My amp has been through so much tweaking over the last couple of years...lots of replacements of various components on the main boards, but not too much at the preamp tube sockets.
Nevertheless, the solid core wires connecting the boards to the socket have me wondering: if these have work hardened from being repeatedly unsoldered, unhooked, then resoldered, I suppose it's possible for them to have developed cracks inside.
I'm wondering what the failure mode is for something like that? Is it pretty much a binary failure (either it conducts or it doesn't) or is it more subtle, manifesting itself as a change in the way the amp sounds, but not really becoming an on/off thing until a bump to the amp opens the wire up completely? Is it "best practice" to just go back through the amp and replace all these old wires anyway once the components seem to be decided upon?
Replacing leads after tweaking?
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dcribbs1412
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Re: Replacing leads after tweaking?
I have never used solid in a d style for preamp, only a TW style
I will say after rewiring an old build and using proper lead dressing( I learned here)
the amp sounded much better...I say if you have the time it can't hurt...
Darin
I will say after rewiring an old build and using proper lead dressing( I learned here)
the amp sounded much better...I say if you have the time it can't hurt...
Darin
Re: Replacing leads after tweaking?
G - Do the experiment: Take a couple feet of wire, measure the resistance, work the heck out of it (short of breaking it), and measure the resistance again. One easy way to work it is to wrap it around a small diameter rod and then straighten it. Iterate.
Although the resistivity of copper will increase with work hardening (and defect storage), I doubt that you will detect a measurable difference in a short run of wire with a commercial multimeter before the wire starts to develop microcracks.
The few ohms increase in resistance due to work hardening will likely be undetectable in service.
Bottom line: Likely that there is no detectable precursor to catastrophic failure.
If you get data to the contrary, please share. I'm happy to be proven wrong on this one.
If there exists anyone with a common interest in this, please keep the thread alive and I'll dig up the data correlating resistance with work hardening.
Although the resistivity of copper will increase with work hardening (and defect storage), I doubt that you will detect a measurable difference in a short run of wire with a commercial multimeter before the wire starts to develop microcracks.
The few ohms increase in resistance due to work hardening will likely be undetectable in service.
Bottom line: Likely that there is no detectable precursor to catastrophic failure.
If you get data to the contrary, please share. I'm happy to be proven wrong on this one.
If there exists anyone with a common interest in this, please keep the thread alive and I'll dig up the data correlating resistance with work hardening.