How A Valve Guitar Amp Works.

[FrankenWashie]

If you get a 240volt 'kickinthepants', you're actually copping 340volts one hundred times each second. The good news is, your also getting zero volts one hundred times every second. (Gives you a break)

I'm not so sure you're going to benefit greatly from that break Muzz! Seriously though, great stuff from both of you. its all great and valuable information, especially the safety aspects.

[DrNomis_44]

I'm not so sure you're going to benefit greatly from that break Muzz! Seriously though, great stuff from both of you. its all great and valuable information, especially the safety aspects.

Cheers, personally the safety aspects of working on Valve Guitar amps cannot be stressed enough, which is what I was originally getting at, I've had some pretty close calls when working on Valve circuitry in the past, and know from first-hand experience just how dangerous it can be if you're not careful, but as long as you follow certain procedures you can minimize the safety-risks involved.

Whenever I work on any piece of electronic equipment that's mains-powered, I follow this procedure to ensure my personal safety:


1, First thing I do is turn off and completely disconnect the piece of electronic equipment from the 240V AC mains outlet, I usually do this by pulling the 3-Pin mains plug out of the wall socket after switching the wall socket and the piece of equipment off, if it uses an IEC "Kettle-Cord" I completely disconnect that from the equipment I'm working on.

2, I use my Digital Multimeter set to read DC Volts on it's highest DC Volts range to check for any residual voltage in the circuit, I attach the black multimeter probe to a suitable grounding-point in the piece of equipment, and I put my left hand either behind my back or in the back pocket of the shorts or trousers I'm wearing, and I hold the red multimeter probe in my right hand while I probe for voltages, this ensures that I don't get any dangerous shocks going across my chest, if I do accidentally happen to get a shock.

3, If I do get any significantly high voltage readings, I use a resistor of a suitable value and a couple of alligator-clip leads to discharge any power-supply filter caps to ground while monitoring the voltages with my multimeter.

4, Once I am satisfied that there are no dangerous voltages present in the equipment I'm working on, I consider it safe to work on, then I commence working on it.

5, Once I have finished doing the work I Double, and Triple-check that I have done everything correctly before I plug the equipment into the mains wall socket prior to testing the equipment for correct operation.