Hi All,
I'm getting ready to rebuild my SE EL84 amp onto a nicer chassis and I have a question. I have a pair of dual section Elna Cerafine 220uF/450volt caps that I would like to use. Since I'm not using a choke in the PSU I should be able to use them shouldn't I? I have been using 32uF/500 volt dual section caps. Thanks.
I'm getting ready to rebuild my SE EL84 amp onto a nicer chassis and I have a question. I have a pair of dual section Elna Cerafine 220uF/450volt caps that I would like to use. Since I'm not using a choke in the PSU I should be able to use them shouldn't I? I have been using 32uF/500 volt dual section caps. Thanks.
Mikael Abdellah said:Tube rectifier? I have 2x2200uF 400VDC in my amp with a SS-rectifier. Works great. 🙂







No, but I can hear the death screams of your power transformer's winding (unless it's hideously overrated) from here.
Tim
Tim
A GZ34 is only rated for maximum reservoir capacitance of 60uF. If you put 220uF directly on its output, the ripple current will quickly kill it. However, there's nothing to stop you using a 68uF as a reservoir (modern capacitors are far closer tolerance, so the slight, but controlled increase will be OK). You could then follow that with RC smoothing using your 220uF capacitors.
Hi there.........really there's no need for so much cap/Joules...that sort of value sits in power drives.
rich
rich
Capacitors
Hello ,
If you're retaining the GZ34 why not upgrade to capacitors to motor runs ? 30uF 440V AC are easily obtainable and cheap . An improvement over electrolytics , as long as your chassis is big enough to house them...
316a
G said:No the rectifier is a GZ34.
Hello ,
If you're retaining the GZ34 why not upgrade to capacitors to motor runs ? 30uF 440V AC are easily obtainable and cheap . An improvement over electrolytics , as long as your chassis is big enough to house them...
316a
Hi,
Won't that depend on the state of the load when powering up?
Tip for DIYers with a good recollection of their own work:
If you decide to use such monster caps put a switch in the tail end of your bleeder resistor that's across them. Leave it open unless you intend to work on the bowls of the monster.
Put some safety warning near it, just in case you do forget.
Errr....Mikael?....What kind of amplifier is that?
Cheers,😉
No, but I can hear the death screams of your power transformer's winding (unless it's hideously overrated) from here.
Won't that depend on the state of the load when powering up?


If you decide to use such monster caps put a switch in the tail end of your bleeder resistor that's across them. Leave it open unless you intend to work on the bowls of the monster.
Put some safety warning near it, just in case you do forget.


Errr....Mikael?....What kind of amplifier is that?

Cheers,😉
fdegrove said:Errr....Mikael?....What kind of amplifier is that?![]()
Cheers,😉
It's my single ended KT88-amp. I know 2200uF is WAY overkill, but I have allways liked insanely big caps in the powersupply. This is my first amp ever, and I couldn't afford to buy all the chokes I wanted, so I ended up using big power-caps instead. Maybe I will use a couple of chokes in the future instead.
😀
I have a pair of dual section Elna Cerafine 220uF/450volt caps that I would like to use. Since I'm not using a choke in the PSU I should be able to use them shouldn't I? I have been using 32uF/500 volt dual section caps. Thanks.
On the contrary, a choke allows you to use a large amount of capacitance after it. It limits the rate of change of current, so you could probably use 220uF after a choke without any problems.
However, any more than 50-60uF directly on your GZ34 will be problematic. I would stick with a 47uF cap for the first cap. Its only the cap which feeds the OPT which really impacts the sound, so your Cerafines should be good here. You can send the spare one to me 🙂
As someone else said, you could use SS diodes, but then yoiu would need a B+ switch to avoid the overvolting...
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