Mounting a Deluxe Reverb power supply

[Petedub]

Hello, I realise most amp things have been covered on this site somewhere already, but I have some noob type questions, please be patient.

I'm in the process of building a Deluxe Reverb Head.  I have built a power supply.

The power supply mounts on top of the chassis.  I have the correct chassis but I can't see any mounting holes for the power supply board.  How is this component usually mounted?.  I assume it needs some spacers to keep the board off the chassis.

I dont want to drill the chassis if its not needed, and everything else seems to have holes for mounting e.g. rev transformer, choke.

[sluckey]

You will need some screws, nuts, and spacers. You will probably need to drill some holes in the cap board as well as the chassis. I suggest you mount the main board first then carefully align the cap board such that it does not interfere with the mounting of the main board or any other components.

[Petedub]

Thank you for your reply, it is great to have so many nice, helpful people who are willing to assist.  I hope my questions are not too trivial.

The board is mounted but not permanent, I am gathering all the components before I take it out to solder it and then mount it and wire it in.

There is one mounting hole for the main board in the doghouse area that I could use again, (why didn't I think of this before) and I will need to make one new hole to give it two anchors.  Very simple, however I have made lots of stupid mistakes when building amps, so I am very careful with each step.

I use little plastic threaded spacers for mounting and standoffs.

Once again, thankyou.

[bmccowan]

It's kind of late for this advice, but its easier and neater to wrap the turrets with your leads to ground/pots/tubes and then bend the component leads to fit and drop them in the holes - making sure the leads are not so long as to touch the chassis below the board. That way if you want to change a cap or resistor down the road, its a snap. Doug sells little red jigs for bending resistors and small caps.
Doug has a great section on these sites for a logical process building an amp. I recommend it, as well as all the tips on Sluckey's site.

[Petedub]

Thanks for your input bmccowan, any advice at this stage is really helpful.

I have looked through the info on this site about building amps, it is an amazing resource and I am trying to answer my questions by browsing.  I have found that people here are very chatty and friendly and no one seems to mind answering simple questions but I don't want to piss people off by wasting their time.

There seem to be different ways of constructing the actual turret board, I've seen a suggestion to wire the potentiometer wires into the holes on the turrets however I can see that putting the little components in the holes would make modding the circuit more practical in the future.

I have mounted my power supply but it looks a bit too high off the top. pic attached.

thanks again for the help, Pete

 

[uki]

Maybe a little shorter spacers?! Are you going to have a cover over those caps yeah? You know there is high voltages right there!! 

[Petedub]

Hello Uki, thank you for your input.

I dont have the cap cover yet, and you are making a very good point about the high voltages.   

 I have seen pictures on line of this amp (Deluxe Reverb) built with the filter caps squeezed in lengthways along side the board.  What do you think of this arrangement?

I'm aiming to build a replica amp in terms of tone, but I can't but think if the build can be modernised and improved then why not?

[Lectroid]

Also, in your second photo it looks like you have the cap board now covering one of grommeted holes for the OT. (?)

I built a DR replica circuit but opted for filter caps inside the chassis.  It's tight, but the doghouse never appealed to me.

[bmccowan]

Oh yeah - gotta protect those exposed filter cap connections. I'm from Maine. That's not just high-voltage. That's wicked high-voltage.
Shorter standoffs will help, but it looks like your caps are elevated above the cap board. suggest that you get some foam weatherstrip and stick that down to the board. Solder in the caps so they have some support and won't be slappin' together to the beat of Hey Joe. Or you could use cable tie pads. Weatherstrip on the underside of the doghouse will also help. Some folks use RTV, but I hate that messy goop. You are partway there, so I would stick to the doghouse approach. It does help keeping the chassis from getting too crowded. Photos of neat work are your friend. Tons of good picks of quality DR builds out there.
Yes - there are many ways to wire up turret boards - that's what makes them so versatile. I like to lace the ground connections first. Solder generous lengths of leads - color coding to keep things straight - mount the board - solder in the caps and resistors - hook up ground buss, pots, and tubes. Tried it other ways, and this works best for me - YMMV.
Onward

[Petedub]

Hi there, following some excellent advice from bmccowan I have started again with my power supply.  Caps are now bedded on top of the board onto a pad of weatherstrip.  Spacers between board and chassis are now 2mm, just enough for some more weatherstrip between the board and the chassis. 

Many thanks for the advice the dog house power supply was a new one for me and it looks a lot better now, although not completely soldered up yet.