Amp build for a first time builder?

[yoyohomieg5432]

Yes all 5 go through the hole. Thanks for reminding me about the retainer clips.

I'm not going to mount the board yet I just wanted to drill the holes for it. One stupid thing on my part is that I should have mounted the board before mounting the doghouse because now a couple of the place s I was going to use to mount the board is now covered by the doghouse so I'm gonna have to change a few positions

[yoyohomieg5432]

Just wanted to say that I didn't have time to do all the drilling I wanted to do last weekend. I had to go back to school without the amp since I can't do any drilling here. Next time I'm home I will finish the drilling so I can bring the amp back with me to finish it

[yoyohomieg5432]

hello everyone, it's been a long while.. been very busy but things are lightening up a little so im getting back into this project

[martin manning]

Homie! Good to see you back on it. There have been a couple of 5F6-A's completed on the board recently... Tonemerc built a nice one, and Guitarnut showed up with a just-completed build that was an epic to get working, but in the end it looks and sounds great.

[yoyohomieg5432]

so yesterday i drilled the holes in the chassis and in the insulator board so that i could place the main circuit board into the chassis. the plan was to have a bolt and then a couple nuts to space between the bottom of the chassis and insulator board to clear the bolts that were used to secure the doghouse.

then between the insulator board we had a spacer which would then secure to the circuit board as well. the problem i'm encountering is that this is too much height and it's rising up to the point where it's encountering the back speaker jacks as shown in my pictures. it's also getting really close to the front jacks as well.

i think i'm going to try to just get one really long bolt and then get rid of the spacers and just use a couple of nuts to space between both boards. this should reduce the height a little and hopefully it won't interfere.

in the meantime, can i attach the PT/OT and begin wiring those or is that something I should wait on until the board is in

[martin manning]

A lot of the PT OT stuff is independent of the board, so you can do that, and using nuts for spacers to minimize the height of the board off the chassis is a good idea. You can also mount the OT and the doghouse with the bolt heads on the inside to keep the potential interference to a minimum.

[yoyohomieg5432]

wanted to check the orientations of ot and choke before I tighten them. does the order matter? I.e. which wires are closest to the holes?



also, any advice on getting the nuts off the pt? Not coming off easy at all

[ToneMerc]

wanted to check the orientations of ot and choke before I tighten them. does the order matter? I.e. which wires are closest to the holes?



also, any advice on getting the nuts off the pt? Not coming off easy at all

OT secondaries exit closest to the output jacks. I use a socket, but you don't have to remove the nuts, get four 8-32 hex nuts and four #8 washers to secure the PT to the chassis.

TM

[martin manning]

I think it's better to leave a course of nuts between the PT and the steel chassis to minimize flux leakage.

[yoyohomieg5432]

i'm having a LOT of trouble mounting the PT.

I went to home depot and got some 8-32 nuts and locking washers so i can attach it from the inside. for some reason they will only go about half way onto the bolt and then they just get stuck and dont want to turn anymore. this is with me using a screwdriver to secure the bolt and then having someone with pliers inside trying to tighten the nut. it's not budging.

this is the PT here: specs say 8-32.. don't think its the wrong size considering it goes half way on

http://www.classictone.net/40-18073.pdf

[yoyohomieg5432]

also, i still really don't understand what this ground switch is for.

the groundswitch has 3 connections. if you look at it in the orientation such as the side with one pin is on the right, and the side with 2 pins on the left, when the switch is in the right position, the side with one pin is continuous with the bottom pin on the left side.

if i toggle the switch to the left, the right pin is not continuous with either of the pins on the other side.

so from what i see the top left pin isn't doing anything. why is it even there? it seems to be just behaving like the power/standby switches.

[martin manning]

In the layout I drew the ground switch is only serving as a tie point for the PT primary connections, so it is non-functional. In the bad old days before polarized, grounded wiring it was there to connect the so-called "death cap" to one side or the other of the mains supply, whichever was most quiet. That feature is just left out on modern 5F6-A builds. I think that is covered in the build guide (back on page 9). Make sure you don't use the common terminal or it will short the power inlet.

I think you are correct the bolt size is 8-32 since you were able to get it on half-way. Is there some damage to the threads or perhaps some varnish on them? Look carefully and be careful not to break the bolt by applying too much force. If the threads are damaged or clogged they can be re-cut with a hex die (hardware store).

[yoyohomieg5432]

In the layout I drew the ground switch is only serving as a tie point for the PT primary connections, so it is non-functional. In the bad old days before polarized, grounded wiring it was there to connect the so-called "death cap" to one side or the other of the mains supply, whichever was most quiet. That feature is just left out on modern 5F6-A builds. I think that is covered in the build guide (back on page 9). Make sure you don't use the common terminal or it will short the power inlet.

I think you are correct the bolt size is 8-32 since you were able to get it on half-way. Is there some damage to the threads or perhaps some varnish on them? Look carefully and be careful not to break the bolt by applying too much force. If the threads are damaged or clogged they can be re-cut with a hex die (hardware store).

the bolts had some kind of brown stuff on them and were kind of dirty, but that was higher up on the bolts where it shouldn't have mattered.

i'm away from home and don't have access to a lot of fancy tools. I'm thinking i might just go back to the store and try to find 4 new bolts to replace the ones that came with the transformer. that shouldn't really cause any issue, right?

the only thing with that is that i noticed when looking at the bolts on the transformer that 3 of them had some kind of yellow plastic ring or something right below the top of the bolt. the other bolt had two locking washers up top. I'm not sure if there will be any problems getting the bolts off ( the ones with the yellow stuff). i can take a picture later if it helps.

[Structo]

If you have a Harbor Freight store nearby, you can get a Tap & Die kit for $15.99

http://www.harborfreight.com/40-piece-s ... 39391.html

You just run the 8-32 die down the transformer bolts to clean up the threads.

A tap and die kit can be used for numerous things, such as when you cut a bolt length down, use the proper dies to clean up the threads when you cut.

Or drill a hole then use a tap to add threads to the hole.

[yoyohomieg5432]

still having issues with the bolts on the PT. I looked closer at the bolts and they have some kind of yellow-ish dust caked into the threads and it's really difficult to get out.

i went to home depot and got new bolts to replace them but i can't get the old ones off the PT. i think the dirt that is preventing me to fasten on the nut to secure it to the chassis is also not letting me unfasten the bolts from the transformer.

Martin mentioned via PM that there's a die that can be used to repair damaged threads. I don't think the threads are bad. can that die be used to clean the gunk from these threads?