Andrea TVJ12 for 2

[tvdude1]

I picked up a pair of nice consoles this summer for 100.00 for the pair. Want to keep one to restore. Tube are missing in one set. Want to buy a new set of tubes which will be kind of cheap because uses lots of metal tubes. What brand would have Andrea used in these sets so it will look right since it is a keeper? Also need a bottom chassis cover if someone can help would be glad to buy it.

[Tim]

Glad you saved those sets Henry. Not too many around. I'll check my VJ12 tonight or tomorrow and see what it has.

[tvdude1]

Thank you Tim.

[Tim]

I checked it out and there are a couple tubes with different brands Ken-Rad, Raytheon, Hytron that are probably replacements but the majority are RCA with 7-39 and a few 7-42 date codes. These are both octal and miniature so I'm guessing they are the original 1947 RCA tubes.

[tvdude1]

Thank You Tim. Will post pictures when chassis is cleaned up.

[tvdude1]

Do you have the table version or floor model?

[Tim]

Table model and the Console model with the Phono.

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by tvdude1

Tube are missing in one set. Want to buy a new set of tubes which will be kind of cheap because uses lots of metal tubes. What brand would have Andrea used in these sets so it will look right

What leads you to the deduction that (I guess you mean) Andrea uses lots of metal tubes? Just by reading the other posts in this thread I am going to guess that since Andrea used several suppliers, one being RCA Victor, that you have seen pictures showing the metal envelope tubes that RCA was producing in the years around those date codes.

I used to have a great Life magazine article from I think the early 40s on some of the state of the art designs going on in electronics and metal envelope tubes were explained as far as why they were ever made. I want to say that military purposes played a really big part in it all. It makes sense as metal would definitely be more rugged for field use taking WAY more punishment. Same goes for Philco's loctal base tubes. Again, the military and the need for tubes that could be mounted any way needed without gravity and vibration being factors working against their remaining securely plugged in, They can indeed be tricky to pull out; that's for sure.

Anyway, I would say that wartime production caused surpluses of metal tubes to hold strong numbers for many years after they stopped making them. I will take a leap and say that it really wont matter whether you use glass or metal from the standpoint of the correct look. You said something about them being kind of cheap, so I guess you mean that you want to keep your costs down. If that is the case, I would think that you will want to go with standard glass envelope tubes as they are going to be more plentiful and much easier to locate the entire compliment needed for your set.

This is an interesting topic that I have never seen discussed before. Glad you brought it up; and good luck getting the set going.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

I will take a leap and say that it really wont matter whether you use glass or metal from the standpoint of the correct look. You said something about them being kind of cheap, so I guess you mean that you want to keep your costs down. If that is the case, I would think that you will want to go with standard glass envelope tubes as they are going to be more plentiful and much easier to locate the entire compliment needed for your set.

One thing to bear in mind is that the metal envelope of some octal types provided an integral 'tube shield' effect, and that if you swap an original metal tube for a glass one, loosing that shielding effect may prevent normal operation. Always be weary about replacing metal tubes with glass as the set designers may have made the set to only work with metal tubes in some places.

[Reece]

Ditto about metal tubes and integral shielding: for that to work, pin #1 of the octal socket must be grounded. If the manufacturer left pin 1 unconnected, or if they used it as a tie point with no connection intended to the tube, then a metal tube cannot be used in that socket.