Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences.
I've finally settled down to troubleshooting my ailing Paramour. One Paramour is working fine with the C4s upgrade. The other, ailing one, is stock. The trouble started with blowing fuses. I went in and measured resistances; all check out with the specs in the manual. Checked the values on the power supply and 2A3 cathode electrolytics and they check out.After reheating some suspect solder joints, I put the tubes back in and brought the amp up on a variac. No fuse blowing this time, but I noticed that the 2A3 filaments did not seem to glow (12AT7 filaments glowed). I then noticed a strange smell and shut everything down. The power transformer was very hot. On the other Paramour, the transformer gets warm, but never hot to the touch.
Could I have a blown/malfunctioning power transformer?
I measured resistances on the power trannie windings after disconnecting them from the terminal strips and tube sockets (all values in Ohms):
Secondary:
Purple (B+) to CTR tap (brown): 178
Orange (B+) to CTR tap (brown): 152
Orange to purple: 1592.5AC filament (yellow): 0.1
2.5AC filament to CTR tap: infinite6 VAC filament (green): 1.0
6 VAC filament to CTR tap: infinitePrimary: 10.3
Both my transformers were painted with black enamel paint. Could this have damaged the insulation on the windings? What seems strange is that the problem is with only one amp when both transformers were painted in the same fashion.
Any help is appreciated! I'm tired of listening to my old solid state amp!
Follow Ups:
thanks for the suggestions, Paul and Jim.Regarding the tubes, the first thing I tried when my stock Paramour started to blow fuses was to check the tubes in the other Paramour; they worked without a hitch.
If I recall correctly, this kit was shipped about a year ago. Between getting the metal plates polished and finished and finishing the wood bases, it took a while to complete them. I guess I'll have to contact the folks at Bottlehead HQ about obtaining a replacement power transformer. Or, should I think about the iron upgrade while I'm at it?
Thanks for the suggestions!
Sharad
The purple/orange/CT measurements suggest an internal short. When was the amp shipped? There was one bad batch of power transformers last year some time.
Have you tried the 2A3 from your working amp in the one that is giving you trouble? If not, do so with caution, using your Variac and keeping an eye on the filament, tranny, etc.
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