Salvaging TV damping diodes

[jkeny]

I came accross this table on Lynn Olson's webpage:

In terms of ragged waveforms, solid-state diodes are the worst, followed by Schottky diodes and HEXFRED's, followed by conventional tube rectifiers, followed by TV damping diodes, which are the smoothest of all in terms of the AC waveform on the power trans secondary. This, along with 2 amp peak current, is why I use them. The 30 second warmup is just a bonus.

I looked into these TV damping diodes and found they were >$20 each so I thought of all the TVs & CRT monitors that are thrown into recycling, these days. I can get access to these at my local recycling centre.

My question is, in order to salvage these diodes can somebody help me identify what they look like & where they are found in the set? A picture would be good!

[jkeny]

Ah, it looks like these are tube technology so the chances of finding in recycling are slim to none - oops!

Are there solid state equivalents around now, though? This is where I got the >$20 price tag - I searched Mouser for TV damper dioide.

Are these as good as the tube versions for PS use?

[OzMikeH]

I bought some 5 amp 1000 volt ultra fast soft recovery diodes from Farnell for about $6 each.
the catch is they were surface mount so I had to solder them on the solder side with a short wire link to the other pad.

Farnell is in the UK too.

There are plenty of 100 volt diodes around, but once you start getting over 300V they start getting expensive.

no idea about the slow warmup. this sounds like they have a filament. Maybe the old TEK 845 oscilloscopes?

[Bas Horneman]

I looked into these TV damping diodes and found they were >$20

You should be able to get these a lot cheaper. Here is one place that is cheaper..if you do more searching and find about about all the other types you should get them even cheaper..

http://thetubestore.com/nos-6cj3.html

[Bas Horneman]

Here are 40 for 20 us$. That is 50 cents each.

[jkeny]

Thanks Bas,
Are the silicon versions as good as the tube? http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...xEND2YJQ%3d%3d

[Bas Horneman]

That depends on who you ask. Some prefer the sound of silicon, some tubes. In the end the rest of the circuit is important as well. The resistance of the secondary winding. The snubber circuit used..the value of the first capacitor. There are many variables at work.

One thing is for sure though. The silicon ones use less electricity.

[jkeny]

Are the silican damper diodes just the same as fast, soft recovery diodes or is there another quality that makes them different (high voltage is probably one but any others?)