Honest and respectable stereo shop in Tacoma Wa area to reform caps in my tube amps needed.

[hron61]

I have a pair of Welborne Labs Laurel ll 300b monoblocks that i built back in 2002 or so.

They have been sitting unused for the past 10 years, i dont have a variac so im looking for a respectable stereo repair shop in the Tacoma Wa area to reform the caps before i use them again. 

I do have another question also, i built a Bottehead foreplay line level pre amp and a Bottlehead phono pre amp thats been sitting also, would the caps in those two need reforming as well?

Thanks.

[henry4841]

When you find a tech just replace those old power supply capacitors instead of trying to bring them back to life. Labor is going to be the big cost and not the parts.   

 

As far as Bottlehead gear, probably best to bring up on a variac but my guess no problem just plugging them in. But it is your gear. 

[hron61]

Yeah, thats what i'll probably do with the ps caps.

I can replace those myself, heck i built them so replacing should'nt be too bad, plus they haven'nt been powered up for 10 years so they should'nt be charged still, i hope.

Afterwards i can bring it in for the reforming of the other caps. 

They really are some sweet sounding amps.

[henry4841]

I am almost positive there will no charge on caps after such a long time but to be sure check with meter or just short with screwdriver or resistor. If you can change the PS caps why not change the others as well. But a variac is not that expensive these days if reforming is what you want to try so why not do it yourself. Raise voltage slowly to 55v's then hold for a few minutes then slowly raise to line voltage. Personally I have am not a believer of reforming old caps when it does not cost that much to just replace them. In some of the older tube gear purist want to keep everything original. The only reason I see for reforming. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/YaeCCC-Transformer-Variable-Voltage-Regulator/dp/B076Y2XHRS/ref=asc_df_B076Y2XHRS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242168461154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6460504378208762735&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9052440&hvtargid=pla-398896965993&psc=1

 

Cheaper than what a good tech is going to charge.