Dusty Chalk Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Damn... I just caught on to this thread. Sigh. My repair guy thinks its largely out of scope to work on my amp and doesn't really agree with the design philosophy and so would rather just build a new amp not repair this one. So your repair guy is Kevin Gilmore?
kevin gilmore Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 So your repair guy is Kevin Gilmore? No chance He can't afford me... Neil's amp rebuilt right is probably 30 to 40 hours of labor. Plus a bunch of parts. I don't even have the time to build my new stuff
n_maher Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 I would have to agree that finding someone willing to work on any of these amps is going to be a difficult road. It's not just the complexity of the repairs (even on the "simpler" models) it's the liability associated with doing so that may have even good-hearted folks heading for the hills.
Dusty Chalk Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 No chance He can't afford me...No, that was exactly my point, he'd rather not work on that amp, he'd rather design him a new one.
kevin gilmore Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Lots of people think they can design electrostatic amps. Lots of people have failed too. My guess is that there is a new amp destined for failure soon. The original circuit works just fine if built correctly.
spritzer Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 For neil's amp, the 4 pots on the front panel HAVE TO CHANGE. Plus they have to be wired differently. Schematics of the modifications have indeed been tested and work fine. But spritzer needs to test his way on his amp. Good news, Mouser treated me to some free Fedex International Priority so I should have the parts soon.
Icarium Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Out of college 34 years ago i went to work for zenith radio and learned lots from the true tube masters that worked there. Most of which were at least 30 years older than i was at the time. Damn when you say something like that I picture something out of an old kung fu flick where there's like some badass kung fu master who has retired into seclusion where he continues to train and refine his chi in some hermit cave somewhere. I want to meet one of those dudes. Frankly I thought you were one of those guys, but apparently there's a level or two up? Well I guess knowledge is broader in many ways.
neilvg Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 From what I understand, aside from that useless "bias pot"/voltmeter crap on my amps front panel, fixing the inside to 'generally work' can be done by my tech. The issue with the power supply is more problematic as it is essentially built to fail ("go boom" as Kevin likes to repeat to all of us). If I can get Justin or someone to build me a Blue Hawaii supply that is compatible, and inside my current casing (don't worry we'll slash off the "SP ES-2" and write "Justin Rules" or something like that , I would have a working amp again. An alternative solution is getting someone to build, from scratch, Kevin's "fix", but into my casing. Hmmm... maybe Kevin could do that? Neil
neilvg Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Good news, Mouser treated me to some free Fedex International Priority so I should have the parts soon. If this all works out I'm going to fly you out to my place so you can stay with me for a few days, get a vacation out of it.... oh, and fix my amp :beerchug: Trust me, I live in a vacation spot for sure. Neil
kevin gilmore Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) I want to meet one of those dudes. Frankly I thought you were one of those guys, but apparently there's a level or two up? Well I guess knowledge is broader in many ways. Hey at the time i was one of those wippersnappers that did (god forbid) "sand" The art performed by those tube wizards was amazing. Especially the stuff that zenith did for the military. There were all these rules that everyone paid attention to back then, like the fact that all passive components had to be secured at both ends. All wiring had to be tied together every inch with a loop and continue... None of mikhail's air mounting of components. Or mounting a component at one end and soldering unsecured wire to the other. That kind of crap would never have been tolerated. Go and look inside any 50 year old tektronix tube scope and see how the stuff was built to last forever. Most people don't know this, but image intensifiers was a zenith invention. The BHSE supply will supply +400, -400, one of the 2 filament supplies and the bias supply. And it will certainly fit in that box. To finish the thing correctly you need one more filament supply (a transformer is just fine) and a small C- supply, plus new umbilical cables and connectors. Then in the amp box you gotta get brutal. Unsolder every fucking piece of wire. Get the board out there. Take a dremel tool and cut away circuit lands to seperate the two filament sections. Then modify to take the 4 new output tube bias pots. Then replace the 50k pots with 5k pots and hide those inside somewhere... Use 10 turn pots and hopefully they will fit in place of the old ones on the front panel (pretty sure they will fit if they are at least .9 inch center to center). Use really cool locking 10 turn turns counting dials. And when you get done it will work forever. But an all tube power supply would be way cool, and a bunch more work. And i forgot the best part. Take the fucking orange drop cap out from being in series with the audio note cap that is already rated for voltage. Edited July 1, 2009 by kevin gilmore
Icarium Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Yeah wtf that is just weird with the audio note caps.
neilvg Posted July 1, 2009 Report Posted July 1, 2009 Hmm... sounds like a walk in the park. A park in HELL. I have no idea how to do this. But... for someone who does and has the proper 30-40hrs to burn, it seems like this could work. When my tech saw the orange drops he laughed, shook his head, and refused to comment further less he sully his perfectly cordial and mild-mannered English nature. Neil
Voltron Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Posted July 18, 2009 THIS JUST IN! ironbut reports that he has resurrected Satan's Demonic Sauce! Steve has had the amp for a couple weeks and after reading all of the comments in this thread and testing parts and replacing some parts and doing some kind of deal with the devil, the amp is back to form as of this evening. I am thrilled and hopeful that we can keep it that way for awhile. Thanks so much for the help of KG and the rest of those who posted here. I may yet have a new PS built at some point along the lines Kevin proposed but for now I will just cross my fingers and listen to it. Most thanks go to Steve, of course, and I really owe him for his efforts (in more ways than one!) Maybe there is hope for some of the others out there struggling... In honor of the passing of the great Walter Cronkite, I will borrow his sign-off: And that's the way it is.
blubliss Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 That is just awesome news Al. Any word on how Neil is faring?
Voltron Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Posted July 18, 2009 !! back at ya Reks! Hey, weren't you going to send me some home brew or something like that? No word on Neil except that the tech was pretty much unwilling to work on the PS. Not sure how the issues compare, but his sounds even worse...
Iron_Dreamer Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Holy cow! Great deal Al! And great work Steve and KG!
riceboy Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Holy cow! Great deal Al! And great work Steve and KG! X2. This is just wonderful news Al. It sure brought a big smile to my face .
Grahame Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Congrats Al; Kudos to the community. And just in time for the NorCal Meet
jp11801 Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Al awesome news LMK if I can assist in ferrying it up to you
Voltron Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Posted July 18, 2009 Thanks everyone. I don't think I will be taking this one to meets anytime soon. Thanks for the offer JP, and we can chat about how to retrieve it eventually. For now, Steve is burning in the new parts and making sure it stays functional. Hopefully he'll listen along the way too.
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