n_maher

I expect to lose to Brent this week, despite the fact that he played a player on the bye.

Yup, for wire bundles it'd work, but I'm thinking more of big motor run oil or film applications.

So as I mentioned before I was having some fit issues with the overall build. The result of that was that the bottom of the front panel looked like this. That was unacceptable in my book and I wanted to see if I could at least make it better if not go away entirely. The solution, countersink the back of the front panel to allow the body of the pot to nest into it. So I mounted the panel in the vise on the mill, measured the pot body (just over 1/2" in diameter for the part that was binding on the front panel) and selected a 5/8" diameter end mill. Unfortunately I wasn't able to completely cure the problem, the countersink would have been uncomfortably deep, so I decided to go with roughly half the panel depth as my max and see how it worked. The gap on the bottom is now less than half of what it was and is something I can live with. Moreover it was a proof of concept of something that I'd be wanting to try ever since I got the mill, namely that even after drilling and unmounting a panel I can remount, recenter and counter bore with good accuracy. This will be a nice bullet to have in the gun for future use. [edit] Decided that I was being too much of a kitty cat and counter sunk the pot into the panel a bit more, fit is now really good. I also found two 1/4" male/female standoffs in the parts bin which work perfectly for supporting the pcb around the tubes so those went in too. Now I just have to solder in the two 221ohm resistors to lower the CCS resistor and I'll be done.

Happy Birthday guys!

Is that cover completely sealed? If so, that's a bad idea in my opinion.

Variable AC Output Transformer MAX.20A (Metered Variac) - eBay (item 120631655275 end time Nov-07-10 14:34:08 PST)

Thanks for that advice Marc, I actually need to pick some of these up.

I'm not sure I would trust a threaded part like that given how thin they are. But you could always just tap the holes that are there for the next larger screw. I'm guessing that they'd accept a 6-32 tap, but it depends on the model as some I've seen have already had holes that large.

Excellent, Boo, glad to hear you had/are having a good day.

After having them I would not drive a 2wd car in NH without them. Actually, the ones we got for my wife's car (non-studded) are quiet enough that we just run them year round right now.

There's a reason it only has 28k on it, it never runs long enough to rack any up. Also, if you're going to own one it'd have to be silver.

A very Happy Birthday to the both of you!

Thanks guys! Tom could you summarize the new recommended CCS settings?

I'll try to remember to email it to you tonight or upload it and post a link.

I took the tube hole distances off of Tom's drawings, double checked them and they seemed good so I went with it. They are 1" diameter holes, be very careful if you use a stepped bit that big even in a drill press. Make sure you've got the panel held very securely and run the machine as fast as it'll go or you'll end up with rough edges from the chatter. And ha, the side holes are a huge pain in the ass. The biggest problem is keeping the extrusion rigid while drilling, I've got some thoughts on how to do it better but it wouldn't be easy.

If I still wanted a Transporter it'd almost be worth it to send in the SB3 given what it's worth these days...almost.

Found another 1/2hr of fab time tonight and got the last of the holes done in the top panel. A few build notes for Tom and Doug - my amp could not be assembled with the bezels in place. If I installed the rear first it pushed the amp too far towards the back and would not allow for proper installation of the front panel. The reverse was also true, front first = can't install back panel, which is to say that the RCAs ended up with inadequate projection. In point of fact even without the bezels it still doesn't all fit perfectly, now the body of the alps is putting stress on the front panel and bowing it out slightly but I think I have a solution for that, details if it works. But enough moaning about the details, what does it look like??!??! I still have to work out the two standoffs for tube support as well as what I'm gong to use for a knob. I'm also going to do some testing without the top panel heat sink since I provided ventilation for the transformer. I'm hoping it won't require the sink, it'd be a pretty to mess with the general aesthetic.

Agreed, I can't really come up with a scenario where this situation could be explained via faulty house wiring. Caveat - I'm just a humble round hole cutter tech, not an electrician.

The likely cause is that the cord to the boombox was damaged (rolled over by a chair, shut in a door, etc) and the two wires shorted together causing both the fire/sparks and the excessive current draw that tripped the breaker. No surge protector would really stop that from happening, only a fuse of some type would have and since the failure was in the cord the only "fuse" between it and the power source was the breaker panel.

Al should be seeing a rather large box this morning .

Congrats Manuel!

Honestly one wonders what they could have actually put in there for the price. I mean don't get me wrong, I love a bargain, but stuff isn't free and economies of scale and China only go so far.

There's also the pesky potential of voiding your vehicle's warranty...

Heh. On a serious note, I wonder when they'll drop the bombshell that your vehicle insurance will skyrocket if you ever admit to having mounted one of those.

Good lord that's cheap.