Relay capability

[joesatch]

Can i use a relay to pass ground to some cathode bypass caps on the preamp stage?  Also if the ground on the relay is fed with another relay is this an issue? anyone used relays like this?

[Latole]

You may hear some "pop" when switching contact
Loud or not ?

[joesatch]

havent tried yet. If so, how to eliminate the pop?

[shooter]

when you remove ground the un-grounded leg "floats" to the DC voltage on the other leg.  Re-grounding the floating leg will generate a "spark", maybe not visibly, or with a crack sound, but you will see a transient spike on a scope.


Needs verified, I believe if you "add a cap to an existing cap" by adding the ground, (doubling the capacitance), it will less'n the spike, maybe to inaudible levels?

[PRR]

A relay is just a switch. Your finger is replaced by an electromagnet. Anything a switch can do, a relay can do. What is the worry?

The pop is a different unasked question.

[joesatch]

A relay is just a switch. Your finger is replaced by an electromagnet. Anything a switch can do, a relay can do. What is the worry?

The pop is a different unasked question.

I worry about alot which is why i've never blown anything up or had catastrophic results on anything i've tried. I research things to death before i try them. 

[sluckey]

I worry about alot which is why i've never blown anything up or had catastrophic results on anything i've tried. I research things to death before i try them. 

You're missing a lot of fun!   

[shooter]

yep, nothing like the smell of smoking 'tronics in the late night 
once you figure out what makes stuff blow up, make a note, move on to the next thing you're not too sure about, but will'n to try 

[acheld]

Yah, research is completely overrated.

[Willabe]

Yah, research is completely overrated.

     

[JPK]

Ask Mesa about using relays. They love them. I had plenty in my 50 watt DC-5. It was the only warranty issue I had.


The 1 watt build I have a thread about here uses a little relay for channel switching. It uses heater voltage for the power supply on the board it's on. The board rectifies it to 5VDC. I'll attach the cut sheet here. Maybe you can use a variation of it. It's working just fine in my amp but they designed some filtering to keep the pop sounds out. The channel switching is dead silent.