Friday, July 27, 2012

Sometimes NOTHING is what's wrong!

Been working on a friend's VHT Two/Fifty/Two amplifier. 

The amplifier had been blowing the HT fuses immediately upon power up.  This occurred with or without the tubes in the amplifier. 

I was honestly kind of puzzled by the entire thing.  Both channels had the exact same symptoms.  While one channel might have had a set of filter caps go, I refused to believe that both channels had them go at the same time. 

I decided to email the VHT/Fryette and try and get some help. 

They were very friendly and explained that the fuses in the amplifier are purposely rated conservatively.  Most people do not experience a problem but some people with abnormal power conditions may.

They suggested replacing the .5 Amp fast blow fuses with .75 Amp fuses. 

Success!

So, I replaced the tubes and reassembled the amplifier.

The moral of the story is that sometimes there is nothing wrong.  Had I not contacted the company, I'd still be dickering about with the amplifier and never any closer to finding out the real problem.

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