Transistors, IC's & Diodes & Tubes Major Gripe

If you have any of these Bench Multimeters, you can use them for Sorting good from bad RESISTORS.
Fluke 8840A, Fluke 8520A or Fluke 45.
There are terms to look for:
Deviation (DIV) or Compare (COMP)
You can check for deviation and it will display %
Or Compare and it will Display as Pass or Fail.
These are the ones I have tested but forgot which one has this Function.
You can input a range measurement.
Its been a while since I've used them so the Method is printed in the manual.
It beats using a multimeter (Analog type ) for testing them.

Heathkit had a run of mis-marked diodes in their kits for a while, and also resistors with the wrong color code on them.
 It's always good to check even "new" parts before using them. 
  There was also a plethora of "new" counterfeit capacitors from a certain Asian country that were just casings with various values of used, pulled capacitors stuffed in them and were nowhere the labelled value or voltage rating. I actually saw one of them dissected and what was in it.

I'm kinda slack there as well in some ways.

I have a ton of used stuff I took off of the boards myself and have them all sorted and bagged with part number and any info that goes with the part. I even have the NTE cross reference number on the label as well. 

With used stuff, it usually doesn't get tested till I need that part. If it tests well, I use it, if not, it gets tossed. Once in a while, if I feel like it, I'll grab a bag and test some, but that doesn't happen often.

I have an idea as to how Frank feels though. I bought a bag of 1N4000 series diodes a number of years ago from an estate sale at a decent price. Original package too. Turns out it must have been from a surplus outfit and were seconds. All diodes were good, but some had the line on the wrong end of the diode. Grrrr!

My intention for several years is to use a tube and transistor testers, and an Solid-state Identifier.
OF COURSE you know where good intentions go?
Murphy's Law basket and my Roundtooit Box!

OK guys. I just bought a large stock (Several hundred)  of "NOS" "Universal replacement ie: ECG/ TCE/ SK/ and others)" transistors, diodes & IC's.

 PLEASE!!! When you have used a part, mark it as having been used, in a test, etc. Never put the old part in the box, especially tubes and universal semiconductors, that has a DIFFERENT PART NUMBER than on the box.

 If you are too lazy to do this, toss the part, especially if it's bad, in the garbage.

 I am still going through several hundred boxes as I write this, and am really pixxed off about this.

 25-30% of the parts were soldered into circuit, or the part originally removed was put in the box with no notation it was used, good, bad, or ?? (I doubt that many of you would look through every box before buying a lot. Well, you should. I got burned pretty good on this batch. Most of the boxes looked undisturbed.

Personally, I will not put a used semi in a repair, if I have no idea if the used (Presumably new used as a test) was stressed or not.

This is especially true on tubes bought in a lot. It was a somewhat common practice in the early days of "tube changers" to put the bad tube in a box and back into the caddy. then on the next call, it might work good enough to fix that set, but didn't work in the original set. Then the tech would charge new price for a bad tube to scam the consumer out of money.
 Many lots I bought were loaded with such tubes, untested, & still covered with crud from the original set. "They all work" is the response to be wary of. That or "Set tested" is the other one. ( This was one scam used by magazine sellers way back to sell discount tubes. They were "set tested" in places like NYC, right next o the transmitters, where you could get a signal, even with an RF amp or IF tube pulled from the set. Yup "set tested".

So I am still sorting through about 10+ lbs of semis I bought in metal trays and a parts cabinet (weight of those not counted in- Think about that. 10+ lbs- That's a LOT of semis.

So if you want to get top dollar for your items you are selling, be honest with the buyer. It will pay dividends and get you a higher price too.
I have about 3+ pounds used, possibly still good in a box and no idea if they are good or not.
That was not an outright lie, but not far from it.