F5 power amplifier

Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
tinitus, what do you mean by sticks?

Oh, sorry
I wrote "prove" sticks, and it should have been "probe" sticks
Those things to connect multimeter to amp board
Isnt that what they are called?

What I was asking
Do you measure the right way?
Is multimeter used properly?
Connection point, meter setting etc.
Are your probe sticks in good condition?
I have to resolder mine frequently
Not the most reliable things
And sometimes a meter works fine with one setting and not with some other setting, cheap ones ofcourse, but thats what most of us can afford, but may not be completely reliable either
 
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Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
When adjusting the dc offset I connected them to the output and the output ground.

I dont think you should do that without monitoring bias at the same time
As I understand it, its possible to "find" a bias a point where DC is low
But you cannot just turn bias pot to the lowest DC
It should be done carefully, bit by bit
And never turn bias pot only looking at DC
Output devices can go dead in a second without heatsink even getting hot

But now I talk about something Im not sure about, as I havent built my F5 yet

But I do remember to have done something similar, turning a trim pot without anything happening
Amp went dead before I realised I had been looking at the wrong meter setting
 
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I dont think you should do that without monitoring bias at the same time

But now I talk about something Im not sure about, as I havent built my F5 yet

I usually turn the bias down to zero first then set the DC offset before attaching a speaker.

Then I put a multimeter across a source/emitter resistor and set it to just get rid of crossover distortion on the scope which is usually around 5mV across 0r22 resistors.

If its a new design i would then put a household iron on the heatsink and make sure the bias doesnt do anything silly as the ehatsink heats up.
 
My other channel (right) is working great. The one that is having the problem (left channel) was working great. It actually sound better the other (right) channel. I'm not sure but where all the values were 2.2k they were brought up to 2.21k ohms.
Anyways I'm wondering if there is a way to trouble shoot my problem. I can turn it on with the input isolated and doesn't seem to hurt anything. Is there a way to check for voltage drops to find out if the jfets are causing the issue or could it even be part of what is causing my problem?
 
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Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
Just read the F5 manual
You get zero DC when both bias trimpots are balanced
If you have DC problems, I suppose one half/side is not right
Or you may have very poorly matched Jfets
Or maybe too much heat from your soldering

Even if you think your soldering is perfect, you might be surpriced if you look through a magnifying glass
Or you may find a small bit of solder waste making a shorting
I check ALL my solder joints carefully with magnifying glass, and proper light
Just a thought
 
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just trow them in , and follow biasing procedure .

instead of one IRF(P) pair - it's wise to use at least two pairs of laterals , because of xconductance ( lacking in laterals) .

all these questions are beaten to death in this thread ..... twice or trice .....

make it more fun - make two F5s with one supply - one with verticals , one with laterals; connect one to PSU and listen ..... change to other one and listen

use same gate stoppers for both iterations - varying them +/-50% you'll not hear difference .

Hi ZM

Please excuse me if this is a silly question, but can the mosfets share the gate (R13&R14) and source resistors (R11&R12) or do they each need their own? I was planning on trying other variations (i.e. 20R/100R feedback) but NP's comment has intrigued me.:)