Yes. But...
Yes. But...
"Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman
Well, after about two weeks of just looking at it, after clearing out a workspace for it, I plugged it in and checked the low voltages, all good so far.
Fact: Sometimes, I cannot remember what and why I did 5 minutes previously so, looking at the insides of the amplifier and trying to remembering what and why things were done 10 - 20 years ago was indeed a (acid) trip down memory road.
My Elmer, W8ERG(sk) used to have a saying, "Kid (I was 40 y/o at the time) always build in a 'pay day' when you do a job." For one, he always used the same color of wire (hard to trace) for construction and never build a job like you will be the only person who will have to repair it; he did both on this job.
My biggest concern is going to be those 40 year old electrolytic capacitors; I can see where some have been replaced so, that means all the others are suspect.
When I get the (mental) energy, I will re-wire the tube sockets patch AC into the primary of the outboard B+ via my Variac and wait for the explosion / out gassing of those parts; gonna contact owner to start the search for money for the electrolytic capacitors in the B+ section.
.
So, the owner starts bugging me a couple of weeks ago so I finally dug into it.
I take the exterior covers off, look at the bottom and asks myself, WTF was I on when I did the conversion from 8908's to 6LW6's? It was over 15 years since I'd seen this box but, immediately I recognized some 16 gauge orange-purple striped Teflon coated wires that only one person in town used for repairs; me.
I had constructed a 140 vdc screen supply by feeding 12 volts into the secondary winding of a Radio Shack transformer and then rectifying the voltage that was induced into the primary windings. The control grid had a variable negative going power supply to supply the bias. The funny thing that made the 6LW6 hard to work with was that the suppressor grid was internally connected to the cathode.
After digging through my 1967, '77, and 2000 ARRL Handbooks I extrapolated enough information to refresh what Father Time had dimmed and a few days ago I completed the job.
BUT, I am afraid to test it; even into a "Cantenna" because of all the "Part 15 devices" and the 30 y/o electrolytic caps in the B+ section.
Would you use a Variac and try to condition those capacitors slowly or would you just hope for the best and fire it up?
Use the variac... before smoke comes out.
"If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop
telling the truth about them." - Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)
“I’m not liberal/conservative, I’m anti-idiotarian.”
At some point in the last 20 years, the left moved to the center, and the right moved into a mental institution