These Old Things
Oh, Baby I have had these "Old Things Forever", I had these Speakers in College?????
Oh, Baby I have had these "Old Things Forever", I had these Speakers in College?????
Regarding my current confusion here Yet Another SSE Build Thread
This is with all tubes removed from the system. I have no idea if this is correct or not.
This is with all tubes removed from the system. I have no idea if this is correct or not.
Those numbers look correct.
With the choke disconnected you are measuring R2 which should be around 150K.
With the choke connected you are measuring a whole bunch of things in parallel that should be less than 77K.
With the choke disconnected you are measuring R2 which should be around 150K.
With the choke connected you are measuring a whole bunch of things in parallel that should be less than 77K.
Thanks for answering George!
How are you doing? You just had surgery, right? Hope you are OK.
So before you said it should measure around 75K, and if it is less than that then there is a short.
Before it was ~29K and now it is ~53K - so to be clear, do you think I have solved this issue, or only partially?
Thanks again.
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Yeah, yesterday. I'm OK, but not quite up to full power.
I would hook up the dim bulb tester. Start with the smallest wattage incandescent bulb you have, and no choke connected. Try with no tubes, then just the rectifier. If all goes well, connect the choke.
You have seen smoke twice if I'm remembering correctly, and nobody yet has figured out what fried. I have been chasing down dead or sick amps remotely for the past few weeks, along with one here that I built and blew up, so I'm not clear on exactly how this all went down earlier. I'll try to re-read the entire thread after dinner tonight.
I'm in for the long haul and in no real rush, George. Take it easy and get healthy.
In the meantime I will do some dim-bulb tests as suggested and report back. The only incandescent bulbs I could find (even in the stores) are 100w.
In the meantime I will do some dim-bulb tests as suggested and report back. The only incandescent bulbs I could find (even in the stores) are 100w.
Dim-bulb tests, choke disconnected:
No tubes installed - no bulb glow at all, no B+ (I guess this is expected since there's no rectifier)
Rectifier installed - bulb glows very dimly (looks like a dull orange orb inside) B+ only got up to 8 volts after several minutes. Rectifier did not appear to warm up or glow.
Did not bother re-connecting the choke, because something seems very wrong.
No tubes installed - no bulb glow at all, no B+ (I guess this is expected since there's no rectifier)
Rectifier installed - bulb glows very dimly (looks like a dull orange orb inside) B+ only got up to 8 volts after several minutes. Rectifier did not appear to warm up or glow.
Did not bother re-connecting the choke, because something seems very wrong.
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Just tried again with a different rectifier tube, no choke:
This time I watched the rectifier closely for glow. It glowed normally initially and then went dim but I could see it was getting some juice.
B+ only went to 8 volts.
The light bulb glowed dimly as before, but flickered brightly a couple of times and then I hit the kill switch on the power bar.
This time I watched the rectifier closely for glow. It glowed normally initially and then went dim but I could see it was getting some juice.
B+ only went to 8 volts.
The light bulb glowed dimly as before, but flickered brightly a couple of times and then I hit the kill switch on the power bar.
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I do have some spare time today, since it is a rainy day, so any advice on what to test next would be appreciated.
Do my test results above indicate fried CCS chip(s) ?
Totally lost, as usual.
Do my test results above indicate fried CCS chip(s) ?
Totally lost, as usual.
No, the CCS chips could be totally fried and the board would not smoke, blow fuses, or light up the tester......In fact it will still play music at a low volume, but the 12AT7 will be unhappy (HOT) as will R14 and R24.
If you have the choke disconnected, and R1 is not present (not needed or wanted when using a choke) then no power should even get to the CCS chips. In fact power will only be going to the rectifier tube, D3, D4, TR1, C1 and R2. The problem must be confined to these parts unless there is a wiring error due to the board removal and reinstall. D3, D4 and TR1 could not cause this issue even if it was blown.
What kind of solder did you use to build this board?
I ask this question because there was a smoking board issue back in January on a customers TSE-II board which turned out to be related to the solder he used. I sent him a new board which he built with different solder and had no issues.
See this thread:
TSE II checkout issues help needed
He sent me his old board, and I was able to recreate smoke with applied voltage.
I then purchased the exact same solder he used, and soldered some scrap resistor leads into holes on a brand new SSE board (no parts). I did get the board to smoke and burn when I applied some high voltage and humidity.
The problem comes from the "No-Clean Water - Washable" flux in the "CHIPQUICK" solder. It tends to absorb moisture and become slightly conductive. This might not be a problem on 5 Volt Arduinos and other "maker" projects, but can create flaming parts on a tube amp PC board with 750 volts applied to it.
Oddly, there are stern warnings on the spool about the lead and its harmful properties, but nothing about the flux.
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Thats interesting to know that you were able to replicate the issue with the same solder. Makes me feel slightly better to know that it wasnt entirely my soldering skills, or lack of, that caused the issue!
The SSE board is less dense and uses fewer parts, so it has more space between the parts. I used it because I have too many due to a ordering screw up.
It is also worth noting that I could not make any smoke or flames the same day I soldered up the board, even with some purposely sloppy solder blobs. I remembered something you said, and left the board in the garage for about a (rainy)week and tried again.
I connected a 555 volt power supply up to some of the randomly placed resistor leads and managed to get several different results. In most cases applying a few hundred volts between two adjacent pins caused some smoke but the excess flux fried itself away and the short cleared without issue. In one case the burning flux appeared to carbonize the board. I left the power applied and it eventually burned a hole clear through the board.
The black streak across your board appeared to be caused by an arc between a resistor and a nearby solder joint. I did not test this.
It is still unknown if the flux can absorb enough moisture if it is not left in the garage, or if it was wiped down with a damp cloth, then dried. Do components make things worse.....
These are all experiments that need to be tried, but I have too many things on my bench for now.
I used just run-of-the-mill electronics solder. The last of two different rolls. One was typical lead/tin mix and the other had a bit of silver in it. Both rosin core. I've never had an issue with either type before.
So, assuming the solder isn't the issue - looking at my 8V B+ ... what on God's green earth am I dealing with here?
I'll re-iterate that I am living proof that any idiot can build an SSE, but not any idiot can troubleshoot one.
Anyone have any idea what I should test next? Walking past my very expensive disaster every day is getting old.
I'll re-iterate that I am living proof that any idiot can build an SSE [QUOTE]
I'm so glad your giving your story in this thread, I've just started in electronics at 60 and hope that my SSE goes good, but am extremely thankful for the people on this forum especially George! Good luck I'll keep following and learning.😉
I'm so glad your giving your story in this thread, I've just started in electronics at 60 and hope that my SSE goes good, but am extremely thankful for the people on this forum especially George! Good luck I'll keep following and learning.😉