Real McTube not mctubing!!

[TheWeazel]

Hey there everyone.  I can't seem to get this real mctube to work.  I have put a tube in it and I have tested the tube in another amp.  WITHOUT the tube I get about 110ac and 16.2ac in.  My B+ out of cap 2 is 153dc to ground.  Pin 1 is 115dc, pin 6 is 91dc all the rest are 0dc.  19.9dc between pin 4 and 5.  I can't figure out what is wrong...  Thank you for any help!

[TheWeazel]

Maybe I should have mentioned that I used tonepads pcbs for this project.  I used all of the same components listed except for http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/RealMcTube.htm's suggestion to use two 12.6v 300ma transformers instead of the 12v 500ma.  I double checked all of the component values.  I am stuck!  Any suggestions or other things I should mention?? Thanks.

[MartyB]

Do the heaters light up?  Is anything getting extra hot, or emitting an odor?

[TheWeazel]

No heat.  No odors.  The tube doesn't seem to do anything when it's plugged in.  So no glowing either =/ 
Voltage readings WITH TUBE IN (DC, relative to ground):
B+ from C2 = 150; Pin 1 = 113, Pin 4 = .03, 5 = -.02, Pin 6 = 91, others = 0

Thank you!

[R.G.]

Tubes don't work until they heat up. If you have pins 4 and 5 at a fraction of a volt and pin 9 at 0, the tube is not heating up and will not work.

There should be 6V ac or dc either one between pin 9 and pin 4, and also between pin 9 and pin 5. If there is no slight orange glow in the center of the tube, you don't even havn a chance.

[TheWeazel]

The mctube build guide lists that there should be 0v at pin 9.  I read .02dcv and -.02dcv between pin 9 and 4 and 9 and 5, respectively.  I know it should be glowing, I just don't know why it's not!

[TheWeazel]

Well... It seem that my R2 was 12k instead of the needed 12 ohm... moral of the story... don't trust mouser to send you the right part!

argh... well at least my first tube project works... may have to fix some grounding problems because it's a little noisy right now.  But it isn't fully in the enclosure so maybe that will help me out some.

[Paul Marossy]

Doh! Glad you found the problem. Putting it in a case should help with most of the noise issues, unless it's due to layout.