B+ current path

[trem]

I have a couple. questions about the B+ current.
.First let me make sure i understand its path of travel.

In the schem below, the center tap is the source of current.
It charges all those Elytics and also flows from cathode to plate in the tubes and then back through the rectifier diodes and then to the transformer.
As the polarity flips on the secondary the current will hit one series of diodes and then the other.

Do i have that right.?
Thank You

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/23...97210715640943

[Helmholtz]

In terms of negative (i.e. physically correct electron-) current your description looks right.
But in electronics the convention is to use positive current.
This means that current direction is reversed.

[trem]

In terms of negative (i.e. physically correct electron-) current your description looks right.
But in electronics the convention is to use positive current.
This means that current direction is reversed.

Well, that is my question.
We know, especially in tubes and it is described all the rime, that the Cat heats up and electrons are "boiled" off the Cat and are attracted to the positive plate.
We know the current is going that direction.
According to Ohms Law... i think it is OL... a voltage drop is dictated by the direction of the current.
Since the current is leaving the plate and then through the plate resistor and back to the transformer................ how can there be a voltage drop On The Plate Side of the plate resistor.?

I must be lacking some basic understanding of something somewhere

[Helmholtz]

Yes, the negatively charged electrons are attracted by the positive potential of the plate.
As the B+ supply is even more positive than the plate, a (negative) current flows upwards through the plate resistor causing a voltage drop.
This voltage drop is more negative (or less positive) at the plate and more positive at the supply end of the plate resistor.

[trem]

Yes, the negatively charged electrons are attracted by the positive potential of the plate.
As the B+ supply is even more positive than the plate, a (negative) current flows upwards through the plate resistor causing a voltage drop.
This voltage drop is more negative (or less positive) at the plate and more positive at the supply end of the plate resistor.

Thank You.

I am An Idiot
We are measuring from ground to the plate, and ground to B+ rail, not across the plate resistor.

However, in my OWN Defense, i am just self taught in all this stuff. I have NO background in electronics. I was in the Painters Union in San Francisco.
KVL was not a big part of our training.

That is about as good an excuse as i can come up with

[Chuck H]

I was in the Painters Union in San Francisco.

Oh you poor man. I was a painter in the bay area for a long time. I've known a few guys that worked in S.F. The stories are full of accounts about difficult access/ladder sets and having to reinvent the job every day.

And FWIW I also assumed current to be as you described in post one. So I learned something too in this thread. Maybe it's a painter thing? I guess that's just how we roll

[Helmholtz]

And FWIW I also assumed current to be as you described in post one.

As said, nothing wrong with the description of the current path in post one.

[Chuck H]

I see now. I was confused by your reference to convention in post two. I thought I had it flipped. I didn't.

[Helmholtz]

The physically correct negative correct cannot be distinguished from a positive current of same magnitude running in opposite direction - on a macroscopic scale as in electrical circuits. Inside tubes and semiconductors things are different..
Thinking of a positive current flowing from a more positive potential to a less positive potential just seems much more intuitive.

[g1]

As far as the terminology, from positive to negative is called 'conventional current flow' while from minus to plus is called 'electron flow'. Just 2 ways of looking at things.
Originally, all the theory assumed conventional, then it was discovered that the actual electron flow moved in the opposite direction. Nothing really changed aside from the conceptualization.
To further complicate things, I think it's just the charge that is moving anyway.

[Helmholtz]

To further complicate things, I think it's just the charge that is moving anyway.

Yes, but the charge moving in wires is always electrons, so negative.
Or was this a pun, I didn't get?

[g1]

Yes, but the charge moving in wires is always electrons, so negative.
Or was this a pun, I didn't get?

No pun. I was finding some conflicting statements about the actual movement of electrons, but I will gladly accept your statement.

[Chuck H]

Well I was schooled a long time ago here by the likes of R.G., Steve Conner and Enzo with respect to grounding schemes and most of this was covered then. I have to admit that with my more mechanical aptitude that sometimes electronics have left me with only a rote knowledge of things like this. Fortunately understanding "less positive" isn't complicated. It still means negative relative to... As it were.