Thanks for the kind words Mike. That was a real "Oh Duh" moment when I found it. And YES thank goodness it wasn't the transformer. BTW, liked the two videos on the "splatter box" amps. I also have an old AL-84 sweep tube amp that works like a champ. 400 watts on SSB. But finding replacement tubes ain't cheap. I can re-tube my AL-572 for about 1/4 the cost.
If we had known back then how much sweep tubes would be going for these days we would have stockpiled them. I can imagine a conversation with a financial advisor. So sir what do you have set up for your retirement, stocks, bonds, 401k, real estate, gold and silver? No, none of that silly stuff. I have a tractor trailer full of 8950 tubes.
Love them weird ones.... once encountered some conductive fungus inside a BNC barrel. Read 10 ohms between center conductor and ground. Was on coax going up to roof on WWVB antenna. Barrel sat against an air conditioning duct in room just below roof. Cold air caused condensation. Fungus grew inside barrel. Okay, clean male ends with trichlore, install heat shrink around everything and mount cable clamp to keep cable off duct. That 10 ohms took me by surprise.
Bingo. I once had a primary short to the secondary on an SB-220 I was servicing. Yes, some of the HV stayed on the power cord when I unplugged it. Ouch. I replace the transformer and everything came up until the filament transformer decided to go south. I have one on order. The amp is nearly 45+ years old and had been idle for around ten years, according to the owner. It ran fine after I replaced the rectified board and the bleeders on the caps. Then I encountered the transformer winding short.
There's actually a theory (that strives to replace the Big Bang theory) that the universe is not expanding, but instead getting heavier, and the light is slowing down. Since no matter is being generated, it's really just every unit of matter getting heavier. Now it's not perfect, i wouldn't bet on it being right, but it opens a possibility that you just might be right with your amp getting heavier over time.
I used to have a giant SOLA constant voltage transformer. Got rid of it as most everything else is fine with small swings. I just wire that amp for the highest voltage to protect the tube, and accept a small drop in output when the voltage is lower. Not really noticeable. My AL-572 doesn't care, my AL-84 doesn't care and if I get a solid state amp they have switching supplies.Thanks for the comment, and thanks for watching.
Never use the swag method,,, time and time again the kiss method works best.(keep it simple stupid). Many times I have jumped in way to deep only to find a simple solution.
Thanks for the kind words Mike. That was a real "Oh Duh" moment when I found it. And YES thank goodness it wasn't the transformer. BTW, liked the two videos on the "splatter box" amps. I also have an old AL-84 sweep tube amp that works like a champ. 400 watts on SSB. But finding replacement tubes ain't cheap. I can re-tube my AL-572 for about 1/4 the cost.
If we had known back then how much sweep tubes would be going for these days we would have stockpiled them. I can imagine a conversation with a financial advisor. So sir what do you have set up for your retirement, stocks, bonds, 401k, real estate, gold and silver? No, none of that silly stuff. I have a tractor trailer full of 8950 tubes.
Best Chuckle I have had this week. And true.
The Tuner looks just like My Tucker T-3000 "3000" Watts Nice video My Clipperton L and Tuner still in use since 1985 With Centrons 572B's
I also use an Ameritron 572 amp with four 572B's. They appear to be bullet proof. In the heat of battle I have mistuned many times with zero issues.
"I was wrong about what the problem was initially" - That's why they call it troubleshooting.
Love them weird ones.... once encountered some conductive fungus inside a BNC barrel. Read 10 ohms between center conductor and ground. Was on coax going up to roof on WWVB antenna. Barrel sat against an air conditioning duct in room just below roof. Cold air caused condensation. Fungus grew inside barrel. Okay, clean male ends with trichlore, install heat shrink around everything and mount cable clamp to keep cable off duct. That 10 ohms took me by surprise.
10 ohm fungus, must be a market for that somewhere.
Bingo. I once had a primary short to the secondary on an SB-220 I was servicing. Yes, some of the HV stayed on the power cord when I unplugged it. Ouch. I replace the transformer and everything came up until the filament transformer decided to go south. I have one on order. The amp is nearly 45+ years old and had been idle for around ten years, according to the owner. It ran fine after I replaced the rectified board and the bleeders on the caps. Then I encountered the transformer winding short.
There's actually a theory (that strives to replace the Big Bang theory) that the universe is not expanding, but instead getting heavier, and the light is slowing down. Since no matter is being generated, it's really just every unit of matter getting heavier. Now it's not perfect, i wouldn't bet on it being right, but it opens a possibility that you just might be right with your amp getting heavier over time.
Gotta protect that expensive final tube...
Look on the bright side, the transformer wasn't bad. :) Main thing is you found the problem. You just took the long way around, happens to me to.
Mike
Too right! It happens to the best of us.
I was wrong once too... back in '83 if my memory serves me correctly :)
WHAT A COOL METER !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ever thought about running an automatic voltage regulator in line with your amp?
I used to have a giant SOLA constant voltage transformer. Got rid of it as most everything else is fine with small swings. I just wire that amp for the highest voltage to protect the tube, and accept a small drop in output when the voltage is lower. Not really noticeable. My AL-572 doesn't care, my AL-84 doesn't care and if I get a solid state amp they have switching supplies.Thanks for the comment, and thanks for watching.
No GFCI breaker? A 60 ohm short to ground would trip the GFCI immediately
Never use the swag method,,, time and time again the kiss method works best.(keep it simple stupid). Many times I have jumped in way to deep only to find a simple solution.
Agree, not one of my better days.