ENGINEERED FOR EVERYONE

How to tell if your tube socket pins have been spread out too far.

Tube socket pin too spread out.
Tube socket pins proper spread.

These pins are spread to edges of white tube socket and should be tightened.

These pins have been fixed and pulled away from the tube socket wall and will give good tube pin to socket contact.

If your socket pins look similar to the left image please proceed to the next step.

How to fix tube socket pins that have been spread.

Close-up of a microwave tube being inspected with tweezers, surrounded by resistors and capacitors on a circuit board.

You’ll need a jewelers pan head screwdriver, pick, or tweezers.

Step 1

Close-up of a drill bit removing a gold-colored pin in a white plastic component.

Place the tool you have chosen between the white tube socket wall and the outside of the gold pin.

Step 2

Close-up photo of a metallic object, possibly part of a lock or structural hardware, attached to a white surface with a gold-colored ring or component nearby.

Use the tool to push the gold pin edges toward the center one side at a time to make space between the white tube socket wall and the outside of the gold pin.

What to Look For

Close-up of a white electrical plug with brass connectors.

The pins should be moved away from the tube socket wall and look similar to this image if done correctly.