Heat Shrink

[keithshapiro]

I'm a fairly new builder, I do it for the love of tone and the fun of it. I've built 3 amps so far with good success, A Vibrochamp, a TWE, and a 5e3. I'm starting a new build in a day or so and was wondering about heat shrinking all or most of the caps and resistors. (See attached picture) I found this at Ceriatone and it looks very impressive.Is this worth doing?

What do you think?

Thanks
Keith

[Firestorm]

What do you think?

I think that's a great way to make a build take twice as long as it needs to.

Maybe if the chassis was plexiglass...

[Zippy]

Is this worth doing?

No value added - it makes me think that the builder doesn't know what he's doing or why he's doing it.

[Teleguy61]

The only reason to heat shrink leads is if there is risk of contact
between two leads which shouldn't contact.
Heat shrinking the ends of cloth covered wire looks good and makes a neat build, but is just an appearance thing.

[Aurora]

Just waste of time and money. Besides- heat shrinking resistors isolates the heat, seriously hampering heat dissipation. Really bad idea!
Heat shrinking lead ends only if necesseary, IMO.....

[SoundPerf]

Is this worth doing?

No value added - it makes me think that the builder doesn't know what he's doing or why he's doing it.

Looking at the rest of the lead dress of that amp sure doesn't make me think the builder "didn't know what he was doing".

Would I go to all that extra work, just for show? NO! But, I certainly don't think it's an indication of much of anything other that possible anal retentiveness.

As stated, resistors where heat dissapation is an issue heatshrinking can have an adverse effect. Although sometimes heatshrink may be needed on such a resistor due to proximity to higher power and shorting possibilities. It's a matter of commonsense in most cases.

[Zippy]

Looking at the rest of the lead dress of that amp sure doesn't make me think the builder "didn't know what he was doing".

Would I go to all that extra work, just for show? NO! But, I certainly don't think it's an indication of much of anything other that possible anal retentiveness.

There's little reason for all the cable ties - just makes repairs that much more onerous. All the sharp right angles in the wire are unnecessary as well - and lead to earlier failure. It may look cool but it's not the best way to go.

I'd call it a "compulsive" build but your evaluation of "possible anal retentiveness" works too.

[SoundPerf]

There's little reason for all the cable ties - just makes repairs that much more onerous. All the sharp right angles in the wire are unnecessary as well - and lead to earlier failure. It may look cool but it's not the best way to go.

I'm not looking to get into a big debate or say you're absolutely wrong, but I will bring up some opposing views to your comments. The cable ties will potentionally reduce cable vibration and movement which will in turn reduce the possiblity of failure of the so-called bad right angles. And ultimately if the all these things actually lead to reduction in failure then there will be no need for repairs and thus the "onerous" repair work.

And if ease of modding is a consideration, IMO if I was building an amp for the general public, making that easier isn't going to be a concern either. In fact I would think the neat and orderly "look" of the build would go a long way in telling about the builders attention to detail and not worrying about speed of production, but instead making a quality product.

Bottom line, from that photo there's no way of honestly knowing very much at all about the actual quality of the amp or how long it will run without needing a repair. Also, since that amp isn't a D-style amp following the HAD program wasn't a consideration. There are other ways to build an amp, after all. Well, maybe not......

[Cliff Schecht]

The heatshrink looks cool but serves no function. I don't bother unless, as Teleguy points out, there is a risk of shorting somewhere.

Also the zip-ties look neat but I wouldn't add them until I was finished with an amp. In general I don't run my leads like this though, I like to keep the cathodes/grids/plates as separate as possible (and as short as possible) to keep interaction between stages to a minimum.

[ayan]

The amp seems to have been built using quality parts (other than the Alpha tone rotary switch, and that would be debatable too) and the workmanship seems to be excellent IMNSHO. Agree with SoundPerf on the pros of tie wrapping things, as was done in the amp. I thought I'd share the picture of a Bad Cat amp. Surprisingly, there are a lot of things in common between the two amps (AB resistors, caps, tying the harness down, using insulation on component leads, etc.)

Cheers,

Gil

There's little reason for all the cable ties - just makes repairs that much more onerous. All the sharp right angles in the wire are unnecessary as well - and lead to earlier failure. It may look cool but it's not the best way to go.

I'm not looking to get into a big debate or say you're absolutely wrong, but I will bring up some opposing views to your comments. The cable ties will potentionally reduce cable vibration and movement which will in turn reduce the possiblity of failure of the so-called bad right angles. And ultimately if the all these things actually lead to reduction in failure then there will be no need for repairs and thus the "onerous" repair work.

And if ease of modding is a consideration, IMO if I was building an amp for the general public, making that easier isn't going to be a concern either. In fact I would think the neat and orderly "look" of the build would go a long way in telling about the builders attention to detail and not worrying about speed of production, but instead making a quality product.

Bottom line, from that photo there's no way of honestly knowing very much at all about the actual quality of the amp or how long it will run without needing a repair. Also, since that amp isn't a D-style amp following the HAD program wasn't a consideration. There are other ways to build an amp, after all. Well, maybe not......

[M Fowler]

Maybe the guy was practicing for the day he does do a true PTP build.

Mark

[talbany]

IMHO.. In a turret/eyelet board build there really is no need however if you would like to go that rout on say a true PTP you are better off using the spaghetti covering (like in the Bad Cat Gil posted) cut it slide it on so no heat and much more durable.. I pulled a ton of it out of an old electronics shop going out of business years ago..

Tony

[keithshapiro]

What a great conversation! I'm so glad I asked. I do have an affection towards neatly soldered builds and attention to detail. As a novice, I asked because Rubber O-rings are used for tubes etc., I figured it would be good to get some seasoned opinions.

I could've easily been seduced to make everything look clean

Thanks for all the great input!

Keith

[amplifiednation]

I could've easily been seduced to make everything look clean

If you study some of the Dumble builds you will be seduced either way. Heat shrinking is only a matter of convenience.

[sonicmojo]

Someone once pointed out that getting solder on the heat shrink tubing is a bad thing so if you use it, be careful to leave enough room to solder cleanly without touching. I highly recommend a heat gun for appearance. While a steady handed solder iron will work, the job is much, much cleaner via hot air.