I want to White Oak a Phase Linear 400 Series I

[ksrigg]

I hate to blow my laptop sky high. At least if I blow the scope up, I can get on the internet and find out why.

 

[speakerman1]

The signal generator is free.

Larry

 

[nakdoc]

To sell it! I think it works fine. My customer asked me to choose for him between a Hafler DH500 and a Phase 400 (no wood case). If someone has an offer I can let him know when it comes in.

It is here. I need to check it out. Looks clean though. Send me questions in the next few days so I know what you are looking for. i.e. does it have the upgraded drive board?

 

[laatsch55]

Sutton, buy a 100 pack of the to-3 mica insulators. If you have to dis mount any outputs they are very easy to crack. And what you pay for em they are not worth spending the time cleaning. Whenever i take outputs off they gety new mica.

 

[mlucitt]

Sorry Sutton, I thought you were still looking for an o'scope. The one you bought is fine. You will need another probe. Look at yours and see if it says 1X, 10X, or 100X. You need a 1X and a 10X. Then you need to let the scope warm up and calibrate the probe, unless it is a cheap 1X (not calibrate-able). Does the scope come with an owners manual? If not, do a search and find one, it will be your best friend for awhile.

Be careful with it (always know what you are measuring, not DC and not 120VAC) and it will last you a lifetime. Here is a good signal generator for you:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Elenco-SG-9200- ... 20bffac911

This one would work also:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RAG101-Audio-Ge ... 4ab17ff974

You just need the ability to generate a sine wave (square wave is nice but not necessary) at 3 Volts (shown as V-V, or P-P peak-to-peak) which gives you enough RMS voltage (2.1V) to fully test the PL amps because they only need an input of 1.7V for full rated output. More than that and you will just release the smoke from inside some of the components.

Mark

 

[laatsch55]

Especially if you input a 10 volt square wave to the input RCA jacks. that's what I inputted to Scott's aftert a little investigation. So.........I'm thinking that at the speaker posts a 110 volt square wave was .................maybe not 110 volt. care to guess what it was?? the amp was full on , no DBT or variac.

 

[mlucitt]

The heat sink compound you want is Dow Corning 340, a 5 oz tube will last you forever. It is expensive but it is the gold standard. This is a good substitute, Mouser 590-860-60G.
Also add to your list:
Gold input jacks - red: 568-NYS367-2 and black: 568-NYS367-0

Mark

 

[ksrigg]

Thank you for the input, guys....Now what is the part number for the mica insulators. I want to make sue I'm getting the right one. I see several different versions of the TO-3 Mica Insulator...different measurements, hole sizes...everything..

 

[ksrigg]

Will the first signal generator work? Does it go down to 20hz, or is there any need for it to? The second one is the one I was looking at...it does go down there, and it is new, but the instructions ae probably not understandable. "place gently the harmonious wiring in the place where bird lives, and fastly start the process" Something like that...

As to probes...does Mouser carry the one(s) I will want? I guess you know the one I ended up with...the Hitachi V-212B or something like that....

 

[laatsch55]

The probe it comes with is fine. When you get the scope do as Mark says. You want a sig generator that goes to 10HZ.
On the second probe, rarely do you need two at the same time but when you do 1 wont do. When the scope gets there , see what it has for a probe and start shopping.
On the mica insulators---534-4636

 

[mlucitt]

Lee is a bit too Spongled tonight. The PL 400 service manual has you making check at 20Hz, 200Hz, 2kHz, and 20kHz. That covers the listening spectrum and most of us cannot hear past 14kHz anyway. You don't need 10Hz, you can't hear it, but you can feel it (when things fall off the shelf onto your head). Just make sure your signal generator or function generator covers 20-20kHz, anything more is gravy.

 

[mlucitt]

Sutton,
Here is a good link to learn a bit more about power supplies like the one in the PL 400:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/ssps1_e.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The PL 400 uses a brute force power supply and uses a single secondary in the transformer (one winding grounded in the middle to give +80V and -80V). We can use some of the filtering ideas here to clean up the DC voltage but as he says, "You probably won't hear the difference."

Mark

 

[laatsch55]

If you claim a frequency response from DC to 250khz, a sig gen that goes to 10 hz would be handy.

 

[speakerman1]

Lee have you used the Daqarta at all?

Larry

 

[mlucitt]

Lee, of course what you say is true, but I am trying to save Sutton some coin. My venerable HP 651B is tired but it covers 10Hz to 10MHz. I almost always set it for 1kHz.

 

[laatsch55]

My 1959 Eico 377 does pretty good till 10 hz still. Besides generating a 10.23 volt square wave.

 

[ksrigg]

I have everything either ordered or in hand to start on my first Phase Linear 400 White Oak rebuild. I have the scope...the 10X probes are ordered. I am waiting for the sig generator to arrive. Waiting on the PL400 to arrive, waiting on the protection circuit to arrive, waiting for the Mouser order. I have the populated PCB and the led light board. Just gave up and ordered the cap kit from White Oak. Larry....do you have some wire I could buy for the internal wiring? Also I need to get something to replace the power cord. I have a Hoover vacuum cleaner out at the trash. I'm tempted to rob that cord unless anyone says I should do otherwise..

I know I'm going to need tons of help from Mark as I have no idea where to start other than by giving the unit a good cleaning when she arrives. Will I need to make a lightbulb variac? Anything else I could be doing? Boil water, or get a bunch of towels?

I'm excited...

 

[laatsch55]

Build a dim bulb tester!!!!!!!!1`1 Don't EVER_NEVER_EVER power up after cha nging ANY component without it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mlucitt]

Lee is right. Get thee self (it is Sunday) to home depot and buy a standard porcelain lamp base like you have in your basement (Cooper makes this) and one with a plastic or metal buld shield will save you some money in broken bulbs. Then pick out a nice 10 or 15 foot grounded extension cord that has the round rubber covering the individual wires (not a molded flat piece of chinese junk). Then when you get home cut into the middle of the cord's outer insulation to expose the three wires for a length of about a foot. Cut the black wire (after you confirm the the black wire is the hot wire - the one connected to the right prong of your wall outlet (the smaller one in most grounded outlets) and connect the ends of the black wire across the bulb socket connections.

You can experiment with it to see how it works. With a 60W or 100W bulb inserted in the socket, use your Dim Bulb Tester (DBT) as an extension cord to a kitchen appliance and turn it on. The bulb will glow at startup when the current is MAX and then dim or go out when the current drops. This is your over-current protection and also a qualitative test (visual cue) of an over-current situation. Always use your DBT, as Lee says, when starting up an unknown or changed piece of electronic equipment.

Keep in mind the DBT does use some current and will not allow full power as if you plugged into the wall. So remove it for any quantitative (numbers) measurements.

Good Luck

 

[laatsch55]

YEAH!!!!!! WHAT HE SAID!!!!!