Welcome To the Hoffman Amplifiers Forum

September 06, 2025, 04:25:42 pm
guest image
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
-User Name
-Password



Hoffman Amps Forum image Author Topic: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.  (Read 2765 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Chaopsychic

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • I love Tube amps
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« on: May 03, 2024, 01:33:47 pm »
Greetings ladies and gentlemen,

this is my first post on your forum so i'll try to keep it short and simple.

Got this old guy on the bench for no sound and a blown fuse (F202).

The amp got a new set of JJ tubes just to make a fresh start as they were never changed.

I've studied the schematic and have checked and changed a couple of things as i noticed around 2.8v on pin9 of the preamp tubes instead of 6ish.

First i replaced both all Bias & (HTR - 14V) supply sections and every 1N4148 i could see.

As people from the computer suggested, i checked all the transistors and relays, took them all out to see if the heaters come back to normal without any luck.

I also replaced C7, C8, C145, C119 and removed D108 & D109 that looked awful.

As i took V1 and V2 out i noticed that heater voltage rose and when pluging a cable at the return jack the amp produced sound.

Plate voltages are in 400ish area so i didn't touch the high voltage section.

What i've come to realise is that there is some crakling noise, no guitar sound and low heater voltage.

I also tried an other power transformer as i have a second valveking which had other issues.(now fixed)

I make no money out of this, this amp is for a bandmate of mine and i'm trying to help him.

The thing is that when i remove a preamp tube (V1, V2 or V3) the heater voltage rises 1-2 volts.

It's just that having all 3 of them hooked up drops heater voltage and causes no sound coming out of the speakers.

Attached you will find the schematic and any help would be much appreciated.
« Last Edit: May 03, 2024, 01:36:27 pm by Chaopsychic »

Offline sluckey

  • Level 5
  • *******
  • Posts: 5075
    • Sluckey Amps
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2024, 01:54:52 pm »
Check voltages in the heater power supply.
A schematic, layout, and hi-rez pics are very useful for troubleshooting your amp. Don't wait to be asked. JUST DO IT!

Offline Chaopsychic

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • I love Tube amps
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2024, 02:01:43 pm »
According to check points in the schematic
(HTR) shows 34V
(14) is 13.3V
 so i guess it's alright?

This is the current situation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_fWe5NF0LV8aqhpFeSYi1rPnvpScVt9/view?usp=sharing
« Last Edit: May 03, 2024, 02:23:17 pm by Chaopsychic »

Offline sluckey

  • Level 5
  • *******
  • Posts: 5075
    • Sluckey Amps
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2024, 03:07:51 pm »
Reseat that ribbon cable on both ends. Any better?
A schematic, layout, and hi-rez pics are very useful for troubleshooting your amp. Don't wait to be asked. JUST DO IT!

Offline Chaopsychic

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • I love Tube amps
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2024, 03:55:49 pm »
The ribbon multi cable thing is soldered directly on both pcbs and of course i have tried resoldering it.

Also, moving it aroung doesn't introduce any voltage fluctuations.

I wonder if the tube sockets themselves could cause issues like that (they are branded Ruby) otherwise i do not know what else to check regarding this issue..
« Last Edit: May 03, 2024, 03:57:51 pm by Chaopsychic »

Offline Chaopsychic

  • Level 1
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • I love Tube amps
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2024, 11:41:03 am »
Today i decided to replace the ribbon multi cable with new cables with no luck.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Offline nandrewjackson

  • Level 2
  • **
  • Posts: 430
  • "Don't stop here; this is Bat country"
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2024, 04:08:07 pm »
I have worked on 2 valve kings. 1 50 watt, and 1 100 watt. When I got the 100 watt, it had no heaters at all.
After I opened it up, I saw that one of the on board fuses had blown. Seeing that it has 3  on board fuses, I chose to purchase plastic fuse holders, to make those easy to change in the future. I got that part from ebay, easy to find on there, they use physically smaller fuses, but the pins on the fuse holders match the spacing on the board where the stock fuses are. I saw burning near the rectifier diodes and also noticed they had used the smallest little diodes for the 3 different rectifiers. I got some beefier diodes, and went ahead and replaced them all.


Doing that got the amp running, but there was crackling, and no reverb.
 I measured bad readings at the 4558 op amp reverb driver chip, so I pulled that, and installed an 8 pin socket there, and new chip into that socket.
As for the crackling, I replaced the preamp tube anode resistors.
I believe I changed out all of the power electrolytic capacitors, and 1 or 2 power resistors that showed heat issues. I remember the long ceramic one, because I had to order it and it's a weird value.


Those component changes fixed the 100 watt amp.


The 50 watt that I worked on only had crackling problems. I replaced the preamp tube anode resistors and that fixed that. I will say, on the 50 watt, I went ahead and changed the power electrolytic caps, added beefier diodes, added fuse holders, and gave it a bias pot for the fixed bias output. I still have the 50 watt, and I really like that amp.




Offline nandrewjackson

  • Level 2
  • **
  • Posts: 430
  • "Don't stop here; this is Bat country"
Hoffman Amps Forum image
Re: Peavey Valveking 100 low heater voltage under load.
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2024, 04:13:06 pm »
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255127533442?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=XqJRrwEERWC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=0kRPe7NCTWy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY




That is not exactly what I bought, but I believe that would fit the hole spacing. Very similar to what I bought


 


Choose a link from the
Hoffman Amplifiers parts catalog
Mobile Device
Catalog Link
Yard Sale
Discontinued
Misc. Hardware
What's New Board Building
 Parts
Amp trim
Handles
Lamps
Diodes
Hoffman Turret
 Boards
Channel
Switching
Resistors Fender Eyelet
 Boards
Screws/Nuts
Washers
Jacks/Plugs
Connectors
Misc Eyelet
Boards
Tools
Capacitors Custom Boards
Tubes
Valves
Pots
Knobs
Fuses/Cords Chassis
Tube
Sockets
Switches Wire
Cable


Handy Links
Tube Amp Library
Tube Amp
Schematics library
Design a custom Eyelet or
Turret Board
DIY Layout Creator
File analyzer program
DIY Layout Creator
File library
Transformer Wiring
Diagrams
Hoffmanamps
Facebook page
Hoffman Amplifiers
Discount Program