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[AMPS] SB 220 repair

To: <amps@contesting.com>
Subject: [AMPS] SB 220 repair
From: measures@vcnet.com (measures)
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 06:23:06 -0700
>
>A friend brought over a Heathkit SB 220 for repair.  I thought 
>I'd tell you what I found.
>
>I removed the chassis from the case to first find the ALC 
>electrolytic capacitor strewn about the bottom in confetti and 
>foil. 

There is no such capacitor in the ALC circuitry  -- in the 110VDC supply, 
yes. 

> One of the grid chokes appeared to have been hot.
>
>I replaced the capacitor and the entire alc terminal strip 
>parts assembly, then spent some time slowly reforming 
>the HV capacitors back up.  The disabled and retired 
>owner has little or no money for new capacitors.
>
>So I bring the unit up in slowly on a home brew fully metered 
>special variac unit with a dmm on the alc supply to view the 
>proper operation of the new terminal strip parts.  Near 80% 
>of normal line voltage, the ALC 120 volt supply went up to 
>above 350 VDC, very strange indeed.  At that point I thought 
>about a transformer break down. After much work to isolate 
>hi-pot and load test the filament transformer, it was deemed 
>healthy and returned to the regular amplifier wire harness. 
>
>Parasitics and or a tube problem might be the next thing to 
>investigate.
>
Parasitics that are intermittent are not easy to investigate.  

>The unit fired up without tubes showed no problems at the 
>alc point, then each tube was tried in individually at both 
>locations. Again, no abnormalities observed. 

Be sure to remove the wire between the bias contacts on the relay and the 
110VDC power supply.  If you don't do this, a shorted tube can easily 
destroy the filament transformer.  

-  Rich..., 805.386.3734, www.vcnet.com/measures.  


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