Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum

Amp Stuff => Tube Amp Building - Tweaks - Repairs => Topic started by: alan 53 on December 28, 2012, 09:47:21 pm

Title: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on December 28, 2012, 09:47:21 pm
Hi, having some trouble with a new 5e3 build.When I power on the amp , the pilot lamp comes on ,I let it warm up a few minutes and there is no sound with guitar plugged in.The pre amp tubes light up and the rectifier is lite.In fact after a few minutes I think the rectifier is too warm ,sort of hot. Now the 6v6gt power tubes don't light up or even get warm.,so I think there is problem right there for sure.It has never blown a fuse,and when I switch on the standby sw. I get a soft hum.This is a Weber kit.I'm using classic tone transformers.I changed the lamp to the Fender style lamp(Hoffman)I followed the Triode electronics 5e3 tweed layout.Now originally I think I had the heater circuit wired wrong.but I believe is right now.I'm new to electronics but not new to electric work.Grounds may be my problem ,but I think I've got it right.Was wondering too if I could have damaged one of the transformers by having the heater circuit wrong at first. now I checked the secondary voltage on the power transformer without any tube in  each red wire is 378ac to ground  (chassis) the greens are 3.8 ac to chassis and 7.0 ac at the lamp. the yellows are5.5 v ac to each other but hardly anything to chassis maybe .6 and .3vac to chassis  . is my OT wired wrong   thanks Alan
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: sluckey on December 28, 2012, 10:50:04 pm
Gotta get those 6V6s lit up. What voltage do you measure between pins 2 and 7?
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on December 28, 2012, 11:00:01 pm
at the power tube pins 2 to 7 6.9vac thats with the rectifier and both 6v6gt tubes in   rectifier tube pretty hot after 5 minutes thanks
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: Willabe on December 28, 2012, 11:09:54 pm
at the power tube pins 2 to 7 6.9vac

That's good.

The 5v rectifier yellow wires are good too.

What rectifier tube are you using? 5Y3? You have to take the B+ from the rectifier tube from pin 8 not pin 2.

Make sure that the 6V6's plates are not turning orange or red. If they are shut down the amp because they're drawing too much current.


              Brad      :icon_biggrin:
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on December 28, 2012, 11:35:30 pm
yes ,using a 5y3gt the two yellow wires from the power transformer are going to pins 2 and 8. pin 8 also has a wire going up to the stand by switch, from the other switch terminal  it has two wires leaving ,one goes to the OT (red wire) the other goes down to the + side of a 22uf cap .The output transfomer also has a yellow wire that is going to pin3  on the first 6v6  which is next to the rectifier tube. The OT also has a green wire connected to pin 3 on the next 6v6. On the secondary side of the OT ,a black wire goes to the speaker jack.I wonder if I have the jacks wired wrong .I've never wired one before.There is a speaker jack and an extension speaker jack.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: sluckey on December 29, 2012, 06:56:05 am
Quote
Now the 6v6gt power tubes don't light up or even get warm
Fix this first.

Quote
The OT also has a green wire connected to pin 3 on the next 6v6. On the secondary side of the OT ,a black wire goes to the speaker jack.I wonder if I have the jacks wired wrong .
OT green wire should go to the speaker jack tip terminal. Black should go to speaker jack ground (sleeve) terminal. Look closely at the layout drawing.

OT green wire should not go to 6V6 pin 3! OT blue goes to pin 3 of one 6V6 and OT brown goes to pin 3 of the other 6V6.  Look closely at the layout drawing.

However, the OT wiring errors have nothing to do with the 6V6s not lighting up. You must fix this! I suggest you pull the rectifier tube (usually a 5Y3) and lay it aside until the 6V6s are lit. You can see the filament glowing inside the tube.

Can you post some pics of the chassis wiring? I'm curious why you have a Weber kit but didn't use a Weber layout and schematic? There can be slight differences between different kit suppliers.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: catnine on December 29, 2012, 07:29:02 pm
If you have 6.9VAC on pin 2 and 7 of the power tubes the heaters should lite up . Are you sure you have them on pin 2 and 7 ?
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on December 30, 2012, 08:18:49 am
Yes,6.9 vac from pins 2 to 7. I have a weber kit I didn't understand their diagram .I had ordered my transformers from Triode Electronics PT is classic tone40-18021 and the OT is classictone40-18022.Their transformers have different wires than the weber transformers,I emailed them telling them that and they sent back their 5e3 diagram .the pri,of the Ot has a red wire to the standby sw. a yellow to pin 3 on power tube socket,and a green to pin 3 on the other power tube socket .the secondary has a black going to the speaker jack.there is not another secondary wire,it shows it's grounded to the OT case, I don't have a camera or I would post pictures.My power tubes(6v6) have no markings on them (I hope they are the correct tubes) On the pin side there is no pin 1 or 6 Now nothing goes to pin 1, but there is a resistor wire on pin 6. I don't really know what's going on ,but could I have bad power tubes or how could I tell if I have power to the OT.I've been searching for The Triode 5e3 deluxe diagram .and whenI find it I'll post it here  Thanks Alan
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: phsyconoodler on December 30, 2012, 01:40:22 pm
Here it is.No green wires go to pin 3 on the power tubes.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: sluckey on December 30, 2012, 07:17:18 pm
Here's the OT spec sheet. You're right about the hookup but that's the most unorthodox wire color scheme I've ever seen.
http://www.classictone.net/40-18022.pdf (http://www.classictone.net/40-18022.pdf)

Can you see the filaments glowing in side the 6V6s?
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: HotBluePlates on December 30, 2012, 10:59:24 pm
Here's the OT spec sheet. You're right about the hookup but that's the most unorthodox wire color scheme I've ever seen.
http://www.classictone.net/40-18022.pdf (http://www.classictone.net/40-18022.pdf)

Mr. M. Sacketti should rethink every aspect of his drawing. Especially worrisome is that only 1 of the secondary wires indicates a color code, which makes me wonder when Alan says:

On the secondary side of the OT ,a black wire goes to the speaker jack. I wonder if I have the jacks wired wrong. I've never wired one before. There is a speaker jack and an extension speaker jack.

Only one secondary wire mentioned, which in light of everything else is scary...  :dontknow:
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: phsyconoodler on December 31, 2012, 01:33:44 am
I think it would be best if the OP would run through the wiring again in detail.

 That is definitely an unorthodox wiring color code.
The 'one wire to the speaker jack' is fine as long as he grounded the other wire as shown.
  I'm wondering how well the heater wires are soldered,that's an issue when using 18 guage solid core heater wires that many beginners run into problems with.Use of a small dollop of soldering paste helps immensely in those areas.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: DummyLoad on December 31, 2012, 02:53:49 am
Only one secondary wire mentioned, which in light of everything else is scary...

excerpt from their OT cut-sheet & their disclaimer...

NOTE: ONE SECONDARY WIRE IS GROUNDED TO THE
TRANSFORMER'S FRAME. THE MOUNTING FEET MUST
MAKE GOOD ELECTRICAL CONTACT TO THE CHASSIS.

translation: if you don't scrape the varnish off of the mounting flanges and/or you have a powder coated chassis, then you might just be screwed as your amp gets lit up without a load. nice.

whatever happened to convention? - blue, brown and red primary with black and green secondary. yellow and green insulation can't be that much cheaper & 6 inches of wire for the 5th connection isn't going to put them out of biz. or is it?
if you're making a part that's described as being replacement part, should't you at least make the connection scheme match the original?

--DL

 
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on December 31, 2012, 08:15:52 pm
Thanks everybody for trying to help me out with this.I'm trying to find the triode wiring diagram that they Emailed me,so you can see it yourself. I'm going to make sure that the secondary side of the OT is making a solid ground connection thru its feet to the chassis.I'll also reflow the solder connections at the sockets
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: HotBluePlates on December 31, 2012, 09:50:27 pm
Only one secondary wire mentioned, which in light of everything else is scary...

excerpt from their OT cut-sheet & their disclaimer...

Oops, you're right. Still confusing as hell when you can't put your hands on the amp.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on January 01, 2013, 12:46:29 pm
Well here's my diagram although it doesn't show the heater circuit like the one I have in front of me. I've read to reverse the Yellow and green on the OT primary.I may try it ,but can't see why that would make a difference    http://site.triodestore.com/5E3DeluxeLayout40-18021120V.pdf (http://site.triodestore.com/5E3DeluxeLayout40-18021120V.pdf)   
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: Willabe on January 01, 2013, 02:34:55 pm
Somethings wrong with the link.



            Brad     :dontknow:
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: phsyconoodler on January 01, 2013, 02:50:05 pm
Alan53,
  Do what Sluckey suggested.Get those 6v6's lit up.
Then go over the layout one wire at a time.Inputs are another first timer error on 5E3's,so recheck those in triplicate.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on January 01, 2013, 05:12:31 pm
This is the actual diagram that I'm using.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13ba9a7d34bb5dbf&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dd122e51e67%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13ba9a7d34bb5dbf%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQLQ7qrwPWrUj8CImRJkG6CwDQXLA (https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13ba9a7d34bb5dbf&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dd122e51e67%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13ba9a7d34bb5dbf%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQLQ7qrwPWrUj8CImRJkG6CwDQXLA)
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: phsyconoodler on January 01, 2013, 06:44:19 pm
Your links don't work.
  It really doesn't matter what diagram you are using,just make sure the wires are in the right p[lace and properly soldered.
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: alan 53 on January 01, 2013, 07:38:40 pm
I posted the diagram,it seems so simple .I don't understand what my problem is. Going to take it all apart, starting right now.I'll be a few days on it I'll let you know what I find   Alan
Title: Re: 5e3 low hum in standby
Post by: Willabe on January 01, 2013, 08:00:27 pm
Going to take it all apart, starting right now.

The whole amp? Why?

Just do like Sluckey and the guys told you. Take out the rect. tube and get the heaters going.

The OT has nothing to do with the PT heater winding.


                 Brad      :icon_biggrin: