An illustrated guide to building an F5

I set up the 3 meters today...it appears there is no voltage at all. The power supply seems to work. what is the best way to move forward. What should I be checking ...first. I have worked with tubes however I have no idea where to begin. Could some of the transisters be backwards? ...or the the power mosfets. is there some order for troubleshooting. Thanks for any help.
 

6L6

Moderator
Joined 2010
Paid Member
Just to verify a few things-

Your PSU is measuring correctly?

Your meters are on DC volts?

You a meter across R11, another across R12, and one on the outputs?

If the PSU is good, and measures properly, you need to start turning up the bias pots. turn them up until you have some voltage across the resistors, and then twiddle with it until you have no offset. Increase the bias, and null the offset.

Continue to do this until you are up to .55v with zero offset.

Then you put the lid on and let it cook for at least an hour, and check your bias. Tweak up to .6v and you should be done. Recheck in a week or so.
 
I had one on the PSU + ...about 25 volts...one across R12...and one on the output. I read your instructions. It seems like there are lots of turns and no indication of voltage. If I was far off would it read Zero. I should move the output meter to R11...That may be my problem. I also noticed the 25 volts shows the minus on the meter but not the plus for the plus. Thanks for your help
 
I went through the PCB and checked the joints along with the transistor
placement. Everything looked ok. I turned on...one meter went to 1250 and then went down slowly to zero...the other meter was zero. I then checked the voltage at the amp pcb. V + to V- was only 42 volts and V+ was 16 volts and V- was 5 or 6 volts. I now think something is not right in the power supply. I will take photo, or both PCB,s
 
The Boards are a mess....
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0908.JPG
    IMG_0908.JPG
    278.6 KB · Views: 677
  • IMG_0901.JPG
    IMG_0901.JPG
    246.6 KB · Views: 677
  • IMG_0902.JPG
    IMG_0902.JPG
    269.3 KB · Views: 649
  • IMG_0903.JPG
    IMG_0903.JPG
    220.1 KB · Views: 631
  • IMG_0904.JPG
    IMG_0904.JPG
    235.6 KB · Views: 639
  • IMG_0906.JPG
    IMG_0906.JPG
    280 KB · Views: 400