18 Watt Post 9

Did some good work on my 18 watt this weekend. Make a starteling discovery. I read the wrong line on the build on order quantitiy...I ordered 2 10nf poly caps instead of 4...I though I needed 1..no that was the 100nf...so I ordered two to have a backup...but I shoulda ordered 6. Go figure.
No matter...I need a handle for the amp anyways for when I build the cab. Will order the caps and the handle today.
Did get the Output tranny wired to the chassis, the Power tranny wired to the chassis, the board done except for the one cap and all basic wireing done to the sockets. Tonight I will put in the standoffs, wire up the pots, set the board on top and begin wireing in the board. Also need to do the input wires to V1...which won't take long. It ought to take about an hour to do all that.
When I get all the above done I will put it down for the evening. Tuesday I will go back over everything with a layout and a highlighter...make sure all the wires are where they should be.
Then all we need to do is WAIT for the two polys to get here...wire them up and start checking voltages. Hopefully it will be ready for the 4th!
As far as cab designs...I want to finger join some pine. Never done that, so it should be an experience...at least a 16 foot pine board is only 18.00...I can mess up a could times and not go broke...need to get me some faceplate material. Don't know what to use yet....Am thinking...they have some copper strips for use with gutters on houses....I could do it out of that and then poly spray it to keep it from turning...have it engraved/stamped and backfill...just a thought...
any ideas? shoot me a line... kirkwhitaker at yahoo.com
k

18 watt Post 8

Back after a few days am I! Talk like Yoda I can!
Wire from ApexJr came in today (600v teflon wire- 5 different colors). Last night after karate I went and finally drilled and turreted the board for my 18 watt. Tonight I plan to populate the board and I have wire, so I might even mount the tranys, hook up the heater wires and mount the standoffs...who knows...it all depends on how froggy I feel at the time. Above all...we are making progress. It looks more and more like an amp every time I fool with it.
May get Steveo to help...He and Becky are coming over and we gonna get our grill on....hope to have some pics tomorrow of something amp looking.
more later....
kirk

Firefly Modifications

One mod I wanted to do to the FireFly (1.5 watt amp I built) was to put a bright switch on it. The board I used had a place for the mod so when I was ordering stuff for my 18 watt build I order a 120pf and 220pf mica cap. I went to radio shack and got a three way (on off on) and wired it up. Seems to have helped some with high end..we shall see...didn't have a lot of time to fool with it yesterday...but i will this week.
Having the swim meet this weekend didn't allow me to work on the 18 watt any..so I plan to start back on that tonight or tomorrow night. Am working on the board now...wire is on the way. Should be ready to see if it will make noise by next weekend.
We shall see.

18 watt post 7

Got the layout drawn tonight, hope it works, will drill and turret the board tomorrow.
Put the grommets on the chassis, along with the tube sockets. I beginning to LOOK like an amp. I even stuck a coupel tubes in it to see how it looked....pretty spiffy.
Hope to have board turreted tomorrow and begin populating it. Still no wire...need to get on that asap. But if I can get the other components on the board by Saturday i will feel like I have accomplished something this week. Next week I should be able to solder in the wires and go through Paul Ruby of Ruby amps startup guide.
Ruby's start up guide is a MUST. It walks you through measuring voltages and such as you add sections to the amp. It basically keeps you from frying the amp. Good stuff...google it.

18 watt Post 6

My kingdom for some tape!! I have a daughter (3) who loves tape. If she finds a roll...it's a goner.
And now my problem..I have all my parts sans wire, to build my 18 watter. I need to lay out the board so I can mark it and drill holes for the turrets. The plan was to tape components to the board as I work across it, mark it and remove them. But, thanks to my daughter I have no tape. Found what was left of the last of it in her room. The tape was wrapped around several barbie dolls and dora dolls...so tomorrow I shall purchase some more take and tomorrow evening lay it out. I did manage to put the IEC power module, pots, and neon power indicator light on the chassis, finger tight. Need some small bolts, nuts and washers to put the tube sockets onto the chassis...will pick those up tomorrow at lunch from Home Depot...I am sure they have Scotch tape too...if not, Wally World is next door. So much for getting a lot done, but I got a little done. Each step is one step closer. Board is the big hurdle, once I get it done it will only be a matter of an hour or so of work. Will order wire tomorrow, ApexJr doesn't have an online purchase system...have to call.
k

Only in Bainbridge I guess.....

Man hits moving train....
http://bainbridgega.com/news/publish/061408train.shtml

18 watt Post 5

Ordering wire today. Have pretty much everything else wrapped up as far as coming. May pick up another amp handle from somewhere. Have a cheap one...but we ain't to cab building yet. Deburred the chassis, got some screws for the standoffs and lock washers to go with them. Did forget to order hole covers for the 6v6 holes. Don't know if I will, I might just play the amp like it is for a while, and then order some 8 pin sockets and put in a differenct tail resistor and cathode bias resistor ( I think that is the two i change out)...and be able to use both el84s and 6v6s in the amp..not at the same time though).
6V6's have a mellower sound, about the same power, less chimey. If i think the amp is too bright...might be a good option. Have heard some 6v6 Lite IIb's on the web, some sound good, some don't. But that is the same with el84 versions too...you sometimes have to tweek them to get them to do what you want by changing values of resistors and caps...remember i am new at this, so i will probably screw it up once or twice.
Enough of that....have a great day.
k

18 watt post 4

Today I go to Home Depot. I plan to get a deburring tool, some screws, lock washers. some other misc. stuff. Since I don't have a board mask or drill plan, I think I will go ahead and order my stuff from Mouser and Antique Audio so I can lay the caps (bigger pieces) on the board to get an idea of how much space to leave.
I need the deburring tool to clean up some of the edges on my chassis...they are pretty sharp and i really have no desire to get a cut.
More later.

18 Watt Post 3

Postman came today and brought me a box of goodies! What came in today you ask?
Board material, turret lugs, spst switches for power and standby, standoffs, washers, ground rings, chicken head knobs (my favorite), rubber grommets, a turret staking tool, an impedance selector switch. switchcraft jacks for input and speakers. Well I felt like a kid in a candy store.
Will work on drawing off a board mask so i can drill and stake the turrets next weekend. Will post pics when i get it done. Once completed I will order my other board componentes and wire.
Watch for board pics soon.
kw

Swimming...just keep swiming

Sorry no post last couple days. We had a swim meet here in Bainbridge at the City Pool. I am still exhausted. What started out nice, turned very sour. Our computer went bonkers and deleted a whole team. So we had to manually add them back. Fun, except that on the computer the people order didn't match the heat sheets and everything had to be manually checked. We got through it, made some mistakes and had to fix them, but we survived. This was the first time I have ever done a meet by myself, I hope the next one goes smoother or I won't have any hair left.

Waiting on board parts for the 18 watter...hopefully the little brown sata will come see me soon.

about some new sites i put links to.

I just placed links for three new sites in my sites I like area.

www.ax84.com is a great how to forum for amp building. There are a lot of knowledgeable folks over there. My first amp was a FireFly designed by one of the guys over there. The P1 or P1ex are both great amps to start building with.

www.18watt.com is a forum for building the 18watt marshall amp and its derivitives. There are also some sister forums for Push/Pull amp and Single ended amps...again a lot of nice folks who know a lot about building amps.

www.gracechurchga.org is the church I attend and the praise band I play guitar and mandolin for. We are in Bainbridge Ga...find yourself in the area, drop in on Sunday at 10:30...

that's about it for now.....
k

18 watter post 2

Here is my 18 watt Lite IIb chassis with the transformers sitting on top of it as they will be later bolted down. Later tonight I plan to go online and order my board, turrets, standoffs and an impedance selector switch from a vendor. I will then begin building my board. Once completed I will order the electronic parts to populate the board with. Thanks to Dockery amps for the prompt service.

Watch for pics of the board as I get it started. My hopes are that documenting all this will possibly help someone else who is thinking about or doing the same thing.

Have a great evening.

k

june is here and i can't believe it

It just doesn't seem right for June to be here already. Could someone please make the year slow down...I don't want to start Christmas shopping yet!
Seriously though, it does seem to fly by. My grandma is turning 93 on the 11th. Thad turn 8 in July. Christie turn 4 in August...that just don't seem right.

Parents are down now keeping the kids while Di does summer school. Dad is building a new swingset for the kids. All wood and very heavy...don't think Thad can flip it.

Still waiting on tranny number two so i can figure out the dimensions of fiberglass board to order for my 18 watter....(see post 1 on the 18 watter). Hope it comes in today and I can place my order for board, turrets and standoffs. We shall see what the postman brings.