Made a big mistake with the main power supply :'(

[fissure]

So i received my Crack and Speedball yesterday and finished building it today. Checked resistances and then plugged it in and checked all the voltages. But they were MUCH higher than they were supposed to be. Only the large tube lit up and the small remained dark. Rechecked all wiring 10 times but could not find any bad leads or connections.
Now i went into the webpage here to look through some posts and looked at the order page also for some reason and thought about the tick box for a 220V transformer... well i just realized i have no such transformer (did not get any power cables at all, but that might be normal?). I was convinced i ticked that box when i ordered and thought to myself that there was some component switched to allow the higher voltage so i never reflected over not having a transformer.
Looking through my the order that was emailed after my purchase i see no such thing as a 220v transformer so i most likely missed it or forgot it (though i now seeing it when ordering)
Now my question is how do i get such a transformer and did i destroy the entire build now when connecting the 220v mains to it ? :'(

 

[fissure]

Nevermind, went through the checklist with the package and saw that the transformer is the one in the box and it is checked and have 240V hand written next to it. So it is not an external transformer i assume?

So question now is why my small tube wont light up :/
Is there anyway to test it?

 

[fullheadofnothing]

What transformer are you supposed to have (i.e. what country do you live in?) What is your real name?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Also, what does the sticker say on the transformer itself?

 

[fissure]

Hi there, on the transformer it says 240V Bottlehead PT-3.
I live in Sweden and here we have 220V on the mains. The 6 and 9 on the transformer where it says 150V have 156V out from them so that seems to be okey. Problem is that on 19 i have 156V but then on 21 I have 450V ? Must have wired something wrong but cant find it...

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Hi there, on the transformer it says 240V Bottlehead PT-3.
I live in Sweden and here we have 220V on the mains. The 6 and 9 on the transformer where it says 150V have 156V out from them so that seems to be okey. Problem is that on 19 i have 156V but then on 21 I have 450V ? Must have wired something wrong but cant find it...

So 156V AC comes out of 6/9?  What is the AC voltage at terminals 4/5?
19 isn't a terminal with a meaningful voltage on it, so that's worth ignoring.

Where are you touching your black meter probe to perform these measurements?  Can you measure the DC voltage between terminals 20 and 21?

 

[fissure]

Hi there, on the transformer it says 240V Bottlehead PT-3.
I live in Sweden and here we have 220V on the mains. The 6 and 9 on the transformer where it says 150V have 156V out from them so that seems to be okey. Problem is that on 19 i have 156V but then on 21 I have 450V ? Must have wired something wrong but cant find it...

So 156V AC comes out of 6/9?  What is the AC voltage at terminals 4/5?
19 isn't a terminal with a meaningful voltage on it, so that's worth ignoring.

Where are you touching your black meter probe to perform these measurements?  Can you measure the DC voltage between terminals 20 and 21?

Sorry i have 159V on 6/9 (on the transformer).
I am measuring with the black probe on terminal 12 fixed between the terminal and the cap leg.
When you say terminal 4/5 are you meaning on the transformer or the front terminal.

4(Transformer)-0V
5(Transformer)-5.2V

4(Front terminal)-343V
5(Front terminal)-303V

20/21-454V

I suspect something is very wrong?

Went through the manual yet again and just cant find any wiring error.

Might also mentioned i chose to wire the 4 on the transformer to terminal 14U as it said in the revision in the manual.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Could you post a pic of the wiring around the transformer? 

I can think of a way or two that this might happen, but it's tough to describe it in words.

In any event, we'll get you sorted out.

-PB

 

[fissure]

Could you post a pic of the wiring around the transformer? 

I can think of a way or two that this might happen, but it's tough to describe it in words.

In any event, we'll get you sorted out.

-PB

Here are some pics on the transformer, sorry about the quality. I placed the AC and line in and out on the backside if you wonder why there are wires going there.

 

[fissure]

Here is a couple of more pics.

 

[fissure]

Meh i have been measuring AC and not DC. Stupid me.
Still something are not right will post the measurements here.

1 75-90 - 136
2 170 - 151
3 0 -
4 170 - 150
5 75-90 - 135
6 0 -
7 100 - 136
8 0 - 0
9 100 - 136
10 0 -
11 0 -
12 0 -
13 170 - 152
14 0 -
15 185 - 178
20 0 -
21 206 - 203
A1 90 - 138
A2 0 - 0
A4 0 -
A5 0 -
A6 90 - 138
A7 0 -
A9 0 -
B1 90 - 139
B2 170 - 152
B3 100 - 137
B4 90 - 137
B5 170 - 152
B6 100 - 137
B7 0 -
B8 0 -

20/21 - 202VDC

 

[fissure]

Starting to wonder if the 12AU7 tube is broken. The 6080 lights up fine but the AU7 tube remains dark and cold and the leds are not lighting up. Tested them both with the black measure point in the center of the socket and the red on each of the pins and then both leds light up. :/

 

[Doc B]

Set your meter back to AC. Measure the voltage from pin A4 to pin A9. It should be about 6.3VAC. Also measure from A5 to A9. A4 and A5 are connected together so you should get the same 6.3VAC reading. If you don't see those voltages check the connections of the wires connected to those pins and trace them back to check the connection at the other ends too.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

There is a black wire that leaves terminal 12 and heads up to the headphone jack - your amp doesn't have this wire.

 

[fissure]

Hi guys!

Doc.B
I just measured the voltages between A4/5 and A9 and i get 5.2V also measured all the way back to the transformer and i have 5.2V between B7 and B8 and 5.2V between transformer pins 4 and 5.

Caucasian Blackplate
I have two wires going out from terminal 12 one connected to U14 and one to the TSR ground pin.
I have a neutrik TSR jack mounted in the wood backside.

Edit: Made some VDC measurements on the power socket and had a bad solder in the socket. Was getting 220VDC instead of 230VDC(Swedish standard) so the 6,3 pin on the transformer now gives 5,6VDC instead of 5,2. Still to low though. Noticed the transformer says 240 volts and since we only have 230 here in Sweden that might explain the lower output on the 6,3VDC tab?
Still not getting the 12AU7 tube to light up though and the voltages on the A socket is still to high. Any ideas?
Cant do any more testing now since i blow the fuse due to some bad measuring on the power socket so will have to go get some new ones.

 

[Doc B]

Now measure the resistance from pin 4 to pin 5 on the 12AU7 tube. You should get a fairly low resistance reading. If it reads open the heater in the tube is blown.

 

[fissure]

Now measure the resistance from pin 4 to pin 5 on the 12AU7 tube. You should get a fairly low resistance reading. If it reads open the heater in the tube is blown.

Hi Doc, so i have read the resistance through all ranges and only get a 1(open) between pin 4 and 5 on the 12AU7 tube. So i guess it is broken? No idea how i managed to brake it though :/
So how do i go about to get a new one now?

Thanks for the help !

Edit: Is there any way to see if its broken visually? Cant see anything loose or that looks broken?

 

[Doc B]

There is usually no way to see the broken heater wire in an indirectly heated tube like the 12AU7. An email to [email protected] will get a new tube on the way to you.

 

[fissure]

There is usually no way to see the broken heater wire in an indirectly heated tube like the 12AU7. An email to [email protected] will get a new tube on the way to you.

So i got a replacement tube locally where i live and plugged it in. This time it lit up fine and the two leds in the socket was working now as well so the tube must have been broken like you said. Everything checked out fine so i went ahead and installed the speedball upgrade but now i have a new issue. I have to high voltages on the right audio channel (i think it is the right one).
The leds on the right PCB is working as they should and terminals 4 and 5 have the correct voltages. But the left PCB is not working as it should, only one LED is emitting light (the right one on the left PCB, looking at it installed) and much weaker than the LEDs on the right PCB so i removed the LED and checked it with the diode tester on my multimeter (or whatever it is called) and i could not get it to light up. The other one i removed as well and tested with the multimeter but that one worked. So could it be a broken LED? I tested them all before installing and they all worked so it must have happened after soldering (can they be damaged from to much heat?). And can a damaged LED result in the weird voltages i am getting?

I also noticed when measuring that both the 150V tabs on the transformer now only delivers 70V. Is this normal?


1 75 - 153
2 170 - 159
3 0 - 0
4 170 - 160
5 75 -82
6 0 - 0
7 100 - 150
8 0 - 0
9 100 - 104
10 0 - 0
11 0 - 0
12 0 - 0
13 170 - 158
14 0 - 0
15 185 - 184
19 0 - 70
20 206 - 0 (should this be 21?) got 203VDC on 21 anways but 0 on 20
A1 75 - 81
A2 0 - 0
A3 1.56 - 1,53
A4 0 - 0
A5 0 - 0
A6 75 - 150
A7 0 - 0
A8 1.56 - 1,53
A9 0 - 0
B1 75 - 150
B2 170 - 160
B3 100 - 150
B4 75 - 81
B5 170 - 158
B6 100 - 104
B7 0 - 0
B8 0 - 0

Regards //John

 

[Paul Birkeland]

The LED was probably OK until it was removed. Unless an LED is visibly broken, we don't advocate removing it.

The issue you describe is likely either a bad solder joint on the center leg of the MJE350 or the wrong resistor installed at R1.

If both LED's on the nine pin socket light, I would think the wrong resistor to be more likely.