Centaur 411 Amp: Follow-up

[Ten-Tec Inc.]

Hello Paul and Ten-Tec reflectorites:

At 08:40 PM 12/23/96 -0700, you wrote:
>Thanks for all the input and suggestions on the problems I have noticed with
>my Centaur Demo 411 amplifier.
>
>I was hoping to save a dollar by getting an easy answer from someone who had
>had the same problems, but what I found from the group was that although a
>few people have had minor problems, none have seen one behave exactly like
>mine.  All those who have had problems have had them resolved by contacting
>TT Technical Support, so Monday morning I did just that.  Service Manager,
>Paul Clifford told me a few things which had been put into a manual update
>which I did had not received.  A few of these are:
>
>        Correct fuse size for 240v operation.
>
>        Revised tune up proceedure.
>
>        Ten Tec now conciders the WARNING!!in Paragraph 2.5.2 on page 2.3 of
>the manual to be "ambiguous" in that it warns one not to allow plate current
>in excess of 550 mA for more than five seconds nor to allow grid current in
>excess on 150 mA, when they meant to allow plate currents up to around 750
>mA in the tuning process, but not for more than five seconds at a time.
>Higher plate current allowed my amp to acheive higher output power on 20
>meters and below, but the problem on the highter bands is still there.

The tune-up instructions in the manual are not as clear as we thought
they were when it was written.  The important fact that was left out
is that the plate dissipation rating of the 811A tubes can and will be
exceeded when in use as an SSB/CW amplifier.  We printed a manual
addendum shortly afterward and I posted a message here on the reflector
to that effect around October 1st.  Unfortunately, the addendum was not 
sent to you (Paul WV3J) when the amp was shipped.  

>I very quickly got used to the blower noise (a "problem" I did not mention,
>but which others did).  The "THUNK" at power up is indeed from the steel
>sheet-metal top.  If I place my index finger on the top and hit the power
>switch with my middle finger that "problem" is gone.  The scratches are
>really minor and what one would expect when buying a demo.  The arcing and
>low power on the high bands remain as problems with the amp I got.
>
>Paul Clifford would like for me to send this amp back at Ten Tech's expense
>for them to go over again.  They did get a batch of out of spec. plate
>capacitors, and thought they had found them all.  They are also willing to
>be flexible with the month's trial period.  

Your faith in us is appreciated.  If we have made an error somewhere,
we're going to take as much time as necessary to correct the problem,
not tell you you're out of luck because a month has gone by.  The 30
day trial period is in place to make sure that this is the piece of
equipment you want sitting on your table for X years.  In a case like
this, we'll call it 30 days after the equipment is performing to your
satisfaction.  

73 Scott Robbins W4PA, Ten-Tec

P.S. loud blower noise = normal 


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