I finished up my tseii build about a week ago and it is running and sounding great. I have a question about the choke though. It is buzzing loud enough to hear from 5 feet away. It is a mechanical buzz not through the speakers. It is also getting pretty hot after an hour or two of running the amp. Are these signs that there may be something wrong with the choke itself or maybe something wrong elsewhere on the amp? Im running 300b tubes at around 400v and 70ma of bias. I should be well within the specs of the choke. I also double checked the bolts holding the choke down and they are nice and tight.
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tse ii choke heat and buzz
- Thread starter brl0301
- Start date
Hi.
When i power my TSEII up, the choke is making some minor buzz around when psu is charging up. (Same things occur when using my variac when it reaches ~75% of the primary voltage)
Buzz is going away within 1-3 secunds, and stays silent.
This tells me, that it could be some part of the psu which causes this.
Also you could try squezing the chassis a bit to see if it makes any difference.
Regarding the choke temperature, the insulation is most proberly rated at Class F (125C.), so it can stand pretty much heat.
Jesper.
When i power my TSEII up, the choke is making some minor buzz around when psu is charging up. (Same things occur when using my variac when it reaches ~75% of the primary voltage)
Buzz is going away within 1-3 secunds, and stays silent.
This tells me, that it could be some part of the psu which causes this.
Also you could try squezing the chassis a bit to see if it makes any difference.
Regarding the choke temperature, the insulation is most proberly rated at Class F (125C.), so it can stand pretty much heat.
Jesper.
Im wondering if maybe the higher voltage is more than what the cheap choke can handle. My chassis is an aluminum plate mounted on a wooden frame. I can feel the choke vibrating across most of the top plate and also in the power transformer as well.
https://catalog.triadmagnetics.com/item/inductors-and-chokes/smoothing-filter-chokes/c-14xDo you have the data on that choke?
Did you check solder/connections around the choke input on PCB?
Did you remove R4?
Go hunt for it
Jesper.
DC Current
200.0 mA
Inductance Henries1
6.000
Resistance
150.00 Ohm
I double checked the solder connections and everything looks good.
Good morning!
So I measured the current running trough the choke and Im getting 193ma with my wall voltage around 122vac. So I am pushing right up against the rated spec. My wall voltage also fluctuates quite a bit so Id imagine when its higher ( around 124) that its pushing the choke over spec. I also noticed that the choke buzz was slightly less with the amp tilted back. Im thinking that with the amp in its normal position, the noise gets trapped in the chassis and reverberates throughout the rest of the chassis.
Sounds like you've definitely have a mechanical issue. Several things can cause that, but it's usually either loose mounting, insufficient core constraint, or both. Those Triad chokes are OK, but they're built to a relatively low price point. See if you can swing something like a Hammond 159R (6 H @ 200 mA, 150 Ohms), as it looks like a drop-in replacement. Pay attention to mounting and I'll bet you'll hear a difference.
I'm using a Hammond 159Q (7 H @ 150 mA, 100 Ohms) on my 2A3 build and it's dead silent.
I'm using a Hammond 159Q (7 H @ 150 mA, 100 Ohms) on my 2A3 build and it's dead silent.
Are the Hammond chokes considerably better quality? The specs and price are nearly identical, including the dimensions, which would make for a very easy swap. Ive double checked the mounting bolts and they are plenty tight so Im led to believe Im just overworking the triad choke. My concern would be that since the specs are the same that I would run into the same issue unless the Hammond is just a better quality product.
I can't be certain because I've never used a Triad choke. About all I can say is I've never had trouble with buzzing in a Hammond choke, even the open frame 15X series. For all I know the Triad choke could be a Hammond in disguise, but I doubt it as the core bobbin and wrap around the windings look different. But I agree with you that mechanical buzzing is annoying as h3!!.
I have used the cheap Triad chokes to nearly 500 volts, so that's not the issue. A voltage related breakdown will not cause buzz, but can cause smoke, fire and other nasty issues. I have never seen an issue with the 20 or so off them that I have used over the years, but most of that experience came 10 or so years ago. I used to rip the frames off and put black end bells on them to clean up the ugliness, but the two that I bought last year lack the bolt holes in the laminations, so they obviously changed the recipe.
Excess current WILL cause buzz in a transformer, and might be an issue in a choke. Try dialing back the bias in the output tubes to see if it makes any difference.
Most of the Hammond stuff is made in Canada or Mexico. The Triads are Chinese. They don't look anything alike unless things have changed since I bought any. It's been a couple years since I bought any Hammond transformers.