Bad problem: smoke from heaters in a just refurbished amp

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

A friend of mine brought me a mid-60s Davoli Studio 60 amp (Italian brand).
The tube compliment is:
two EZ81, two ECC83, one 6AV6, one ECC83, two EL34.
There are two separate chassis (supply/power and preamp) connected through a 9-pin connector.
The schematics are in attachment.
The power section was total crap: rotten wires, blown caps, rust everywhere...
I took a layout drawing (as best as I could), trashed everything (except for trannies and sockets), cleaned the rust from the chassis and rebuilt it totally.
Re: trannies: I had to cut the old OT wires almost flush with the outer paper and attached new wires to the leads coming out of the coils.

Now, when I turn the amp on (without tubes), smoke comes from the rectifiers area, apparently from the twisted pair of heater wires between the two EZ81's (see photo attached). Those heaters are hot.
What should I check?
Is there maybe a component drawing too much current? Or a wrong connection?
Will a bulb limiter help in the troubleshooting process?

Any help is greatly appreciated, as usual...

--Carlo

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

I have put a current limiter (a plain 100W light bulb) between the AC wall socket and the amp (without tubes): the light stays strong and there is no smoke.
Does it mean that there is a short somewhere?

[Konny]

Hi there.

Yes! If the light turns bright, there is something wrong in the circuitry.

Swen

[Jag]

If it's doing that with the tubes out (especially if the rectifiers are out) I'd be betting on a short in the PT. Since you had to splice new wires, you might be lucky enough to have created the short yourself with the spliced wires. Check all spliced wires for any shorts, hopefully you'll find it there.

[slidincharlie (Carlo P)]

Fixed!

It was a wiring error with the heater wires between the two rectifier tubes.
Thanks for all the advice.