lead dress information

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scarab1
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:37 pm

lead dress information

Post by scarab1 »

I am going to buy an amp kit, which one I don't know yet but most likely something along the line of the 5e5 or 5e3 circuit. I have read on this site and other amp sites where some guys have problems in the area of lead dress and this something I know nothing about. My EET expierence and training is all with IC's, PCB's and transistor circuits not tube circuits etc and I can spell lead dress and that's it :cry:

What can a person do to ensure that 'their' lead dress will not cause a problem with an amp build.

Thanks in advance.
Kregg
Posts: 232
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:57 pm
Location: Atlanta

Re: lead dress information

Post by Kregg »

scarab1
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:37 pm

Thanks Kregg

Post by scarab1 »

Just what I was looking for. It's appreciated.
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Bob-I
Posts: 3791
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:06 pm
Location: Hillsborough NJ

Re: lead dress information

Post by Bob-I »

Your best way of learning lead dress once you understand the classes described in the above document is to look at as many pictures of classic tube amps as possible.

A few things.

1) all AC carrying wires should be twisted tightly together whenever possible. Heaters, AC input, power xformer primaries etc. A good way of doing this is to chuck the ends in a drill and run it at low speed until you see the wires starting to pull shorter.

2) All signal carrying wires should run as tight to the chassis as possible. Bend them down to the chassis at both ends. Also make sure if they have to cross that they cross at right angles and don't run parallel. Exceptions are the tone controls, these can run parallel with no problem in most cases.

3) Grounds need to be connected at one point only. I like to connect the primary filter grounds as close to the caps as possible, the screen filter grounds near the power tubes, the input, preamp cathode and tone stack grounds near the input.

Good luck on the build. Post pictures and ask questions as you go.
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