The first thing that I need to do to refurbish my Hickok 539B Tube Tester is to clean up its appearance. I bought CRC QD Electronic Cleaner. This quick drying and no residue formula should be OK for my purpose. I remove all the buttons to wipe out all the dust and dirty things from the front plate.
The initial impression, not “too dirty” for around 40 years old stuff but dirty is dirty, period. Some of the buttons removed to simplify the cleaning process.
Cleaning process completed. Well, not too clean but for the first stage, this should be more than enough. I’m gonna buy some more cleaner to make it even more shiny.
The meter seemed OK in terms of the appearance. I think the function also still OK.
The bias meter also looked good. This bias meter is one of the special features of the Hickok 539 series.
Another special feature is the dedicated AC Volt Meter. The line usually will sag a little bit when testing and with this dedicated meter, we can adjust if any sag is detected during the measurement. The sag will affect the measurement for sure.
The roll chart is smooth and some buttons from P1-P7 could be used depends on our needs.
Another special feature is the noise test. We can use special headphone to check whether your tube is noisy or not. Two bulbs from Hickok also used. One if #81 for fuse and the other is NE-51 (110V, 1/25W) Neon for shorts. I think the power (pilot) indicator is #49.
The shunt and filament voltage selector. Hickok 539B support from 0.6 to 117V filament, also for ballast tube.
The signal selector consists of 6 types, from 600-60000 micromhos. Also selector for testing rectifier and VR tube.
Short test selector. The combination from 1-5 will create a simple matrix to identify the short position. Must check the manual book to understand more. While the position from A-E is used for leakage test. Details explained in the manual.
That’s all folks. I will continue with the inside part exploration later (don’t know when).
Bill Eccher
February 20, 2010 09:52Hi,
Nice looking unit and I’m sure you will be pleased with it. I have a couple of 539C’s and have owned a few 539B’s in the past. I have been putting together a calibration manual for the 539C and will do the same for the 539B. If you are interested I’ll send you a copy email when I finish at no charge.
Take care,
Bill
Jimmy Auw
February 22, 2010 18:23Hi,
Thanks Bill. Appreciated.
Joel
February 5, 2011 14:33The 539B has two tubes in it. What number are they?
Thank you.
Joel
Auw Jimmy
February 5, 2011 17:57Hi Joel,
It’s #83 Mercury and 5Y3.
Thanks.
Bruno
December 25, 2012 00:09Hello Jimmy,
Nice Hickok 539B, good pictures of the innards all along your blog +++. I wait for my recently bought 539B to be delivered, and certainly I will need to clean it as you do. I have the well-know and useful calibration procedure from Daniel Schoo, but have you ever received any calibration manual as kindly offered by Bill Eccher ?
Thanks & Greetings,
Bruno.
Auw Jimmy
December 25, 2012 00:11Hi Bruno,
Congrats on your purchase! Definitely this 539B is a tube tester of the dream.
I have a lot of calibration guide, from Daniel and also Bill (he is a nice guy), but unfortunately I haven’t done it to mine.
Thanks.
Bruno
October 18, 2013 02:39Hello again Jimmy,
I have now a Hickok 539B and a 539C, along with a 600 and a 752A. All of them working as expected, but…
1 – do you notice oscillation issues on your 539B when testing 300B tubes, giving erratic and off gm values ?
2 – would you send me a copy of Bill’s calibration manual for the 539C and B that he sent to you ?
Thanks & Greetings,
Bruno.
Auw Jimmy
October 18, 2013 12:30Hi Bruno,
I would suggest you to contact Bill directly to get the copy of manual.
For 300B, I think there is not enough power to supply the tube.
Thanks.
Michele derossi
May 23, 2015 06:09Hello bill ! It’s Michele from e-bay . Can you give me your phone number . Have some questions . My number is (609) 626-1878 . Thank you