Joe:
Thanks for the reply, we want to be sure that people working on amplifiers
do not get hurt. I do not know your experience, and I have not revealed mine,
but want to help you be safe.
I have followed this thread for quite a while, and most of the problems of
amplifier failures seem to be operating beyond the design of the amplifier
or tubes. Purchased amplifiers are built to sell, they are not generally
designed well. Their motive is to sell and compete.
Most hams do not really know how much power they are running. And
with out a peak reading watt meter you do not know? I have a Henry 2K-4
and since I have a peak watt meter, my amp runs cooler? How much power
was I actually putting out? I will never tell. The Henry is over designed and
has lots of head room to run power. How much, a lot more than you think.
My antenna insulators last longer now?
If you loose seals in your tubes or have to solder filament pins, you need to
see
what you are running for power? Check your blower, most do not put out enough.
Is the air going across the tubes? Or through the socket base with a
chimney?
Can you hear your blower running? Some one says, I can hear your blower?
Yes
I am running power... I hope I hear my blower.
Get a peak watt meter and protect your amplifier. And yes tubes do fail on
their
own. If you run too much power, and some compression, keep a spare set of
tubes on hand. If your amp is not rated or designed with extra head room or
capability, expect to burn up parts.
Yes club amplifiers do have problems, too many operators? Comes with the
territory.
Some think people argue, but really this is a think tank and we run on
discussions,
some times we run off into a tangent and have to come back, just wait we will
return.
Ed 73 K7DXV. Oregon
Tarrant David wrote:
> Thanks for the input on the HV status of ham amps. I have worked
> with military, broadcasting and the merchant marine electronics for
> most of my life. All of their amps dump the B+ in standby. So,
> thanks for the lessons learned when dealing with these types of amps.
>
> And, I can see why you guys fight so much on the reflector. No
> where did I say that we stuck our hand inside the live amp, that is
> why they have a meter switch to observe the voltage with the cover
> closed. It was an examination of the drawing that revealed that this
> was the normal condx for that amp. Anyway, I am not looking for
> any comments back from the normal few. Thanks again.
>
> Joe
>
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