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6au6a wiring PSU problems

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  • 6au6a wiring PSU problems

    Hey y’all! I found something I couldn’t pass up at a thrift shop! It’s a 1960s CB radio power Mike powered by a 6au6a.
    After replacing bad caps I decided to modify it for guitar use as a boost pedal. Switched the crystal mic element for an input jack, and converted it to a bridge rectifier from half wave.
    After I powered it back up, it’s definitely got less hum, however it’s very quiet and I can’t hardly tell it’s on when before it was a huge volume boost. B+ dropped around 38v when I switched to a bridge and I’m now seeing 60v DC & AC on each heater tab!
    Swapped tubes, it’s the same, could it be the power transformer?
    The 85v secondary was grounded originally and got full 120 on the other for the half wave.

    Cathode: 1v dc
    Screen Grid: 126v dc
    Plate: 125v dc
    Heater: 60v ac/dc
    Heater: 58v ac/dc
    Suppressor Grid: -.01 dc
    Grid 1: 0v

    I’ve attached a schematic I drew out, yes there’s no fuse I’ll be adding one when it gets here.
    Any ideas as to what could be going on here?

  • #2
    Schematic
    Attached Files

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    • #3
      I think you need to ground one side of the heater supply or use and artificial center tap.

      Re-draw the schematic.
      WARNING! Musical Instrument amplifiers contain lethal voltages and can retain them even when unplugged. Refer service to qualified personnel.
      REMEMBER: Everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school !

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      • #4
        I looked into grounding the heater supply to the cathode and an artificial center tap. Thank you, will implement either of those and redraw the schematic for clarity tomorrow

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        • #5
          After resistance testing the power transformer, ac voltage secondary was leaking to the heaters. Which I discovered after adding an artificial center tap reduced the ac 120v heater voltages to 3v, also reduced b+ by 60v. Power transformer got extremely hot in just a few minutes. Appears the power transformer is bad, which make sense as it’s from the sixties.

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