Mission 5E3 Kit...

[teleamp]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

Coming from the two 6v6 sockets... Inside the cab... YIKES!

Am looking at the connections there again. Am re-doing a couple, maybe I had a short (??)

Can you post a close up pic of the power tube wiring?

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by teleamp

Can you post a close up pic of the power tube wiring?

+1

Post up close shots of the inputs/pots, the preamp side, the 6V6 side, and the PT too.

The more we can see the better.

[BritishBluesBoy]

OK... So, here's the deal. The more I mess with this thing the more I'm getting confused and the less likely it is I'm going to be able to make this work. I'm also making one hell of a mess of the wiring and components... I really appreciate all you guys rooting for me and giving your advice but I am going to quit now. I never really intended on building any more after this one... I only wanted a nice little Deluxe - if I'm not careful I'm gonna wreck the whole thing. So, I am going to take this to the shop... That's it OK... I don't want to ruin this thing - which I'm certain I will if I carry on like this...

Let this be a lesson to those who want to do this... Make sure you do a LOT of homework before you start. I quite obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into...

Sorry.

[JohnnyCrash]

Give it a day or two, then go back to it.

I've had to fully rebuild amps I've ruined. Trust me, give it some time and we'll come back to it. I can walk you through each solder if I have to.

It seems more intimidating than it really is... don't give up just yet.

[koen]

Not much progress for me tonight, taking it slowly. I got most of the V3, V4 and V5 sockets wiring done and some of the transformer wiring. Looks a lot cleaner now

Next is the wiring of the V1 and V2 sockets, then I can start assembling everything together, I hope by the end of the week I have a working amp.

Once I'm done, I will post some progress pics.

[sjhusting]

whatever you do don't plug it in again till it's been looked at by your tech, or by us. With a little luck you didn't smoke anything important (important = expensive)

Was there a little 'pop' before the smoke came out?

steven

[koen]

I still need to add some wires to the sockets for V4 and V5, but it's getting crowded in there. Do you guys recommend to unscrew the sockets and let them hang on the outside of the chassis to finish it? Or is there another way?

Also, where are the two short pieces of black and white clothwire used, I didn't see them on the drawing?

[hou35male]

Man, I love this thread. I'm gonna order one of these kits when I hear from the government. Problem is, I'm gonna be one of the last ones to get the stimulus check, being 93. I can't wait!!!

RJ

[thepassivevoice]

[quote=BritishBluesBoy;1282208
Let this be a lesson to those who want to do this... Make sure you do a LOT of homework before you start. I quite obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into...[/QUOTE]

I can sympathize. I had a very similar experience with my first build, a 5F1 Champ that's a simpler circuit than your 5e3. I ended up putting the thing in a closet for a couple of months while I read a couple of books and, most importantly, every build thread posted on this forum during that time.

When I went back to the amp I discovered the problem in about 10 minutes. I've built 2 other, much more complicated amps since then and both went smoother than that Champ.

But if you just want to play the Deluxe now and aren't interested in building or servicing more amps, the shop is probably the best option.

[teleamp]

Originally Posted by koen

I still need to add some wires to the sockets for V4 and V5, but it's getting crowded in there. Do you guys recommend to unscrew the sockets and let them hang on the outside of the chassis to finish it? Or is there another way?

Also, where are the two short pieces of black and white clothwire used, I didn't see them on the drawing?

It can get a little cramped soldering the the sockets, but if you get the wires bent right, they will stay in place for soldering. I try to solder to the sockets (power and rectifier) closest to the back of the chassis, IIRC, pins 5 & 6 then 3 & 7 the 2 and 8. You can solder the resistors to the power tube sockets before you install them to make that a little easier.

The black and white wires are for making you speaker wire, I use the white for the tip (+) and the black for the negative side.

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by koen

I still need to add some wires to the sockets for V4 and V5, but it's getting crowded in there. Do you guys recommend to unscrew the sockets and let them hang on the outside of the chassis to finish it? Or is there another way?

Do NOT take out the sockets to wire them.

This is why heaters are done before any other socket wiring - it's cramped. Are you using stranded wire, or solid core wire?

If solid, make a little hook (overbending will break the wire though). If stranded, twist and pre-tin the end, then make a slight hook. Keep the wires tightly twisted and away, up against the chassis corner. The twists and cutting to close lengths will help the wires stay more stiffly in place. The little hooks will help too.

For 12A*7 sockets, I generally strip a little extra on one wire and thread it through pin 5 and then into pin 4, then I run a new wire from pin 4 to the next socket. Pre-tinning the ends of the wire help.

Taking out the sockets won't make for the cleanest, tightly twisted, routed away heater wiring.

[koen]

Yeah, I see now what I did wrong. I should have connected all wires before soldering. Some lugs take three or four wires, and if there's already a connection, it becomes hard to add a wire, at least in my hands.

Time to get the desoldering pump...

[BritishBluesBoy]

Originally Posted by koen

Yeah, I see now what I did wrong. I should have connected all wires before soldering. Some lugs take three or four wires, and if there's already a connection, it becomes hard to add a wire, at least in my hands.

Time to get the desoldering pump...

Hey man... That's exactly what I did and got myself into all sorts of trouble...

My amp is sitting here staring at me... Hmmm.... Like Johnny suggested, I'm leaving it alone for a while. I may try again in a little while. Haven't quite decided yet. We'll see. Will probably have to order some new parts as I managed to barbecue some of the innards... Impatience and lack of proper planning I think was the cause... Oh well... Chalk it up to experience and move on I guess...

I'm keeping an eye on your posts though... I REALLY want yours to fire up properly first time!!

Cool.

[biker joe]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

Hey man... That's exactly what I did and got myself into all sorts of trouble...

My amp is sitting here staring at me... Hmmm.... Like Johnny suggested, I'm leaving it alone for a while. I may try again in a little while. Haven't quite decided yet. We'll see. Will probably have to order some new parts as I managed to barbecue some of the innards... Impatience and lack of proper planning I think was the cause... Oh well... Chalk it up to experience and move on I guess...

I'm keeping an eye on your posts though... I REALLY want yours to fire up properly first time!!

Cool.

I'm glad you are still in the game. I'm rooting for the both of you. Great thread. I've been watching and will be following soon with a build of my own one of these days.

[koen]

Final update for today, I soldered all the wires to the board, and did some more work on the sockets. But as mentioned above, I may have to redo the sockets.

I'm stopping for tonight, and won't be able to work on it until Thursday.

In the meantime, tips on getting those sockets soldered properly are still more than welcome

[furrfurrfurr]

great thread. way to keep the faith BBB.

can't wait to hear about the final, and successful, product.

[Ricky D.]

BBB- Don't forget, Bruce will fix your kit for $75 labor.

Call Bruce or Randy when you are ready to dig in again. They'll walk you through some troubleshooting stuff.

[Scott S]

Originally Posted by hou35male

Man, I love this thread. I'm gonna order one of these kits when I hear from the government. Problem is, I'm gonna be one of the last ones to get the stimulus check, being 93. I can't wait!!!

RJ

Weird -- so you're waiting until you actually get the check before you spend it? What kind of American are you??

[koen]

Another link with some build pictures: http://www.jeangodbout.com/5E3/5e3-en.html.

This person really did a neat job...

[sjhusting]

Right, and Bruce hangs out here ->

http://music-electronics-forum.com/

and is very helpful


steven

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by biker joe

I'm glad you are still in the game. I'm rooting for the both of you. Great thread. I've been watching and will be following soon with a build of my own one of these days.

+1

This isn't as disasterous as you think/feel BBB.

Wait it out. Let the weather cool down too... I hate doing anything in a heat wave.

Read my long post, look at the schematic, read a basic electronics book. Soon you'll start to see through the haze and start understanding how things work.

It'll work out... maybe a few extra parts, but it'll work out.

[koen]

So one thing that occured to me this morning, is that maybe I should turn the sockets 180 degrees to make some lugs more accessible to solder them.

What side do you guys have lug #1?

[teleamp]

Originally Posted by koen

So one thing that occured to me this morning, is that maybe I should turn the sockets 180 degrees to make some lugs more accessible to solder them.

What side do you guys have lug #1?

If you look closely at the layout drawing, the rectifier and power tube sockets has pin 1 closest to you, on th preamp/pi sockets has pins 4 & 5 closest to you. This is why I suggest you start at the back and work you way around from both sides. The wire length measurements that Bruce has written on the layout drawing work great.

[koen]

I looked again at some of the pics of the two 6V6 sockets (from the link supplied by Bruce, can't post that here), and I now see that I indeed need to turn the sockets 180 degrees

So I will cut all the wires, remove the sockets, clean the lugs and try again after reading carefully all the suggestions made here

[TelZilla]

I just found this thread and wanted to chime in with encouragement. I've built two amps now and will definitely be building more.

Hang in there. It can be totally frustrating. OPn both of my builds, I made stupid mistakes that I only figured out after a while.

I can't see pics from the PC I'm posting on (firewall), but definitely post closeup pics of your wiring. The guys on this thread WILL help you figure it out.

I vote for not going to the shop. But I would never tell you what to do.

Hang in- I'm sure you're close...