ECP Torpedo III [indexed in first post]

^Its probably a loose soldering joint. Inspect the PCB carefully and reflow anything doubtful.

 

Also, swap the tubes form side to side to see if the hiss moves. It could be a bad tube. The amp is pretty indestructible and readily fixable if something happens.

 

That's fine but I am getting everything ready to go tonight and in the morning.

 

I'll give it a look. I've been running the unit a lot for the last 2 months and never encountered this issue across 3 sets of tubes. Is a solder joint likely to fail after hundreds of hours of burn in?

 

I'll give this a try. I was just surprised that the noise could get so loud with the volume turned all the way down.

 

I don't now much about EE, but this sounds very much like a tube.

 

All the volume pot does is block what is coming in to the amp. Any amp noise occurs after the pot, and it will thus have no affect.

 

Roll in the stock tubes, see if the hiss goes away. That can be what a bad tube sounds like.

EDIT: Sorry, posted before a refresh

 

I sent a quick reply to everyone receiving CCS boards.

And I am out. There should be a set for everyone.

 

Wondering how the Torpedo iii would stack up against something like the BH Mainline...

 

I believe there already is a review in this thread for that. Mister Rogers has/had both.

 

I've indexed impressions & other important posts in the first thread.. hope it helps.

 

Nuts! I guess I missed it.

 

All the boards shipped and should arrive next week. I'll post instructions on how to install these in the next day or two. Between everyone, we raised $125 for the Tree House.

 

Here is the schematic and board layout





You will be replacing IC1 and IC2 with this board. Additionally, R17 & R18 set the current for IC1 and IC2, and they are unused for the replacement board. If they are in the way, they can be removed.

The first step is to remove IC1 and IC2. I find that the easiest way to do this is to first clip 2 of the leads, then use a soldering iron to heat each pad while pulling the lead with a very small needle nose pliers. You should not need to pull hard, and doing so may damage the board.

Next, clean the solder out of the holes. Everyone has their favorite method to do this, but I find desoldering braid to be the most effective method. You place the braid on top of the hole, apply the iron, and wait for the solder to be wicked up the braid. Then remove the braid and iron at the same time to keep from soldering the braid itself to the PCB.

Next, populate the CCS board. The IC has a beveled side which should align with the bevel shown in the above picture. Pin 1 (indicated with a small circle on the chip) should be closest to the "R1" label.

The pins (installed last) should be mounted from the back. The idea is that top of the board will jut away from the tube socket and face away from the tube. The "a"node pin connects to the hole closest to the "1" and the "k"athode connects closest to the "9". (Do not install the board into the resistor holes.)



At this point, before you install the board into your amp it is a good idea to test that it actually works (repairing it once installed will be very difficult). To do so, connect it in series with a 9V battery and a multimeter set to read the current. You should see about 2.2mA of current.



If it is working, then install it as shown.

 

Good call on the tubes. I swapped left and right and for whatever reason the problem went away. Listened for about 5 hours without any problems. Thanks for the help, guys!

 

Doug,
Can those pins be bent back? I'm sure they can be, but didn't see any info on them. Seems like spent leads would work, too.
We're not going to have the room to go vertical next to the sockets we have. The existing regulators are already bent back to clear the sockets.

 

Great!

Keep in mind that your bad experience may mean one or both tubes are slowly going bad.

On the other hand, it could've also been a tube pin that wasn't seated exactly right in the socket and swapping them out fixed it.

 

The pins are at a right angle and push the board away from the socket. If you do not insert the pin all the way through, it will hold it out a little further. If that isn't enough, then for now we'll have to bend things around a little.

 

I'll keep it in mind, but for now I'm just going to pump in some music. It sounds fantastic.