PSU Board Question...
I read through this entire thread and I'm still not certain of myself.
I have assembled each of the individual components for my Honey Badger. It's set up dual mono (40V transformers, each PSU board stuffed with a total of 80,000uF) with soft start and speaker protection.
I've been attaching one part at a time to power (soft start, transformers, PSU, etc.) and measuring/testing as I go along to make sure there are no problems.
1.) When I flicked the switch, the soft-start engaged and gave me 119.8 V at the output. Great!
2.) I attached each transformer one at at time, and each transformer gave me 44 V. Fine!
3.) I got to the PSUs and I have a problem (or do I)?
I plugged in my first PSU board to the transformer, set up my multimeter across the V+ and V- outputs and got a measurement of over 118.5 volts. V+ to Ground, and V- to Ground give me the 59.3v I was expecting. The measurements are the same for both PSU boards.
Have I done something wrong here? Or is this correct?
Disclaimer: The last electronics project I finished was 13 years ago in High School. I can read a schematic, kind of. I know the answer to this is really simple, but I don't trust myself.
I read through this entire thread and I'm still not certain of myself.
I have assembled each of the individual components for my Honey Badger. It's set up dual mono (40V transformers, each PSU board stuffed with a total of 80,000uF) with soft start and speaker protection.
I've been attaching one part at a time to power (soft start, transformers, PSU, etc.) and measuring/testing as I go along to make sure there are no problems.
1.) When I flicked the switch, the soft-start engaged and gave me 119.8 V at the output. Great!
2.) I attached each transformer one at at time, and each transformer gave me 44 V. Fine!
3.) I got to the PSUs and I have a problem (or do I)?
I plugged in my first PSU board to the transformer, set up my multimeter across the V+ and V- outputs and got a measurement of over 118.5 volts. V+ to Ground, and V- to Ground give me the 59.3v I was expecting. The measurements are the same for both PSU boards.
Have I done something wrong here? Or is this correct?
Disclaimer: The last electronics project I finished was 13 years ago in High School. I can read a schematic, kind of. I know the answer to this is really simple, but I don't trust myself.
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Simple is good, more capacitance is good, simple has less chance for error.
Thank you. Great. I respect NP's simplicity and it's the key of the good sound, but when I do something myself I always forget it.
Just one more question.
Original Aleph J has 8x15000uF, as far as I know. I always wonder if 15000uF would be the "sweet spot" for AJ, since NP could have chosen larger ones (22000 or 33000uF) without increasing the cost and the size much, but he didn't.
Knowing what I know about how Nelson buys parts (which is to say in very large quantity...) 15,000uF was probably a sweet spot in terms of usefulness across the entire line, not just that particular amp.
That size is more than enough for a very quiet PSU. We in DIY land like to increase it, because as we all know, total and complete overkill is just barely enough.
Hate to say it but these are some of the worst looking solder jobs. For DIY duty the HASL board finish does a superior job. The examples shown do not demonstrate solder flow through the plated holes and nice fillets. Gold is o/k in a solder bath environment where the joint can be flooded with clean solder. For hand soldering, it is the worst. Gold inter metallic products create some real crap.
If I'd like to build a dual mono 4Ohm Honey Badger, would I need two of these PCB's/PSU's with two transformers? And for a +/-50V PSU (should be good for 4-6Ohms) I'd need a 2x35V transformer, am I right?
Then, in the attached images, I see a few components which I can't see in the schematic. What are they and what is their function? And can someone give a few snubber R and C values that will work with the Honey Badger (for the components listed in the schematic)? The math involved and the means to get the ESR value for the transformer are beyond my abilities, I think... A suitable transformer could be this one, I think.
Thanks!
Then, in the attached images, I see a few components which I can't see in the schematic. What are they and what is their function? And can someone give a few snubber R and C values that will work with the Honey Badger (for the components listed in the schematic)? The math involved and the means to get the ESR value for the transformer are beyond my abilities, I think...
A suitable transformer could be this one, I think.Thanks!
Attachments
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35-0-35Vac transformer does indeed give close to +-50Vdc output of the PSu.
A good PSU along with a good 4ohms capable amplifier should give around 200W into 4r0.
Is that your target Power?
That will require ~1000W of BJT output devices, i.e. 2pair of 250W devices, or 3pair of 170W devices.
A good PSU along with a good 4ohms capable amplifier should give around 200W into 4r0.
Is that your target Power?
That will require ~1000W of BJT output devices, i.e. 2pair of 250W devices, or 3pair of 170W devices.
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Hi Andrew. Thanks!
200+ Watts sounds about right. The Honey Badger, as presented in the build-thread, should be able to do that, according to the description. I'd like to use Sanken output devices in it. Compared to my current Rotel RSX-1067 I hope to gain more grip and dynamics/headroom. The Rotel manages loud enough levels (though I feel like I'm pushing it with loud-ish movies), but I feel my Dynaudio Special Twenty Fives would really benefit from a better quality amp. I hope to get that with a well buit Honey Bagder with a big power supply.
The Rotel is specified as delivering 100W into 8Ohms, my speakers are rated as 4Ohm, never dipping below 4.1Ohms, according to Stereo Play measurements.
Can you tell me anything about the snubber components?
Thanks again!
200+ Watts sounds about right. The Honey Badger, as presented in the build-thread, should be able to do that, according to the description. I'd like to use Sanken output devices in it. Compared to my current Rotel RSX-1067 I hope to gain more grip and dynamics/headroom. The Rotel manages loud enough levels (though I feel like I'm pushing it with loud-ish movies), but I feel my Dynaudio Special Twenty Fives would really benefit from a better quality amp. I hope to get that with a well buit Honey Bagder with a big power supply.
The Rotel is specified as delivering 100W into 8Ohms, my speakers are rated as 4Ohm, never dipping below 4.1Ohms, according to Stereo Play measurements.
Can you tell me anything about the snubber components?
Thanks again!
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capacitor selection
While shopping for capacitors for the PSU, should I be using Nichicon Audio grade capacitors (or other, the Nichcon may be highlighted on Mousers site because of my browsing and ordering history?) or standard grade? 35V, 15Kuf. I'm at a loss for selecting the in/out snubbing capacitors.
Today an Antek 400VA 20V transformer arrived.
I'll be driving a 4 ohm speakers, Aikido Octal and F4 amplifier. By next year I hope to be using 2 F4's and a balanced preamp.
Some music I like on the loud side, nice having some newer toys and listening to music where in the 25 years I've been listening to a particular piece not having clipping or exceeding what the speakers could handle when the bass drops too low for a few seconds.
While shopping for capacitors for the PSU, should I be using Nichicon Audio grade capacitors (or other, the Nichcon may be highlighted on Mousers site because of my browsing and ordering history?) or standard grade? 35V, 15Kuf. I'm at a loss for selecting the in/out snubbing capacitors.
Today an Antek 400VA 20V transformer arrived.
I'll be driving a 4 ohm speakers, Aikido Octal and F4 amplifier. By next year I hope to be using 2 F4's and a balanced preamp.
Some music I like on the loud side, nice having some newer toys and listening to music where in the 25 years I've been listening to a particular piece not having clipping or exceeding what the speakers could handle when the bass drops too low for a few seconds.
I built my F4 w Nichicon FW, pretty darn sweet! That said, without use of a different cap w all other things held constant, how could one know if buying FW made a positive difference? It's a builder's dilemmas!
I too drive 4 Ohm speakers, never a hint of strain heard w F4
I use a hospital grade IEC for most builds RFI blockers, snubbers built in, decision made
Long story short: use high quality parts and don't look back
So you are able to leave them off the board entirely using the IEC with snubbers? Have an example or source? I have an extra from APEX Jr, it was $2.50 if memory serves me correctly but I'm not sure about the quality.
Like these for the big caps?
UFW1V153MRD http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...kVwYzsZJXJFZttfa1ExWrCuwgFQVZ7Qvx0yIrIlalvw==
Like these for the big caps?
UFW1V153MRD http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...kVwYzsZJXJFZttfa1ExWrCuwgFQVZ7Qvx0yIrIlalvw==
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