There were two tubes in the high voltage section in a tv that were in a metal cage/s.  The Regulator tube sometimes had a gripper or holder at the base.  We had to push down on the gripper to remove the tube.  You could only get one hand into the cage.  I remove the tube's anode cap.  Reach in, push down on the grippers with fingers and wiggle the tube up and out.  There is a point where the tube pins become exposed but are still connected.  I think it was a Zenith.  The picture tube anode was connected to the cathode of the regulator.  My fingers took one for the cause.  Yes, I did discharge the picture tube.  But the voltage creeps back.  On the larger 25, 27 inch tubes, they creep back with a vengeance.

The post above mentioned Halogen lamps.  Well, I got into Copy Machines after tv repair. They used to use Halogen lamps.  About 1/4 inch round, 12" long.    950 to 1250 watts. They fail in two ways.  Filament breaks, not light.  Or they get air in them, blackening the inside of the bulb.  e.g., get light but not enough = dark copies.  I could get to that lamp in a minute. Well, the lamp goes 1000 degrees in a second.  Takes about 5 minutes to cool down to touch.   Melting skin is like grease on that glass tube.

 

Wash your hands first and you should have no problem. My bigger concern is smaller signal tubes (particularly NOS Amperex) where the printing on the tube can easily wipe off and I suspect oil will make that worse; I always try to grab the tube in spots where no printing is located

You want to avoid the oils which in turn heat up the glass and make the tubes hotter than they should be. 

If it's unavoidable use isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to clean off the glass.  The little alcohol cleaning wipes are really handy for spot cleaning like that.  Of course, make sure your gear is off before getting any fluid anywhere near it. :)

@carlsbad2 "tubes, not so hot"

Try telling that to an 845 tube, or any power tube for that matter