My Centurion failed for the second time in two years with the same
trouble. The tube filaments would not come on. It seems Ten Tec uses
some "rinky-dink" plastic feed-throughs to carry the filament voltage
through the final sub-chassis to the connection to the filament choke
below. Even though they have small lockwashers, the screws still loosen
up and the increased resistance causes things to arc and generate heat
which melts and burns the feed-through and corodes the connections.
Finally the resistance gets so high no filament current will flow! I
cleaned and sanded the charred plastic and wire brushed the screw and
hardware (good old dremel tool) and got it going again. A more permanent
fix will be to replace those plastic feed-through's with ceramic ones!
Come on Ten Tec, stop trying to save a dime which then costs me a dollar
in aggrevation due to the failure of cheap parts!
A word to the wise - this amplifier, as well as most others, require
routine maintenance. They gather dust and the vibration from the fan
running can cause screws to loosen. Pop the top every few months, clean
out the dust and check all screw connections especially those filament
feed-throughs. You'll be glad you did. See related posting about wild
life taking up residence in your amp.
73,
Puck, W4PM
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