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Simple P-P "beta builders" thread

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I measured it across the winding Green to green with the blues taped up. It was actually 1mv. When I say the blues are taped up I mean they are twisted together and tapped off. Well if this in deed the issue that the 6.3v winding is ruined I know antek has a 6v 50va transformer for $13.
 
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Okay...I think you were right. I took both 6.3 volt secondaries and tested them again but this time undid the blue wires that I tied together. Now I am getting the correct voltage. So what in the hell am I doing wrong in wiring this thing up LOL. I inserted the two green wires in the T1Grn Terminals and Tied the blue wires together and taped them off. Was I wrong in taping the blue wires together? I assumed when tying the blues together like I did I was essentially creating a (6.3 green) - (0 blue) - (6.3 green). Or was I supposed to just tape the blues off and not connect them like I have been doing?
 
When I say the blues are taped up I mean they are twisted together and tapped off.

Not connected together, I hope.

If the green winding is somehow dead, try the blue one. If the windings measure zero ohms, they are not open, therefore some voltage should be present. A cheap meter will not accurately read the resistance on a filament winding since it should be a few tenths of an ohm. In fact I just measured 00.1 ohms using my good meter on my AN1T200.
 
well then I was making a huge mistake.

No, it's only a huge mistake when the smoke clears after something expensive fries! If this only cost you a couple of fuses and maybe some bad language, it qualifies as a learning experience, for you and everyone that reads this!

Trust me I have blown up a lot of parts over the years. Most of those have been lessons learned. Only a few have been huge mistakes. Blasting an electrolytic in half recently, was to me a reminder that I can't always just "turn it up till it explodes". Why, because it scares the $*#%$ out of my wife!
 
Well I have had no smoke. I think I may know what is going on here. I assume your transformer is wired like this:
6.3v sec(1) blue - blue
6.3v sec(2) Green - Green

Mine is like this
6.3v sec(1) blue - green
6.3v sec(2) blue - green
To me it seems that I wouldn't be making a complete circuit?

I was about to go to the gym....deadlifts tonight....but this is driving me nuts and I cannot put it down.
 
Mine is like this
6.3v sec(1) blue - green
6.3v sec(2) blue - green
To me it seems that I wouldn't be making a complete circuit?

Your way is right, but the "phasing" must be correct or the fuse will blow. For now, just use one winding until everything works. In fact one winding is sufficient to run the amp, but using both should save a fraction of a watt of heat in the transformer.

I was about to go to the gym....deadlifts tonight....but this is driving me nuts and I cannot put it down.

They put in a gym at work and said that it was free to employees. That was about 10 years ago and it was the first time I ever set foot in a gym. Now I go at least 3 days a week. No deadlifts or anything else that puts a compressive force on my spine though. Age and pain have a way of forcing compromize. I haven't attempted a max bench press in a few years either. I did throw the 100 pound dumbells around a bit this afternoon. Not bad for the oldest guy in the gym.
 
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Finally! I think I was complicating the wiring. I thought you were doing something totally different. Well now that it is running I must say that it sounds fantastic. It sounds a bit different compared to my SSE but I cannot explain it. I really like how it sounds with a little Rage Against the Machine running through it. Besides my wiring mistake this amp was a very easy build. I have a little bit of hum in the left channel that seemed to die down after a bit. My wiring is a HUGE mess right now. The chassis is so cramped that I am thinking of building one with a little bit more room in it. I have a feeling my SSE that I just redid is going to have to be put on the shelf for a little bit :)
Your way is right, but the "phasing" must be correct or the fuse will blow. For now, just use one winding until everything works. In fact one winding is sufficient to run the amp, but using both should save a fraction of a watt of heat in the transformer.
Perhaps eventually I will get this all worked out but for now it is working and I am not going to mess with it.



They put in a gym at work and said that it was free to employees. That was about 10 years ago and it was the first time I ever set foot in a gym. Now I go at least 3 days a week. No deadlifts or anything else that puts a compressive force on my spine though. Age and pain have a way of forcing compromize. I haven't attempted a max bench press in a few years either. I did throw the 100 pound dumbells around a bit this afternoon. Not bad for the oldest guy in the gym.
100lb db bench presses is nothing to sneeze at regardless of the age.

I have been begging my gym to get dumbbells larger than 100lbs. I no longer will use a barbell and use dumbbells exclusively. I have a set of 120s that I used to lug around in my Jeep then carry them into the gym but that got old real quick.

Althought I am probably half your age even I have been cutting back on exercises that put a lot of pressure on my spine. I was on a mission to hit a 600lb deadlift but my back decided it was not in the cards.
 
Glad to see that you got it working. I would leave it that way for now. Seeing that the blues and greens may be an issue, I will try to make a diagram showing the hookup. Then we can try again...maybe.

Althought I am probably half your age even I have been cutting back on exercises that put a lot of pressure on my spine. I was on a mission to hit a 600lb deadlift but my back decided it was not in the cards......Be nice to your back. It's not something that can be fixed easily. I have bad genes in the respect, so I know a fusion or two is in my future.

Both my brothers have back problems, and so do I. When we were young all of the neighborhood kids were trying to emulate Evel Knievel with our bicycles. An untold amount of spine damage can probably be traced to that source. The specialist explained that all of those jumps (and crashes) started the degereration a long time ago and the rest is cumulative damage. Heredity plays a big part in this too. After a pinched sciatic nerve caused my legs to go numb about 8 years ago, resulting in a trip to the ER and 2 weeks off work (I couldn't walk), I have since learned to be nice to my body, no more mountain biking (the trigger in this case) or extreme lifting, it has made a big difference.

When they opened the gym about 10 years ago 7 of us decided to join and work out together (ages 20 to 33 + me at 47). We went 5 days a week. I was a skinny guy then, but that changed quickly, heredity again. Within a year I had gained about 30 pounds and passed up all of the young guys. Of that group only 2 of us still work there, and the other guy doesn't come to the gym any more (pregnant wife + young child).
 
Glad to see you got it working. What tubes are you using?
I am using some GE 6CW5s. There is a local former tv repairman that has a shed full of vacuum tubes or as he says "junk". So I am going to go over there eventually and raid his shed. He said he thought he has some of these in there. I still want to add a inrush current limiter and clean up the wiring and I should be finished.
 
Well I got the 6.3v winding situation all sorted out now I am paralleling both and it is working great. I had to have the greens together and the blues together otherwise I was shorting the transformer. I got the phase issue correct and now I am really ready to rock and roll. I still have some hum issues but I am almost certain that is due the mess of wires I have going on right now. For those that are building this and using the toroidal transformer make sure you give your some some room under your chassis to route your wiring. Thanks again George!
What are you using for AT7s?
I have a used pair of GE 6201s in there. I have a handful of 12at7s I got in a large batch of tubes I acquired but I have not tried any of them out at all.
 
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