[Amps] AMERITRON AMP FACTORY WIRING ERROR

[Gudguyham at aol.com]

Hi All, I want to make everyone aware of a wiring error that may be  present 
in some of the following amps AL-82, AL-1500. AL-1200.  You can  test to see 
if your amp has this wiring error very easily.  You have 2  fuses on the rear 
of the amp.   Remove the top fuse and turn the amp  on and see if you get panel 
lights and blower going.  If so, your unit has  the wiring error.  If the amp 
does not come on that is good.  Now,  replace the top fuse and pull the 
bottom fuse and see if the amp comes on.   The amp MUST NOT come on at all with 
either fuse pulled with the other  in  place.  
 
REASON: What could happen is you can blow a fuse and not know it, the HV  
will go off, but the amp will operate normally otherwise, you could continue to  
drive the tube with no plate voltage and that could cause problems if you do 
not  realize it right away.  If you blew a fuse the whole amp should shut down  
completely right away and if your unit has wiring error, it won't and could  
lead to tube damage if prolonged.
 
THE FIX: Open up the amp and look at the fuse holders in the back, one fuse  
holder will have 2 wires going to it on the line side of the fuse. One of 
these  wires (white in color) goes to the filament transformer primary, find that 
one  and simply move it to the load side of the fuse holder, NOW...if you lose 
this  fuse, the amp will shut down completely letting you know right away 
there is a  problem.
 
Some amps are wired correctly and some are not.  I can't seem to find  any 
trend for which amps are right or wrong except to give them the test.
 
73 Lou W1QJ