>I have my Dad's MLA-2500 in my shack for what I suspect is
>a filter
> capacitor replacement job. It hadn't been operated in a
> long time and
> Dad wanted me to check everything out (he's had health
> problems). I
> was tuning it up and all seemed well until I heard a soft
> pfft,
> smelled a Bad Smell, and heard the PS hum loudly, clearly
> drawing
> lots of current.
There are a few component selection errors in Dentrons that
should always be taken care of immediately.
The major error is they used carbon resistors across the
electrolytics. Carbon resistors should never be used for
critical voltage equalizing or voltage dropping
applications, because carbon resistors age down in value
with heat and time. That causes a destructive cycle where
the resistor decreases in value until something fails,
usually an electrolytic or the resistor itself.
Get rid of ANY carbon resistor you see across any
electrolytic in any amp, and replace them with metal based
resistors.
Also they used low voltage rated resistors across diodes.
That's another component selection issue. You can just
remove them and leave only the caps.
Many Dentron amps using sensitive control grid tubes also
don't have grid protection. Some, very stupidly, don't even
have a grid current metering system. You might want to be
sure the MLA has a grid current overload system installed.
73 Tom
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