Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum

Amp Stuff => Tube Amp Building - Tweaks - Repairs => Topic started by: NoDough on April 05, 2022, 11:46:34 pm

Title: Which Pilot Lamp Lug should I choose for filament wiring?
Post by: NoDough on April 05, 2022, 11:46:34 pm
Ran into a little bit of an unexpected snag in my 5F2A build from Weber.

So the layout says the pilot light should be wired like this:

(https://imgur.com/L0I7dvC.jpg) (https://imgur.com/L0I7dvC.jpg)

Unfortunately the pilot lamp looks like this:

(https://imgur.com/yCzNvi1.jpg) (https://imgur.com/yCzNvi1.jpg)

The center lug is spring loaded for the pilot bulb, so it doesn't really work as a reliable mechanical connection. I believe the solution is for me to attach the filament wires to each side of the pilot lamp while leaving the center lug alone. But I just wanted to confirm this before I wired something incorrectly.

Thanks in advance for the help!
Title: Re: Which Pilot Lamp Lug should I choose for filament wiring?
Post by: tubeswell on April 05, 2022, 11:52:35 pm
You could always install a small terminal tag strip and run the PT heater secondary to that and then run 2 wires to the lamp from that, and also run two wires to the socket filament pins from the same terminal strip. Easier to mount multiple wires on a tag strip
Title: Re: Which Pilot Lamp Lug should I choose for filament wiring?
Post by: bmccowan on April 06, 2022, 07:25:14 am
Yes - you leave the center lug alone. And what tubeswell suggested helps keep things neet.
Title: Re: Which Pilot Lamp Lug should I choose for filament wiring?
Post by: NoDough on April 08, 2022, 02:53:33 am
Can't thank you enough for the replies tubeswell, and bmccowan. I ended up doing my best to get the wires through the lug and solder blobbing to grab everything else.

Unfortunately I'm not far enough along in my amp building journey to have terminal strips around, but I will now purchase some to keep around for these kind of projects.

Voltages per the reference build guide I used were within reason, no smoke or smells, and the amp played beautifully. I might redo the filament wires in the future when I finally get those terminal strips in though.