Please Help noob with valvecaster confusion

smitty · September 07, 2011, 07:41:20 PM

Hello,

Im going to be building a valvecaster soon, and just had a few questions for the experts...

1. Does the heater on the tube need a voltage regulator if I am running off of a regulated power supply? Im thinking of running it at 12volts, and
am going to buy a 12 volt regulated pwr supply.... after reading through the various threads, I could not find a schematic with the voltage regulator
feeding the heater pin.... If I do need a voltage regulator for the heater could anyone show me how to install it in the circuit.....

Im going to use the 12 volt version from the layouts gallery, and bread board the circuit first....

thanks for the help

smitty

iccaros · September 07, 2011, 07:59:55 PM

quick answer... NO

but does your power supply put out 12V or 14 - 15 or less than 12.

in any case, you will need at least 2v about more than 12v to use a regulator to get 12v out.

most designs would not show voltage regulator or bypass switch as they expect the builder to understand the theory behind them and know when they can implement them. I put one in mine, burned out as the case got too hot on stage. Changed to a resistor, but I am using 30v right now.

Renegadrian · September 07, 2011, 10:03:18 PM

A voltage regulator is needed if you use...an unregulated wall wart!

Consider that every tube has some tolerance to voltage specs, up or down, so it can easily take 13V or 11V without big hassles...if the output of the wall wart is 12V, hope it has some juice (current) available, say 500mA at least, 1A is still cheap to find, I got myself a 3A one so I can be ok!!!

Anyway, just for the records, I'll show you my diagram...
reg. vout goes directly to pin 5 while pin 4 goes to ground (you can swap pin 4 & 5)

smitty · September 08, 2011, 11:59:52 AM

Quote from: Renegadrian on September 07, 2011, 10:03:18 PM
A voltage regulator is needed if you use...an unregulated wall wart!
Consider that every tube has some tolerance to voltage specs, up or down, so it can easily take 13V or 11V without big hassles...if the output of the wall wart is 12V, hope it has some juice (current) available, say 500mA at least, 1A is still cheap to find, I got myself a 3A one so I can be ok!!!

Anyway, just for the records, I'll show you my diagram...
reg. vout goes directly to pin 5 while pin 4 goes to ground (you can swap pin 4 & 5)

thanks very much for the response(s) that is a huge help supplying the diagram for the regulator.... I may also use a voltage doubler on the plates...

smitty

Renegadrian · September 08, 2011, 06:14:45 PM

Right on, remember to post the final results!!!

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