[Arran]

Well, another point I was getting at is a lot of the globe tubes I am running across now are getting weak. It's either weak tubes or shorts that I most often have issues with when I find globe tubes now. I have an AK model 20 that still has all globe type 01A's in it and yes, they do look nice. Sadly, only one is usable with the rest being nearly dead when tested. Not totally dead, but definitely so weak that it doesn't really matter.

  Jayce;
     The weak 01A tubes in your A.K model 20 are one example of where I will often have a go at resoldering the pins, it's a case of really having nothing to loose. When it comes to battery sets conservation of battery life was always a concern due to the expense so they were never operated day in and day out the way many ac sets were. Also the solder alloys used on those earlier tubes never was that great to begin with and age seems to cause it to break down enough that the pins either build up resistance or loose contact. What will make the biggest difference is the grid pin, no or low grid voltage results in a poor or dead testing tube. On #26s and #27s, #45, etc it's often the filament pins as well since the filaments are low voltage too.
   Another thing worth checking is what filament voltages the tube tester is putting out, sometimes when it is set to 1.5 volts or 2.5 volts it isn't getting it, I found this problem on #26 tubes as well as #45s, #24s, #27s, that the current draw of the tubes loads down the voltage. This is especially true with #26 tubes, they run on 1.5 volts but unlike farm radio tubes they draw about 1.2 amps., but the engineers designing many tube testers seemed to assume that you will be testing 1Q5s.
Regards
Arran