41 minutes ago, chinsettawong said:

I need a little help with my GG.  I just can't adjust the offset of both channels below 50V for some reasons.  The balance adjusts to zero just fine though.

My PS is measured at 465V.  The bias is set at 0.8V or 16mA.

lower the tail resistor by some ~50ohms and re-adjust

14 minutes ago, sorenb said:

lower the tail resistor by some ~50ohms and re-adjust

Agree if the offset is measuring positive voltage. Chinsettawong might consider engaging the opto-servo.

If the offset is measuring negative (like my GG when running at +/-400 @ 15mA per tube), I went to a 200ohm tail resistor and was able  to adjust to ~0V. 

 

Thank you so much. I’ll try changing the tail resistors tonight.

 

22 hours ago, sorenb said:

lower the tail resistor by some ~50ohms and re-adjust

Are these the two resistors that I should replace?

No, I think it’s the 120R resistor below, right of the  50K resistor and  left  of the 12V zener. Need to confirm with the schematic - it’s the resistor between the offset trim pot and B- in series.

Edited May 8, 20188 yr by mwl168

Yup, the 120R resistor.  Measure from B- to the other side of the pot and then you'll know if you need a larger or smaller value. 

It sings!  Thanks for all your advices.  For some reasons, the silkscreen on my PCB asks for 250 ohm for tail resistors.  I replace it with 120 ohm and now everything can be adjusted correctly.   

Now I need to work on the top cover.  The amp sounds awesome.  

 

Does your PCB also have 18V zener instead of the 12V zener? There appears to be different versions of GG boards with different value parts marked. I don’t recall the differences and their reasons.

2 hours ago, mwl168 said:

Does your PCB also have 18V zener instead of the 12V zener? There appears to be different versions of GG boards with different value parts marked. I don’t recall the differences and their reasons.

The zener provides over voltage protection for the 4N25 optocoupler when adjusting the offset. A 12V zener is used on the Carbon and works there OK. That value was carried over on the GG PCB, but was found close to being too low when setting the offset in that circuit. So Kevin advised using 18V as a replacement to give a little more headroom. 

I need a little help here.  When the amp is running,  my B+ voltage keeps on swinging between 370-410V while B- is stable at 465V.  Is my B+ supply running out of juice?   What can I do to fix?

I'm using this PS board.

try removing the 2n3904 current limit transistor if the voltage is right without any load

The voltage was about 465V without load.  Took out the 2n3904 and connected the amp board.  Fired the amp up and the B+ became around -12V.    Switched it off and the voltage gradually came up to around 45V then went down to 0.

 

 

Can I try to change some R to increase the current limit a bit more instead of taking the 2n3904 out?

3 hours ago, chinsettawong said:

The voltage was about 465V without load.  Took out the 2n3904 and connected the amp board.  Fired the amp up and the B+ became around -12V.    Switched it off and the voltage gradually came up to around 45V then went down to 0.

Can I try to change some R to increase the current limit a bit more instead of taking the 2n3904 out?

I had this issue with my Blue Hawaii.  It was drawing more power than the GRHV was set to output.  As I recall, I changed the 5R1 resistor (the large 3W one) to 2R5 or thereabouts and that solved the issue.  I just soldered another 5R1 on top of the existing one and it worked fine.   The 5R1 sets the amount of current that the PSU will supply.  

Edited May 22, 20188 yr by Blueman2

3 hours ago, chinsettawong said:

The voltage was about 465V without load.  Took out the 2n3904 and connected the amp board.  Fired the amp up and the B+ became around -12V.    Switched it off and the voltage gradually came up to around 45V then went down to 0.

 

 

Can I try to change some R to increase the current limit a bit more instead of taking the 2n3904 out?

you might check the current sources:

 

Thank you so much for all your advices.  I've finally fixed the problem.  The C2M1000170 and 10M90S on my board have gone bad for some reasons.  I replaced C2M1000170 with a SCT3080KLGC11 from a local store, and luckily it worked. 

I parallel the 5R with one more 5R, and now the power supply is working perfectly.  The amp has been running for at least 2 hours with no problem.

I couldn't have fixed it without your help, Kevin, Blueman2, and Soren.  Thanks again.  

a new baby GG is born! a fantastic build by Soren, thank you!! 

 

Some quartet tubes wanted to say "Hello! We are here."

Neotech UP-OCC wires in teflon tubes, power delay board.

Simply plugged power and tested both boards that they are working. Not heard sound yet.

Edited January 8, 20197 yr by bbest

Nice work!  Very small amp case, which is pretty neat.  What holds the amp boards in place?  They seem to be just attached by the silicon right now.  

Nice work indeed. I like the two box approach. 

The transformers – are they DIY made?

19 hours ago, Blueman2 said:

Nice work!  Very small amp case, which is pretty neat.  What holds the amp boards in place?  They seem to be just attached by the silicon right now.   

Thanks! Right now boards holds by transistors only.

 

17 hours ago, JoaMat said:

Nice work indeed. I like the two box approach. 

The transformers – are they DIY made?

factory plus cosmetic DIY.

Edited January 9, 20197 yr by bbest

Hello again!

I'm wanted to set transformers output in my DAC.

Could someone say what value of "Input sensitivity (Vrms)" for this amplifier and for the Carbon?

I'd like to build a KGGG, but am having trouble finding a schematic.  Have looked in the zipped repositories, but perhaps I don't know what it's called there.

Also, would someone be willing to share a recent BOM for the amp boards? Don't need PS ones.

Thanks!

Another KGGG alive. I separated the GR power supply and the GG amp into two chassis, making it easy to reuse the GR power supply for the next project.

The four holes with the rubber blocker on top of the amp are for balance and offset adjustment.

I made a side mount board for the 10M90S instead of using the L bracket. The side mount board is attached if someone is interested in it.

It is a 450V version, The tail resistor near the offset pot is 200ohms to track the offset voltages down to 0. To make the servo work, offset voltages must be higher than 15v. The power supply comes with a soft starter of about 50s. I don`t want to talk more about the sound since many comments were mentioned. Pretty decent with my Omega and 009.

Thank Kevin Gilmore for bringing the project to the table.

 

SideMountV3.zip

Okay, two months since my last post -time to dive deeper into the enclosure.

I spent the past two weeks designing, ordering materials, and milling all the necessary holes. After breaking two milling bits in the process, here’s the result!

The upper panel features over 30 screw holes for the amp boards and power supply. The transformer is planned to be mounted in the center using an M8 bolt, along with an isolated cover. Most of the screw holes are chamfered (using a chamfer milling bit). The square holes are designed for the transformer wires to pass through. The tapping work was manually done.

 

Here’s the hole for the volume pot. The pot can be installed upside down to provide more clearance. I used an end milling bit, which resulted in this textured finish.

The side panel will house the 10M90S without heatsinks. The plan is to transfer the heat directly to the enclosure. The enclosure dimensions are 430 x 80 x 330mm with an 8mm thickness.

Two XLR input holes.

Hole for the EMI AC inlet socket.

I’ve realized that I might need a more professional CNC milling machine, but my garage just doesn’t have the space for such a large machine. Milling is really fun and incredibly satisfying.😆  How about going even further next, let`s say a fully CNC block enclosure (I am planning it right now).

Very nice! Is that aluminum? I wish I had a CNC. What machine do you have?