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Just checking over an amp and noticed something odd - the incoming live feed from the mains was connected to the rectifier socket. It turned out to be a spare pin used as a tie point. Not a good idea at all.
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What amp was it? I think I have seen similar in an old Hammond organ power amp or something. Even older radios where everything was jam packed with too much stuff. Might have been tying heaters to unused rectifier pins.When the going gets weird... The weird turn pro! -
I've seen this in older amps (early 60's and before). Gibsons, and Supro/Alamo types of amps. I never liked it either.Originally posted by Mick Bailey View PostIf I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.Comment
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It's a '62 Ampeg Reverberocket. It looks like it may have been done from the factory because the mains switch leads are connected inside the switch with no external solder tags or accessible terminals. Maybe the switches came with a few inches of lead and it was a convenient way to connect one side to the mains lead, while the other went to the fuse holder.
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I believe that's how they were wired from the factory. God forbid someone breaks the tube keyway and inserts the tube with incorrect orientation. We all know that never happens.
"I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22Comment
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I changed the arrangement an used an insulated crimp end-splice instead. Doing nothing and loafing about with my injured hand was driving me nuts. It took a little longer than usual, but a good result.Comment
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Back when true point-to-point wiring was common, it was standard practice to utilize unused tube socket connections as tie points for various circuit connections. However, I do agree that the specific case mentioned in this thread of using an available rectifier tube socket point for a line power connection is a bad idea.Originally posted by DrGonz78 View Post
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In the gear where you see this sort of thing it usually has AC wiring running to other locations. This goes for putting switches before a transformer. I recently bought an old Vox Jaguar organ that has a 220 to 110 vac autotransformer. Problem is it is in front of the transformer and it is always ON when plugged in. I had to build a plug for it anyway so I installed a primary power switch. Probably going to add a light on it. If you leave the step down transformer on for long enough it will overheat. The on/off switch is way down into the body of the keyboard housing and has long runs of AC wiring. I might figure out a way to run the wiring to the switch on the keyboard that cuts off the step down transformer when turned off. But these long runs of AC wires in any audio electronics equipment represent problems in general.Originally posted by Tom Phillips View PostWhen the going gets weird... The weird turn pro!Comment
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I've sometimes encountered utilising spare pins as a convenient tie point for grid stoppers on octal power tube sockets.Comment
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I've seen it in old projectors & other gear I refit. I appreciate the resourcefulness of the limited space but it all gets wired a bit more properly...
Most of this stuff I get is from the 50s; I'm guessing standards were more lax if not non-existent at the time.
Jusrin"Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
"Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
"All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -Comment
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Well Justin,
Grounded outlets weren't even a standard back then. Most homes just had neutral and hot, and the outlets weren't even polarized.
it was just real common of your cheap record player buzzed, you just flipped the non polarized plug around in the outlet, and then the so called 'Death Cap' would be connected from the neutral to the chassis.
insane stuff, really.Comment
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