Aleph J illustrated build guide

6L6

Moderator
Joined 2010
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Hmmm...

I'm not sure it's the bridges.

Try hooking it up with one bridge for the entire PSU as such -

diode-bridge-split-supply.png


The secondary centertap will be made by connecting the 'middle' of the two secondaries together.
 
Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
Paid Member
J is one tough bugger ....... but only you can test that

start with measuring DC offset on output - it must be near 0

then check Iq

if that's good , connect test speaker

however - as you said that you are again hearing some buzz , it's likely that amp survived ......

what you did is same as that you cut your own leg , to check will you be still wobbly , after 2 beer packs last night

:rofl:
 
Member
Joined 2016
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Hi Zen Mod,
In shear terror I dug up an old pair of in wall speakers destined for the garbage and hooked them up, using my iPod as a source and after a lot of sweating and panicking the music becan to play! Both channels working, music gets quite loud actually. The transformer buzz can be heard through the speakers though when no music is being played or the iPod isn't plugged into the input. Bias is 411mv on both channels, dc offset 0.01 and 0.04. I can hold my hands on the heatsinks for 8-10 seconds when the amp has been running for an hour.

I've also noticed and audible clicking sound when I put my ear close to the transformer, and it comes through the speakers as well.

I'll have to try 6L6's idea later, and report back.
 
Member
Joined 2016
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Hi Zen Mod,

The xformer was a custom order from Primrose here in Canada. It's a 400VA toroidal with 120v primary, and dual 18v secondaries. The manufacturer provided the following specs for the transformer:
Secondary:
1. 18v full load, 19v off load, Iac 11.20, output VA 202
2. 18v full load, 19v off load, Iac 11.20, output VA 202

Here are a few pics from different angles and zoomed in on different areas. The chassis is a little cramped, in retrospect I should've gone for the deeper 4U chassis.
 
Member
Joined 2016
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So I hooked up the amp as per 6L6's suggestion and the transformer buzzed regardless of which bridge I used. Zen Mod, I'll try one board at a time to see what happens and report back. As for noise on any other amp, there is no noise at all. I've got a Sansui AU-717 circa 1977 that is dead silent on the transformer and outputs, before and after the full recap last year.