DRBILL

"That's easy: A well-recorded Hammond B3 organ." Hmm. That would be a synthesis of a synthesis. DRBILL

PIPE ORGANS! With plenty of 32's. DRBILL

Several years ago our cat got locked up in the music room over night. It works every time. If you don't have a cat, get one. DRBILL

Brother Presbyter, I lit the red candle that I was saving. PAX MAX. BILL+

Anytime Fort Worth can help out Dallas, it is time well spent! DR BILL Cow Town

I don't know what a BAT amplifier is. Tube or SS? If it is solid state, I think I know what is wrong, and it is the very thing that prompted the introduction of fuses into the Klipshorn. A bad power transistor is feeding DC to the speaker. The test would be to measure for DC across the output terminals of the amplifier while it is in idle. And yes, DON'T hook up the speaker until the trouble is located. "Many a fuse has been protected by the failure of a voice coil!" That's a quote from PWK himself. DRBILL

Many thanks to Craig. There is a good man for you. DRBILL

"one small difference might be disasterous" JJK, Sadly, there is very little magic in any of this. It might be even more fun if there were! There is this story about a wizard who offered to teach a king how to turn horse droppings into gold. "Just point at it and say 'blizqup'. But whatever you do, don't think of bananas or you will turn to stone." DRBILL

Anybody know where I can get an output transformer for a Fisher KX200? New, used, or substitution? The numbers on the bell are: T-908-116-1 9264498 Any suggestions appreciated. DRBILL

Have you tried that CD on another system? On several occasions I have got all worked up over a "problem" only to discover that the flaw was actually something that had been recorded. Once, I had a K-horn in all its pieces for the second time in as many days when I decided to go listen to the disk on my wife's car system. Oops! There it was. This is the reason I get annoyed at some of our brothers who are always tweaking with their Klipsch gear. They hear something that sounds "suspicious". It must be time to recap the crossovers! The truth is that most CDs are grossly over-mixed which bleeds much of the life from the sound. Others are just sloppy. In your case, maybe it was the musician's woofer and not yours! I hope I'm right. It'll save you a lot of time and money. DRBILL

"Boy those neon circuit testers are hard to find." Got my last one at ACE HARDWARE. About $2. DRBILL

"Then they decided to install a 3rd wire which is bare copper which is the ground. This was added for when lightening hit the power line, or your house. " Not quite right. The "earth" ground was added as a safety measure. In case the "hot" side of the AC somehow shorted to the frame of the appliance you were using, you couldn't get electrocuted in case your body was at ground potential when you touched it. Instead, the breaker would open. They have gone a step further with "ground fault" recepticles and breakers that detect even small amounts of leakage (like condensation inside a hair drier in a moist, hot bathroom). Hope this helps. There is nothing that will protect your gear from a lightening strike except plugs laying on the floor! DRBILL

"Can someone tell me in layman's terms what is at risk having an older unit with a 2-prong plug plugged in "backwards" ?" There is no danger, nor can you harm your equipment. There is no actual "connection" to the chassis of either side of the power cord. There is a certain amount of AC leakage via center taps of secondary windings, hum balance controls, capacitors, etc. You minimise hum from ground loops when the plug is insterted correctly. And obviously, only when all of you gear has the plugs in the same "right" direction. Earlier in this thread I mentioned the neon tester proceedure of holding one lead between your fingers and touching the other lead to the chassis. While not foolproof, it will work most of the time. DRBILL

About the ribbed/smooth leads on power cords: The ribbed side goes to the wide plug prong. Now you know that and I know that. But did the guy who installed the power cord know that?! Always stay on your toes when messing with AC. As an interesting footnote, when I was working a bench while in high school ('50's) most of the table radios and many of the cheaper TVs that came into the shop were "AC-DC". One side of the power cord went to the chassis, and the tube heaters were in series like old fashioned Christmas light strings. That's where I learned the "neon tester trick". The plugs weren't polarized and the device would work either way. But we always tested because you didn't want a "hot" chassis on the bench. DRBILL

"Doesn't have to be neon." Yes it does. Incandescent lamp wont do it. DRBILL

I may be a doctor, but it ain't the kind that does you no good! You know what BS is. MS is "More of the Same". PhD is Piled High and Deep! I have no illusions any more. DRBILL

I have a B&K 700 and I do my own work. It isn't a difficult job. I'm shure your HICKOK would be a similar undertaking. Do you have the manuals that came with it? If not, get some! Mine required an accurate volt meter and an assortment of easily assembled resistors. An hour later, it was in specs. DRBILL

Thebes: "How about my question about properly aligning the plug though? Any advice?" Nobody wants to touch this because we don't want to be responsible for an electrocution! Seriously, a lot of old gear had non-polarized power plugs. And yes, it CAN matter which way they are inserted in the recepticle. It is a matter of hum reduction and "ground loops" rather than safety. (I wont even get into AC-DC equipment.) Here is a safe and fool-proof way of determining which way the plug should go. You will need to test each piece of equipment seperately. Nothing must be attached to the device (except speakers, in the case of amplifiers). Plug it in. Turn it on. With a neon circuit tester, hold one test tip between your fingers and touch the other tip to the chassis of the device. If it glows faintly, turn the plug over. There should be no glow. That is the proper plug position. Mark the plug for future reference. Repeat for all devices. If you get a faint glow in both positions or no glow in both positions, you will have to resort to trial and error, listening for a faint hum when all the equipment is connected in its usual configuration. I hope this helps. Did you know that many "zip cords" (power cords) are marked? Feel for a ridge on one lead and a smooth surface on the other. DRBILL

I have a DYNACO FM-5 that I use as a loaner. It is a very decent tuner that does everything that it should, but without bells and whistles. Look on e-Bay. I got mine for nothing. I don't remember what, but the shipping was more! Regards, DRBILL

"Sometime when you get a chance monitor the B+ with a 5U4 on start up you will see it comes right to full voltage near instantly." I had never even thought about that as a possibility. I assume you are looking at it post filters. I don't presently own anything that uses 5U4s but the next time I have something on the bench, I'll look at that. Interesting observation. Thanks. This sort of exchange ought to be what this area of the forum does best. Regards, DRBILL

THEBES, In early electronics, all power was obtained from batteries. The modern power supply consisting of AC input to a transformer, the output of which is rectified, filtered, and sometimes regulated to produce DC, was a future event. The primitive electronics circuits required three battery supplies. "A" was typically 2- 6 or so VDC and went to the filaments. "B" was 45 to 90 VDC and provided plate voltage that did the heavy lifting. "C" was a voltage to apply a negative charge to bias the grids and regulate the tubes. In modern circuits, these are all supplied by the transformer driven power supply. The high voltage to the plates is positive (+) and the chassis is negative (-). Therefore we refer to the high voltage supply as B+. Most (but not all) filament supply "A" is AC. We don't call the bias "C" anymore, but if we did it would be called "C-" in relationship to the chassis (ground). In case you are wondering, I didn't have to look this up. I used to play with these things as a kid! I had a Zenith "portable" radio that had a A-B-C battery that was the size of a collegiate dictionary and weighed about eight pounds! No hum! I hope this helps. Frankly, terms like "B+" are anachronistic. Regards, DRBILL

Now, if you really want to get into some interesting stuff, research the role of the getters in the manufacture of tubes. I, personally, would have called them "scavengers". They also have a later use. Another area for interesting reading would be the "doping" of cathodes with rare earth elements to promote emissions. Or, cathode "stripping" which occurs when solid state power supplies apply B+ voltages to tubes before the heaters heat up. (Bad, bad, bad!) Then there is "grid emission" (probably) caused by the contamination of the grid wires by some of the cathode coating. How does it happen and how can you "fix" it. Finally, why do tubes go gassy and why do filaments burn out? All of which is related to all of the above! Nothing is ever as simple as is looks. DRBILL

Dee, > The filament is always boiling off some of its atoms because of the > high vacuum in the tube. A properly designed tube controls where the > metal is deposited. If it deposited at the bottom, where the wires > come through, the tube would short out. So it usually is directed to > the top or side of the envelope. > > Unlike light bulbs, which are filled with argon to prevent heavy > sublimation of the filament, you can't fill a tube with argon because > it would no longer be a "vacuum" tube and wouldn't emit. > BILL

That lady is actually the lucky one. My kids are already scrapping about who will get my gear when I croak! DRBILL

So who is watching the store?