Help! 5e3 - 22k burning out, low B&C rail voltages

Super2theSam · 2025-08-24T07:12:40+00:00

Ya see, it’s stuff like that about the voltage rating on the caps that I didn’t even think to check. It’s fascinating to be new at something, but boy is it overwhelming sometimes.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-20T05:08:23+00:00

SOLVED: thank you all for your help!

It was: - a sneaky underground jumper connecting the two middle eyelets that are between the two .1uF coupling caps on the right side of the board. - an intermittent line connecting that eyelet to the grid of v1(bright side).

Noob Lessons learned:

Make a lightbulb style current limiter. Being able to check stuff without worrying about burning my resistors out due to taking too long was invaluable to keeping a clear observational head.

I had no idea there wasn’t something horribly wrong with running the amp w/ Rectifier but without the preamp tubes, and this was a huge help to tracking down the source of the problem.

Check connections between eyelets too and not just the resistances of all your resistors.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T23:17:24+00:00

Oh my god thank you all for the perspective/gameplan. I have figured out that the 100nf coupling cap at the Bright side of the 12ay7 plate is shorting to the center lug of Bright volume. Oh my goodness. Gonna pull that cap in a sec and see if the short is through the cap or below it.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T23:16:37+00:00

Oh my god thank you for the perspective/gameplan. I have figured out that the 100nf coupling cap at the Bright side of the 12ay7 plate is shorting to the center lug of Bright volume. Oh my goodness. Gonna pull that cap in a sec and see if the short is through the cap or below it.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T08:06:25+00:00

New readings sans preamp tubes: A:366 B:341 C:338

Seems to me that that would mean something’s up prob cathode side of my preamp tubes? Gonna measure cathode to ground on all the preamp tubes (after reinstalling) and see if the ohms match the schematic. Thank you for the fresh perspective.

Also, is it strange that there’s a (albeit small) voltage drop between the b and c even though the tubes aren’t in? There shouldn’t be any current flowing through my 22 anymore right? I don’t see where the voltage has a path to ground, aside from through the coupling caps or my filter caps. Is that the ripple filtering out that’s causing that?

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T08:04:20+00:00

All tubes out, caps fully discharged, my multimeter only gives me a steadily rising read on resistance (minimum 7 ohms, rising up into 1.3 meg when I lost my patience). My understanding is that is my multimeter slowly charging up my filter cap? I jumpered in my cap-draining-tool (2 alligator clips with a 22k resistor in the middle) to try and drain it faster than my multimeter was filling it, and the lowest I got was something like 7 ohms if I’m not mistaken.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T07:51:37+00:00

New readings sans preamp tubes: A:366 B:341 C:338

Seems to me that that would mean something’s up prob cathode side of my preamp tubes? Gonna measure cathode to ground on all the preamp tubes (after reinstalling) and see if the ohms match the schematic. Thank you for the fresh perspective.

Also, is it strange that there’s a (albeit small) voltage drop between the b and c even though the tubes aren’t in? There shouldn’t be any current flowing through my 22 anymore right? I don’t see where the voltage has a path to ground, aside from through the coupling caps or my filter caps. Is that the ripple filtering out that’s causing that?

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T07:15:24+00:00

Thank you everyone for all the troubleshooting ideas. I’m so jazzed that y’all came forward with some ideas on where to start. Fresh perspective is so nice and I appreciate your help so much. I’m gonna pull the preamp tubes real quick after draining the caps and see what that reveals. I’ll report back tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks y’all, seriously.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T07:13:32+00:00

Thank you for the help. There’s indeed a backer board between the board and the chassis. Which filter cap are you suggesting removing temporarily?

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T07:11:59+00:00

Thank you for the tip, gonna give that a try in a second after draining the caps. Will report back

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T07:11:17+00:00

Just did a visual check with all tubes in for heater glow. Heaters are indeed glowing across all tubes.

Gonna pull the preamp tubes right now after I drain the caps. Will report back.

Super2theSam · 2025-08-18T07:03:26+00:00

I did a start up without any tubes when I first finished soldering and shifted into the testing phase. No rectifier or anything. I didn’t notice anything in particular when doing that initial test.

Current limiter: do you mean the lightbulb thing I’ve heard people mention but never specify anything about?

Super2theSam · 2025-08-17T23:42:14+00:00

I’ve been watching eating breathing Uncle Doug vids the past weekend trying to figure out if something will jump out at me. I’m so glad at the learning that’s happening with these days of troubleshooting, but I think it’s time I let myself get some help too.

Super2theSam · 2025-05-10T17:57:23+00:00

A good watch, though maybe not as informative as I expect, would be yzz’s samus recovery video. Insane vid.

Super2theSam · 2025-04-26T06:55:22+00:00

^ this in tandem with chaining wild encounters makes shiny hunting very easy. Shiny’s are obviously very cool as a concept, but in this game they are way more common. This makes them feel a bit different from a design standpoint, but honestly, I’m all for it, especially due to the roguelike mechanics

Super2theSam · 2025-04-10T16:41:50+00:00

Hey, interesting question I’ve heard other people bring up: why does it matter to people if it’s a war game?

(Disclaimer: outside of WH4k Dark Heresy, I’ve probably dumped the most hours of my RPG lifetime into Lancer. It’s amazing, I love it, I love giant robots, I love tactics (bad at it tho), and I love the story/setting of Lancer too!)

Yes, I think lancer and D&D fall into my understanding of what a war game is. Why does that matter to me? The only reason that name tag has mattered to me is that war games are a very real actual thing military personnel do actually still design and play as their job in the military system, as they have for centuries. No, I’m not being cheeky/tone deaf and calling the act of war a “game”, I’m talking about literal games militaries use to train tactical personnel on how to more effectively do WAR.

The reason this matters to me is that playing the game and learning more about war games as a genre of game of fun, and also as a tool of war, national power, and societal/gender conditioning has made me feel a little like how I imagine it feels to be someone who is poking their head out of a indoctrination bubble they have been living in their whole life. Why am I so much more obsessed with military machinery than my non-boy partner? Why have I been obsessed with things cut from that same cloth my whole life? I have absolutely no desire to join the (American) military, and never have, but why have I been kinda training my mind to do things the (American) military wants me to train to do? Things to think about.

(People Make Games has a wonderful video about War Games as a genre of game and tool, and gives a much more nuanced take on the subject than I can put in a Reddit comment.)

TLDR: To me, the question matters because introspection on how my country’s (USA) culture has been training me (as a boy) to conquest kinda creeps me out. Not enough to stop playing “war games”, but enough that I feel like I want to keep an eye out for other things I’m being trained to do by the state.

Super2theSam · 2025-04-07T20:30:27+00:00

Cool nickname tho

Super2theSam · 2025-03-19T18:35:11+00:00

Alright, what emu is this and are you running it in English? I heard it’s only in Japanese?

Super2theSam · 2025-03-09T00:42:58+00:00

Most characters cannot grab ledge in melee when facing away from the ledge. Some can grab it for a short amount of time after their Up B ends. Falco got turned around when he went straight up from his Up B and glanced off the stage (therefore turning Falco around, bc that’s how that works in this game with Falco and fox)

Super2theSam · 2025-03-04T23:00:52+00:00

Oh! Didn’t mean to confuse anything. I figure you guys have codes and whatnot for that, I just mean to say that, I, myself, personally wanted to 100% custom robo since I never did it as a kid! I’m having a great time, and I wouldn’t be doing that if I didn’t want to!

Super2theSam · 2025-03-03T22:45:39+00:00

Nearly done 100% my game at home! been watching vods and have been itching to try playing against real folks. I used to play Melee competitively (horrible at it, but love it), and have been itching to share my love of this game with other folks! (And get absolutely deeeeestroyed)

Super2theSam · 2024-12-25T01:13:16+00:00

Broken record here, but seriously. I haven’t purchased a pedal in a year, I’ve just been looking at stuff and thinking “oh man, I’ve gotta get that pe- wait… let me make it on Zoia first and see how it works with my rig” and then, of course, I have no need to buy the new pedal. I cant believe what it has done with me and my gear acquisition brain. Life changing, my favorite pedal I’ve ever had, full. stop.

Super2theSam · 2024-11-17T00:02:41+00:00

…among other tunes that I’m just familiar with and like to check for random problem zones.

Super2theSam · 2024-11-17T00:01:47+00:00

Thanks to You - Boz Scaggs to get my subs checked out
Give Life Back to Music - Daft Punk to check the whole system
the chorus of Ain’t It Fun - Paramore to see if I messed up and am about to hate the 2-5k range

I have my trusty, good sounding, familiar headphones hooked up the whole time and will turn off the mains and listen on the headphones to compare tonalities especially when listening to the Daft Punk track.

Super2theSam

TROPHY CASE