clicking in 18 watt

[poppa]

Hi,
just finished building an 18 watt lite IIB. Powers up fine, produces sound -- but there is this constant loud clicking --like a metronome. I would appreciate any help with this issue.
Thanks

[bnwitt]

If you built the tremolo 18 watt it is most likely the tremolo circuit causing the ticking. Try different tubes in the trem tube position. In the orginal layout that is V3. Also, did you use shielded wire on pins 1 and 6 of that tube? That can help eliminate the ticking too. The best layout for that amp is the Richie's improved version. I've attached it to this post.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't read your post well. I see you have built the lite IIB. I'm not familiar with that layout. Can you share it for analysis?

[poppa]

Thanks, however I built the single channel no trem version with master volume.

[bnwitt]

how about posting a picture of the guts of your build?

[poppa]

here is a layout diagram.

[bnwitt]

Well right off the top I don't like that grounding scheme. One input jack is grounded to the chassis with a bolt and solder terminal and the other is grounded to the board's star ground which includes both the preamp and the power section. Is your board wired that way?

[bnwitt]

Look at the Brown note layout where the input jacks, preamp filter cap and preamp board section share one ground while the power cap and power section of the board share another. I would put the HT center tap and the heater supply center tap on a transformer bolt like this layout too but also add the power cap and board power section. Two grounds. One for input and preamp section grounds and the other for power section grounds. Lastly a separate ground for the power cord ground (UL) The Dockery layout shows the heater CT on the power tube cathode for DC elevation. That is not necessary for this amp.

[poppa]

Thanks, I will try your suggestions.

[bnwitt]

here is a drawing showing suggestions. You can leave the heater center tap where it is for now and see how it sounds after the other changes. Make sure you check all of your other wiring according to the layout to make sure something isn't hooked up wrong as well.

[tubeswell]

Hi bnwitt

Thems sure are pretty pictures - what layout drawing software do you use (if you don't mind me asking)?

[bnwitt]

TW,
I didn't make either of the drawings so I can't vouch for the software used. I use Visio 2003 for my drawings and the way I made notations to the Dockery layout was to import the original PDF file of the drawing into Corel Draw and then export it to Visio. Attached is one of my Visio layouts.

[Jag]

Does this happen without a guitar plugged in? If so try taking your digital watch off, if your wearing one, before playing.