05-05-2016, 02:15 PM
(05-03-2016, 10:45 PM)Hangman Wrote: hey Dan,
The death cap is not "needed" but if you want to have the benefit of having one, without the worry of it blowing up, or shorting, you can use Safety caps. The X2 type safety caps are a good choice. They are specifically made with the "death cap" application in mind, and they are very rugged.
the idea behind this is to remove any noise/hash on the power line. it can honestly help a lot if you've got some noisy old appliances on the same circuit.
The standby switch in the distortion V4s is a weak spot. They really could've used some nicer switches. you can actually see those switches arc when you switch them and the lights are low (or off). kinda scary. I think your idea of turning the power on first, letting it warm up, then turning it off, turning the standby on, and quickly turning the power back on is a great idea.
Remind me, did you post pictures of the wiring of your amp? I know from personal experience that the wiring of the distortion model can be tricky business. I rewired one (but used the original wire as much as possible) and there was definitely some issues with hum if things weren't just so.
Hey Steve, back with a current picture, should be high enough res to get a good look. As noted previously most of the wiring at some point had been replaced with all white wire, 16AWG TFFN, the stiff bulky stuff electricians commonly use. What the??? As you will see I have gutted that stuff out and am going back from scratch with 20AWG 600V stranded. Thus far I have completed the AC mains thru the power switch/pilot and the HV supply wiring through the voltage dropping resistor network, PS caps and up to the driver board and standby switch/pilot. All HV leads beyond that going to the preamp board are free hanging temporarily tacked in place with solder until the final routing allows for a tidy permanent solder connection. I'm waiting on replacement tube sockets to continue. As of now I need to know the best way to route the grounding, heater wiring and control grid wires. Also the footswitch wiring going to the 56Kohm 2W resistors near the inputs. Hum was a big problem, just trying to get this amp to it's previous glory. Thank for your help.