Derek92994's 700 Ser II White Oak conversion

[laatsch55]

DC ---direct current, if you had a pre behaving badly and it was passing some DC to trhe amp that would be a very bad thing...yes you can switch this at any time...

 

[derek92994]

DC ---direct current, if you had a pre behaving badly and it was passing some DC to trhe amp that would be a very bad thing...yes you can switch this at any time...

Ok I'll play it safe and leave it on normal. This Pioneer D901s isn't exactly what I would call an outstanding pre-amp, would prefer something much older and solid, all in good time.

Thanks for your kindness for those Capacitors and fuse holder. Is the fuse holder critical? I ask this because the amp is staying on 24/7 for as long as possible (20 days power up time so far).

 

[laatsch55]

I am sending it so you have it , should the other one start being a problem...

 

[derek92994]

I am sending it so you have it , should the other one start being a problem...

Thank you.

The Aluminium foil is holding up well

And for those reading this, yes there is a fuse in there, just had to use some foil to fill the gap on one side so the fuse holder would press against the contact.

 

[gadget73]

I've never done the foil without a fuse. It needs to be there to form the aluminum properly I did have a friend catch his car on fire with that once. He was using the foil from cig packs, which is paper backed. The radio shorted out for the umpteenth time and the "fuse" went up in smoke. Not too much damage but the fusebox was a goner.


Personally I like coupling caps, but if you know your preamp isn't acting dumb you're good. I used to have DC output problems on my PAS2 thanks to the well known but incorrect tone bypass destructions online. It was enough that it made the amp sound funny. Didn't hurt anything but it will shift the operating point on whatever your input device is. Might not affect an op-amp much but tubes don't like that sort of thing.

 

[laatsch55]

Gadget, the aluminum foil is used UNDER one end of the fuse to take up some slack of a weak spring........one of those things that bite you in the ass if not checked. Another Murphy's Law of Electronics......a component may fail even though checked...it WILL fail if not checked...

 

[gadget73]

I was joking I've had busted springs in fuse holders before. Fixed one with a piece of spring out of a pen. It got the job done, but it was a bit of a hack.

 

[derek92994]

I was joking I've had busted springs in fuse holders before. Fixed one with a piece of spring out of a pen. It got the job done, but it was a bit of a hack.

There is still plenty of spring in the fuse holder. The original amp was previously a commercial touring unit and may have had a longer type fuse in that holder.

 

[gadget73]

Ah. I've seen those funky slightly over-long fuses before. Also might depend what it had originally. My friend's 700 S2 took shorter fuses than my Pro 700 does. Mine runs a 3AG type, and his takes whatever designation is the same diameter but shorter. I'm fine with mine having the longer fuses, they are a more common type.

 

[derek92994]

Polish Time

Such a fine Power Amp deserves a regular clean and polish. Fan config is back to the original. She's been powered up since 26/12/14, sounding sweet indeed. 15 Megapixel Pics, around 8 megs each.

Managed to get one of my UPS systems working to keep the computer safe. It turns out only 1 of the batteries went bad, the other one is average and is enough to run, so I got two 6 volt batteries and chained them together with the 12 volt, making the 24 volts required for the UPS. I don't like running the PC at all without a UPS, so this will buy me some time until I can afford batteries.

In the future the APC 1500 Smart UPS is going to have double its capacity which will involve running two huge gel cell batteries on top of the unit, rated at double capacity. This is still within the unit's operating range as it has a plug at the back to double the capacity with separate battery back. This won't be used as the huge cells sitting on top will be equiv to two of those smaller battery packs. I will be looking at 3.5 hours run time at around 140 watts.

Pictured is my 'cheaper' UPsonic 1200Va UPS running on the temprary battery setup. It tests fine and batteries sitting at around 27.6 volts fully charged (total volts). Can at least not worry about the PC getting spikes or quick off/on power failures, have already sent my power supply away to antec for warranty repair.

 

[laatsch55]

Too bad those meters are so fugly.....

 

[Nick Danger]

Is your fan wired directly into the WOPL, Derek?

 

[Elite-ist]

Nice pictures, Derek.

Nando.

 

[derek92994]

Is your fan wired directly into the WOPL, Derek?

Nope, dedicated 12v power pack.

 

[derek92994]

Too bad those meters are so fugly.....

No complaints there bud, as you know, it does not affect performance in any way, I have never been too picky about cosmetics. I'm very grateful to have this in the man cave

Under normal lighting conditions you can't even see those patches on the meters, only when camera flash is aimed at it. Dare I say the LEDs have 'tamed' a little, which is fine by me. If I had the option I'd put the amp up higher so I couldn't see the actual LEDs themselves, but the setup I have here does not allow that, everything is at my finger tips and works well. Blasting out some Genesis "Tonight, Tonight', never heard this track so damn good.

 

[derek92994]

Nice pictures, Derek.

Nando.

Thanks Nando. I was going to do 20 megapixel shots but that is 4:3 aspect ratio, I felt that 15 megs was better at 16:9 aspect. I'm happy with the new camera my father bought me for christmas. Works nicely.

 

[Elite-ist]

I, especially, like the first shot in that group of pictures, Derek.

Nando.

 

[derek92994]

I, especially, like the first shot in that group of pictures, Derek.

Nando.

I could get the focus much clearer using a tripod, as slight movement blurs images when taking them without the flash. Its near impossible to hold a camera completely still. I'll work on a shot now where the camera is at a complete still.

 

[derek92994]

2 Pictures, this time 20.1 megapixels, 4:3 aspect ratio. First one standard exposure, second one with extra exposure. 10 megabytes each (file size). Still quite average focus.

 

[derek92994]

Dual fans keep the WOPL very happy