Powered up the build for the first time... I'm getting troublesome readings

[g1]

Ah, sorry, I misread and thought you said you installed them; where you said you pulled them then the fuse blew.
Do you have a meter with 'peak hold' that you can put in series with the fuse?

[SoulFetish]

Ah, sorry, I misread and thought you said you installed them; where you said you pulled them then the fuse blew.
Do you have a meter with 'peak hold' that you can put in series with the fuse?

I do. I'll take some peak measurements tonight and report back.

[SoulFetish]

In my first pass at trying to take a peak current reading, I set everything up. I pulled the lead going from the fuse to the rectifier and set my Meter to the 10A position for a series connection.; put the meter on MAX to display the peak AC current. Went to flip the power switch ON. Stopped going to flip the power switch ON. Plugged my amp into a load and said to myself "shit, that was close." Flipped the power switch ON and *flash*, I could see the fuses blow again. Looked over at my meter to get a reading and there was no readings displayed. No indication of any current reading at all. So, I though, "I probably shouldn't have placed the series(meter) connection after the circuit break connection.
Down to my last two F-200mA/2AG fuses, I switched it to the other side of the fuse and powered it up again. Still no reading.
The fuses are blowing too fast for my meter's to be able to display any meaningful data.
I really do like the idea of the 2AG (5X15mm) size fuses. More so, because the fuse holders are small and free up valuable real estate within an enclosure or chassis. But , I have to concede their limitations in selection and availability compared to the more common 5X20mm. I decide to make an adjustment, with that in mind, and switch from the 2AG to 5X20mm. I was going to have to find a way to make it work with whatever space was available in there now. Worst case scenario is I would use leaded fuses on this particular build.
But I got lucky!
By some frigging miracle, these 5X20mm fuse holders I''ve been holding on to for a few years fit PERECTLY into a set of terminals I put in at the end of the build for current limiting resistors!





With the fuse holders soldered in securely (and looking kind of cool as well), I could install some appropriately rated fuses and try the startup procedure again. Using the data I posted above, I opted for 315mA fast glass type. I still think this is a conservative rating (albeit, terribly generic without any manufactures data). But, honestly, I chose all components rated to survive a dead short to anything but itself. So, I feel confident that this will protect the transformers, which their job.
After installing the fuses, I powered it on first with the bulb limiter to insure no mistakes had occurred during the modification. Everything looked good, and it was ready to be plugged into the wall. Was this going this going to fix the problem? Or where these going to burn up as soon as the switch was thrown, indicating something else was going on?
Find out next month...

[SoulFetish]

No, I'm just kidding. Everything worked out. All Voltages and biasing indicating the power supply is working exactly as it was designed.