Yet another Dynaco Mk III variation - tempting at $1K!

[3dzapper]

Here is an inexpensive temperature controlled soldering station station for the weekend DIY'er. Just $69.99.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F009%5F007%5F003&product%5Fid=64%2D2185

Note: For proffessional or experienced amature use only.

Safety note:

Never solder on a live circuit. Unplug device and wait at least 4 hours before soldering.

When testing live circuits, KEEP ONE HAND IN YOUR POCKET. ALWAYS WORK IN A CLEAN DRY AREA WITH A NON CONDUCTIVE MAT AND A WOODEN STOOL.

Rick

[Marvel]

Dean,

Thanks for the info. But will it sound better?

A great tool, although expensive is an electric vacumm pump desoldering

station. Looks a lot like a soldering iron, but the tip is hollow. Fits

right over wires that poke through the pc boards. Squeeze the button on

the handle and it sucks the solder clean out. No soldering braid to

deal with. You can go over a whole board very quickly and have it

looking like new in no time.

Gary,

My temp has gone up a bit too, and that is pretty unusual for me. My

point was that everyone starts somewhere and has to learn. I've been

doing soldering since the early '60s. Could I improve? Sure, there is

always room for that. Certain people have no idea of the skills of

others on this forum. Humility goes a long way.

Rick,

If techs had to wait four hours before working on something, they

wouldn't get anything done. I worked on 3 phase moter controllers for a

time, and they were only off for seconds while we worked on them. Some

pretty big caps in them too. You need a one megohm resistor on a ground

point to drain them and you're fine.

[Deang]

I take a lot of pride in my humility Bruce.

[3dzapper]

Marvel, Unless one wishes to describe, in detail, which points to touch for every device ever made, 4 hours is a good rule of thumb.

I can see a tyro now holding the lead of the resistor reaching for the cap. He would look like Thebes.

Rick

[NOSValves]

Dean,

Thanks for the info. But will it sound better?

A great tool, although expensive is an electric vacumm pump desoldering station. Looks a lot like a soldering iron, but the tip is hollow. Fits right over wires that poke through the pc boards. Squeeze the button on the handle and it sucks the solder clean out. No soldering braid to deal with. You can go over a whole board very quickly and have it looking like new in no time.

Gary,

My temp has gone up a bit too, and that is pretty unusual for me. My point was that everyone starts somewhere and has to learn. I've been doing soldering since the early '60s. Could I improve? Sure, there is always room for that. Certain people have no idea of the skills of others on this forum. Humility goes a long way.

Rick,

If techs had to wait four hours before working on something, they wouldn't get anything done. I worked on 3 phase moter controllers for a time, and they were only off for seconds while we worked on them. Some pretty big caps in them too. You need a one megohm resistor on a ground point to drain them and you're fine.

Marvel,

What I'm talking about in reference to your ST70 has nothing do with your soldering skills. I'm not trying to be arrogant or insult you in anyway when I say I could improve your "ST70 to your ears" I'm referring to the fact that I have the proper tools at my disposal and the experience/ability to tune things that you have no idea about. I know you used a pre-packaged kit and most likely put the kit together just fine but these kits are built to a center line to meet various needs which are most likely not tuned for horn speakers. It may sound great but that does not mean it couldn't sound a little better. I'm not trying to trump up business out of you here. I was trying to make a point that there is more to this work then people realize at least if you want that very last bit of performance. This last bit can not be had with just a meter, soldering iron, ears and luck.

Craig

[NOSValves]

Never solder on a live circuit. Unplug device and wait at least 4 hours before soldering.

Rick

Heck Rick I wouldn't advise a novice to do it but I solder on live circuits often when I'm tweaking a new design. I know the Marl D does the same. In fact long ago he called me a sissy for not doing so. If your experienced and with some care there is nothing to it.

Craig

[Tom Mobley]

well, I don't know about all this stuff flying here but I thank Craig

for helping me when I bought an HF-81 and started rebuilding it.

I had never soldered before except on car stuff with one of those big

pistol grip things, but the EICO turned out great. Still

listening to it today. The 222C (all Telefunken, all the time) is

getting along pretty good too.

go ahead and p1ss everybody off, it's fun to watch.

[Marvel]

Craig,

One is assuming the Dynaco is attached to some horns. It isn't. I have

other plans for the Dynaco, that will indeed make it a better amp than

the work I already did on it. But you are correct in many ways. You do

this all day (school is always in session [] ). I do not. You

don't know what other tools I have at my disposal though. It sound far

better now than it did when I first purchased in more than 30 years

ago. It will sound better still when I am done. Or maybe not. That is

why I like to do DIY stuff. I'm not doing it for a customer, I'm doing

it for me.

Have a great evening!

Bruce

[3dzapper]

"Heck Rick I wouldn't advise a novice to do it but I solder on live circuits often when I'm tweaking a new design. I know the Marl D does the same. In fact long ago he called me a sissy for not doing so. If your experienced and with some care there is nothing to it.

Craig"

I always knew you were Gonzo, I had no idea about Mark.[]

Rick

[Marvel]

Hey Rick,

You like the Mono 10s? They look sweet for the price.

Bruce

[fini]

Crap. Reading through this mess, I can't decide if I'm qualified to rebuild my MK-IVs or not. I guess I'll give it a go. I can always pester Craig for help (ha ha). Hey Bruce, I emailed Shannon about the possibility of making some boards for the MK-IVs. What a nice guy he is! He's chopping down some ST70 boards, and revising the plans (not to mention reforming the can caps, although the might be best replaced). I'm giving him the old boards. Really, he's a great guy. He even owns Klipsch! Thanks for pointing me in that direction! Oh, made the visit to Ye Olde Wine Shoppe today. Here's their website:

http://www.traversos.com/deli.asp

[3dzapper]

Tremendous!!!! I lightly bought mine used for 1/2 price, sweeeet!!!

Magnequest output iron and classic 2A3 class A triode sound with more power down low.

Rick

[JulieHeartKlipsch]

Now I get the critically vital warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not to build

an amplifier when it is plugged into the

wall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guys always assume we know

everything, but we don't, we just know ALMOST everything[][]

Jules

[3dzapper]

No,no, never use Jeff's tweaking tool when the amp is plugged into the wall.

Yeah fini, Shannon will be a great resource for you.

Rick

[boomac]

After reading this thread I have come to a couple of conclusions. (1) I should have begged Allan to stay at my place to tile my downstairs bathroom, run the new plumbing and install the dry wall in my HT. (2) I will let Craig do what he does second best and thus I will never pick up a hot soldering iron.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

BTW, Did anyone buy the Dynaco Mark IIIs?

[jt1stcav]

My dad learned to use a soldering iron at age 11 and he's been slinging solder ever since. I've watched him when I was a young lad, and I'm still not able to solder...hell, I don't even trust myself with the revolutionary ColdHeat, the new cordless, cool touch soldering tool, heats instantly, cools in seconds, now only $19.95 plus shipping and handling. Order today!

[anarchist]

I am stunned I read through all this $hit. Its like reading

through an episode of Masters of the Understatement. Obviously

there are underlying issues otherwise I would have to think everyone

had drank a twelve-pack and was engaging in a circle-jerk.

"I could solder when I was five." "Its a life-altering

skill". "I am cross-over man". "I build amplifers from

scratch"

Jesus Christ. I need another bong hit.

[Erik Mandaville]

"It's just not that simple not everyone has the natural ability to take to this type of work."

False. If someone can tie his or her own shoes, which also requires a similar amount of eye-hand coordination, the same person can learn to hold the tip of a soldering iron to a connection long enough to melt a small amount of applied solder. Putting on a pair of shoes probably requires a great number of individual steps than soldering, but we don't even think about. Do you know why? Constant practice and repetition.

Another example: Elementary school children learn to play plastic 'song flutes' in music class. The combination of holding the flute to the mouth; blowing into the instrument; playing notes with both hands; and following a simple musical score involve significantly greater complexity in terms of coordinating those different elements than does simply holding a soldering iron in one hand and a thin length of solder in another.

You are incorrect. Anyone can learn to solder if given some encouragement and assistance -- either in person, or by way of well written step-by-step instructions. And he or she wants learn learn strongly enough to keep at it.

Another example: If someone is able to hold a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, and simultaneously use those tools to carefully cut a hunk of filet mignon or chicken fried steak, the same person is already using skills that require greater dexterity and fine motor control than does soldering a capacitor or resistor to a tube socket. Yet, there are some other skills that also need to be mastered but are no more difficult. There are some other things that need to be considered here, such as learning to properly strip wire, for example. With a little practice, just like putting on shoes in the morning or using a fork and knife, soldering can and will become second nature.

Soldering in a live chassis is unwise, regardless of your level of experience, and I very, very strongly suggest that it not be attempted. That you may know exactly what you're doing is not the point. Accidently touching a high voltage B+ or AC supply into the amplifier has absolutely ZERO to do with one's familiarity with the process. Professional race car or sport-bike drivers and riders are also very familiar with what they do for a living, yet they may also have accidents. Please also check Rick's advice when taking voltage readings.

If what I have just written above is also referred to as male bovine excrement (possibly worded differently), that's fine, but I would like to suggest you follow the advice that will increase the chances of your being around to enjoy your family after the electrical work is done.

The End (for me anyway -- I wanna go and talk about my new/old organ amp some more!)[]

Erik

Edit: To Dean: Pardon me -- I would like to add that (In my opinion) what you said about people's ability to pick up soldering is 'false' and 'incorrect.' I have much faith in the human ability to learn new skills, but someone has to want to learn whatever skill that might happen to be. Some who have responded to this post indicated they would rather not take the time to do so, and would prefer paying someone else to do the work. That is certainly a choice anyone has the right to make, but is entirely different, IME, from wanting to learn something bad enough to go through some of the frustration and very possible first-time failed attempts to get there. I hated algebra when I was younger, but I made myself relearn it so I could apply it as needed to audio DIYing. But I also had a teacher in high school who told me I 'couldn't get it' because I was too 'stupid.' I would have loved to have had some of the math teacher friends I know at school when I was younger. They encourage their students, and help foster the self-esteem that can lead the way to clarity and understanding -- and the ability to do what the student first thought was impossible.

[sfogg]

"My points are absolute proven facts when you have the experience of

working on countless kit amps built in the hay day of electronics

DIY'ing."

I've rebuilt tube amps long before you ever worked on one.

"By the way last week it was lets go anal and do everything possible to

safe guard from electrical shock to limit the least possible chance to

experiencing 120VAC electrocution. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry should

start poking around inside amps with 400+ absolutely dangerous

voltage............... Changing like the wind to serve are purposes are

we......"

Not the same thing. A person opening up a piece of electronics knows

they are working on a piece of electrical equipment. They will have had

it unplugged for x number of hours to discharge any caps and won't work

on it live.

A person disabling a safety ground may have no clue that what they did

is a safety hazard. 120v AC current from the wall will kill you easier

the B+ would... far more current.

Shawn

[NOSValves]

Soldering in a live chassis is unwise, regardless of your level of experience, and I very, very strongly suggest that it not be attempted. That you may know exactly what you're doing is not the point. Accidently touching a high voltage B+ or AC supply into the amplifier has absolutely ZERO to do with one's familiarity with the process. Professional race car or sport-bike drivers and riders are also very familiar with what they do for a living, yet they may also have accidents. Please also check Rick's advice when taking voltage readings.

If what I have just written above is also referred to as male bovine excrement (possibly worded differently), that's fine, but I would like to suggest you follow the advice that will increase the chances of your being around to enjoy your family after the electrical work is done.

Weenie is a very sensitive guy, and it angers and saddens him that everyone isn't just as sensitive as he. An admitted male feminist, Weenie is ever vigilant against anti-progressive attitudes. Though he seldom comes into personal contact with the working classes, he keenly feels the pain of their oppression nonetheless . Weenie's chief antagonists are Troglodyte, Evil Clown, Capitalista and sometimes Ideologue. Because of his natural petulance Weenie can easily be goaded into battle, but he is encumbered by a tendency to throw temper tantrums when severely pressed.