Big ole power resistor question

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dynaman
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Big ole power resistor question

Post by dynaman »

What's the absolute minimum power rating I can use for the big 1K 25W resistor found right after the diodes? Anyone know the formula?

Chris
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gearhead
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by gearhead »

As per https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?t=1313 thread, even a 10 watter gets hot.

From a pure DC standpoint, believe it's P=V*V/R which is (395-380)*(395-380)/1000, which gets you about 1/4 watt.

There must be a a big AC component, or I'm missing something.
paulruby
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by paulruby »

No less than 15W and with plenty of air-space around it. I used three 5W resistors in series to make it and stuck them on there own terminal strips for air space:

http://www.paulamps.com/MartaGuts.jpg

The problem is when playing, there is a lot of screen current drawn by the tubes, which ges through that resistor.

I initially had a 10W resistor mounted on the power supply board and it was way too hot when playing.
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Humbucker
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by Humbucker »

I used a 50 watt power resistor with metal casing. It was bolted to chassis to dissipate heat even more. However, I began to wonder: does the value affect the feel and sound? Should I change the power resistor to a smaller value? What do you say?
Oldie newbie.
paulruby
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by paulruby »

The power handling of the resistor is not going to change the tone of the amp. 50W is overkill, but certainly not a problem.
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Humbucker
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by Humbucker »

Paul Ruby: Thank you. Well, we had no suitable lower value resistors at hand and 50-watters are kind of industry standard here.
Oldie newbie.
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gearhead
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by gearhead »

paulruby wrote: The problem is when playing, there is a lot of screen current drawn by the tubes, which ges through that resistor.
Does that then pull down the B+3 voltage?
keithrick
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Re: Big ole power resistor question

Post by keithrick »

FYI - I got my power resistors from Apex Jr. 50w 1K ......$3 each.
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