Thanks for the video's. I just found yoer channel. Very clear and calm explenation of everything. I agree with the safety you are mentioning. To start this hobby i bcollected al kind of tools and parts. Almost a complete workshop. But still i can't do much yet. First i have to let replace and test my ungrounded wall sockets 😄 As i have some tube radio's and amplifiers it is not safe enough to work on it because of my lack of knowledge. But i'm getting there soon.
That's great to hear that you are giving it a go. I too still need lots of test gear and knowledge. I am working on that. Glad you are taking safety first.
Hi. I just discovered your channel and it looks like you will have some interesting stuff coming up so I subscribed. I agree, a dim lamp or dim bulb limiter is probably the first piece of kit you need if you're going to work on vintage electronics. I now have a variac but to be honest I only use it occasionally. I normally use a 60W globe with most vintage radios. Yes, it does drop the voltage to the set a bit initially but the degree of glow in the dim bulb gives a good visual indication of what's happening: You can see the initial surge of current as the rectifier valve starts up and the capacitors charge, see it dim off as they reach full charge and brighten up as the rest of the valves start to conduct. I still use the original one I made when I first started down the vintage radio rabbit hole and you can see it in nearly all my videos. Cheers
Thank you for this feedback. I love hearing what people are doing. I have a variac in the process of being restored. I'm building a system for prototyping valve based projects. 3 radios to do this year and also a valve based RF signal generator. Lots to do!
Looking forward to seeing that. The variac restoration should be interesting and it would be nice to have a restored good quality one as opposed to the cheap chinese one I (and many others) use. The signal generator should likewise be useful. I have an old valve based Leader that I've been using for years. I've never restored it but it's still working well. Prototyping valve circuits sounds interesting: I haven't got into that yes beyond sketching out some ideas.@@VintageandReclaimedElect
Nice device and great explanation, I wonder if you could also include a typical dimmer switch which would also act like a cross between a variac end dim bulb tester? Thanks for the video.
Typical light dimmers actual chop the waveform up and so work on a form of pulse width modulation fi you can call it that. They do no reduce the amplitude but reduce the average voltage per cycle, so would not really work in this application. The 'gold standard' for this setup is dim lamp then variac then isolation transformer.
@@johnhawkes7681 Yes, I uploaded the 3 files to Git here, if RUclips lets me put a link in this comment. If not, I will place the link in the description. github.com/ghallberg-nbtt/dim_lamp
@@VintageandReclaimedElect I have seen some videos were they break of the little metal tab that is in-between the two screws on the hot side of either the the outlet or the switch and they say that if it's in parallel it will create a short and the set up should be in series. Hope that makes sense
Thanks for the video's. I just found yoer channel. Very clear and calm explenation of everything. I agree with the safety you are mentioning. To start this hobby i bcollected al kind of tools and parts. Almost a complete workshop. But still i can't do much yet. First i have to let replace and test my ungrounded wall sockets 😄 As i have some tube radio's and amplifiers it is not safe enough to work on it because of my lack of knowledge. But i'm getting there soon.
That's great to hear that you are giving it a go. I too still need lots of test gear and knowledge. I am working on that. Glad you are taking safety first.
Hi. I just discovered your channel and it looks like you will have some interesting stuff coming up so I subscribed. I agree, a dim lamp or dim bulb limiter is probably the first piece of kit you need if you're going to work on vintage electronics. I now have a variac but to be honest I only use it occasionally. I normally use a 60W globe with most vintage radios. Yes, it does drop the voltage to the set a bit initially but the degree of glow in the dim bulb gives a good visual indication of what's happening: You can see the initial surge of current as the rectifier valve starts up and the capacitors charge, see it dim off as they reach full charge and brighten up as the rest of the valves start to conduct.
I still use the original one I made when I first started down the vintage radio rabbit hole and you can see it in nearly all my videos.
Cheers
Thank you for this feedback. I love hearing what people are doing. I have a variac in the process of being restored. I'm building a system for prototyping valve based projects. 3 radios to do this year and also a valve based RF signal generator. Lots to do!
Looking forward to seeing that. The variac restoration should be interesting and it would be nice to have a restored good quality one as opposed to the cheap chinese one I (and many others) use. The signal generator should likewise be useful. I have an old valve based Leader that I've been using for years. I've never restored it but it's still working well. Prototyping valve circuits sounds interesting: I haven't got into that yes beyond sketching out some ideas.@@VintageandReclaimedElect
Well explained thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the feedback.
Nice device and great explanation, I wonder if you could also include a typical dimmer switch which would also act like a cross between a variac end dim bulb tester? Thanks for the video.
Typical light dimmers actual chop the waveform up and so work on a form of pulse width modulation fi you can call it that. They do no reduce the amplitude but reduce the average voltage per cycle, so would not really work in this application. The 'gold standard' for this setup is dim lamp then variac then isolation transformer.
Many thanks. Nice vid. Would you be able to supply the stl file for the 3d printed enclosure?
@@johnhawkes7681 Yes, I uploaded the 3 files to Git here, if RUclips lets me put a link in this comment. If not, I will place the link in the description. github.com/ghallberg-nbtt/dim_lamp
Yes looks like I can get to those. I will download as soon as I get back to the pc. Many thanks.
Really nice video, love the enclosure, I think I'll build one. Great inspiration!
Very nice, can you share the stl file please?
Sure, you can download them here github.com/ghallberg-nbtt/dim_lamp
Tnx very much
@@VintageandReclaimedElect
I dont understand why it is necessary to break off the side tab on the switch?
Can someone tell me?
Thank you
Hi, I am not sure what you are referring to. The only switch in the system is on the mains socket and that is not modified.
@@VintageandReclaimedElect I have seen some videos were they break of the little metal tab that is in-between the two screws on the hot side of either the the outlet or the switch and they say that if it's in parallel it will create a short and the set up should be in series.
Hope that makes sense