Remember a few weeks ago in the post When it Rains, It Pours! I said that the Lacewood V2 reservoir capacitor had likely failed? Well, I was wrong.
Continue readingI Spoke Too Soon
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Tag Archives: capacitor
When it Rains, It Pours!
Would you believe it? Today while listening to the 6V6 Lacewood V2 I heard a funny little popping sound and a short duration whine. It only lasted a few seconds, then it was gone. But when I walked over to the amp there was a distinct smell of “magic smoke“. Once again, the game’s afoot!
Continue readingSneaky Capacitor Failure
I have witnessed a lot of electrolytic capacitor failures. Most of these failures have occurred from improper wiring polarity or a significant over voltage condition. They generally involve an explosive emptying of the capacitor shell. These failures usually leave a smoking husk of a component and a spray of foil bits, dielectric insulation, and liquid electrolyte spewed across the circuit, chassis, and sometimes, the test technician. But recently I came across a much different failure. One which seemed to be specially concocted to sneak by without notice.
Continue readingTalking Substitutions
This topic comes up a lot! Someone will email me with, “I want to build {insert project here} from your web site. But…”. Sometimes it’s just that part availability varies. Sometimes people want to use parts on hand which are slightly different. Sometimes people want to substitute tubes, transformers, or whole assemblies. And sometimes people want to actually change the topology! So at what point is the amp being built no longer the design on my website?
Continue readingCan We Talk?
I know it’s been a while since my last post. Things have been a little hectic for my family this summer. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to more regular posting in a few of weeks.
But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the major changes currently taking place in the US economy and our supply chains, and some things we as hobbyists can do to help protect ourselves from problems.
Continue readingLaughing At the 6L6 SE-UL Layout
I’ve been making an effort this morning to get my head around the internal layout of the 6L6 SE-UL amplifier. Unfortunately, I keep being stymied by the sheer physical size of many of the components.
Continue readingThe Color Preamp is Fully Assembled
I had thought that the coupling capacitors I ordered on Tuesday would not arrive until this Saturday. However, the gods of DIY decided to smile down upon me and the capacitors showed up in today’s mail delivery. In my opinion, two days from order to delivery is exceptional. I spent some time this afternoon with a soldering iron in hand and the Color Preamp is now fully assembled.
Continue readingThe Color Preamp Tales of Woe
As you may know I’ve been waiting on components to finish my “Color Preamp”. I thought that I’d have my output coupling capacitors by now, but I was mistaken. It seems that my parts supplier, after promising to get the parts right out to me, spent three days trying to find the parts in their warehouse, then sent me a refund. But I thought I’d outsmarted them.
Continue readingComponent Tolerances & Modern Manufacturing
Since I’ve been at a standstill waiting for parts, I’ve been going over my parts supply and getting things organized again. It seems we’re all constantly working against entropy. While doing this, my bagged and sorted capacitors reminded me of a short article I wrote back in 2013 about component tolerances. I’ve decided to reprint it here for reference.
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