Power supply design for vacuum tube amplifiers matt renaud, january 2012 introduction its time for a little confession. Power amplifier load line a few basic guidelines should be followed even in simple minimal. The next power supply is virtually identical to the one above except it uses a 6ax5 rectifier tube instead of a 5y3. I have been asked to provide some information on power supply design for tube gear, particularly the tradeoffs. The phono stage and power supply can also be placed sidebyside on a standard 17 wide equipment shelf, if you prefer. It is also useful for powering qrp low power transmitters, audio preamps and other small tube circuits. The second part delves into the physics of gas tubes and phototubes, and also a bit of power supply design. Before working on a high voltage power supply, always follow these three steps. Vacuum tube calculators basic theory using 21stcentury technology to design vacuum tube preamps, power amps, and power supplies system design a professional methodology for crafting a complete. A power supply should provide a precise voltage completely stabilized versus.
Power supplies with electron tubes ced engineering. In addition, mains voltage is ac, while vacuum tubes require dc. A vacuum tube, an electron tube, or valve british usage or, colloquially, a tube north america, is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric. Psu designer ii is designed to help you with the design of simple linear unregulated mains power supplies, as often found in tube amplifiers. Audiophiles, guitarists and general hobbyists alike will find this book an invaluable source of detailed information on transformers, rectifiers, smoothing, highvoltage series and shunt.
Where some of the tube audio community gathers, audioxpress. An acdc receiver design is a style of power supply of vacuum tube radio or television receivers that eliminated the bulky and expensive mains transformer. The more current the circuit draws, the brighter the purple glow from the tube. My transformers were mostly harvested from old gear with vacuum tube rectifiers. Figure 4 load current bottom beam, regulator figure 5 supply output voltage bottom beam, regulator figure 6. It can be used for prototyping low power tube devices with one or more vacuum tubes. Modern solid state equipment utilises the highfrequency switchmode power supply design to both filter and regulate the output, however the extra complexity, cost and potential unreliability of a switchmode power supply may not be warranted for a tube hifi amplifier when a holistic view of power supply requirements is considered. Therefore, a stepup power transformer is first needed to bring the mains voltage up to the.
Power supply design tutorial february 8, 2018 jurgen hubner. The basic power supply figure 31 shows the block diagram of the basic power supply. Adagio vacuum tube phono stage mm mc tavish design. Sometimes i get excited about my latest circuit and after looking for just the right tubes, output. The amount of calculations to properly design a tube rectifier are more arduous than designing a preamp or power tube. The kit also teaches basic regulated power supply design as explained below.
In the above pic the large valve at the right end corner of the chassis is the rectifier which converts ac from the power tranny to dc. When the top connection to the secondary is positive with respect to the bottom connection and center tap, the upper diode of the 5y3gt rectifier tube pins 4 and 28 conducts, allowing current to pass to the output. The question is the amplifier i am building needs 300 vdc. We have all the iron grounded to power line and earth ground for safety. As i understand voltage after bridge rectifiers across the. Solid state, vacuum tube types 5ar4, 5r4ggygyagyb, 5u4ggagb, 5v3a, 5v4gga, 5y3ggagt, 5z3, 6au4gt, 6ax4gtgtagtb, 6ca4. I have been asked to provide some information on power supply design for tube gear, particularly the tradeoffs involved in solidstate versus vacuum rectification, chokeinput versus capacitorinput filters, and various types of capacitors. Vacuum tubes power page 3 antique electronic supply. Solid state, vacuum tube types 5ar4, 5r4ggygyagyb, 5u4ggagb, 5v3a, 5v4gga, 5y3ggagt, 5z3, 6au4gt, 6ax4gtgtagtb, 6ca4, 6d22s, 6de4, 6x4, 6x5gt, 6w4gt, 83. The amount of calculations to properly design a tube rectifier are more arduous than designing a preamp or power. How vacuum tubes work by eric barbour inside a tube why are tubes still used using tubes the basics. There are several different power supply designs for converting ac to the necessary dc for most electronic circuits. The most common power source is the household 110v to 120v ac outlet 240v in some other countries.
This schematic uses only one diode and though only one half of the sine wave. R5 and r6 actually represent internal resistance of the transformer. If you cannot prepare highquality 9v power supply, please use 006p 9v battery as power supply. Battery driven state is quite good from viewpoint of noise. Beside that, el34, el84, and 12ax7 vacuum tubes are used in many. Allinone tube power supply the ps10 is a new allinone powersupply kit for tube lovers. According to their datasheets, current absorbed by the filament of one el84 is 0. Power supply design tutorial february 8, 2018 jurgen hubner this series of tutorials explains indepth design steps for the buck and the boost topology dcdc switching regulators, supplemented by dedicated sessions on pcb layout and signal edge control for emi that apply to all switching regulators. It would be more accurate to say that in the beginning there were vacuum tube based power supplies, so lets call this the quote on quote. The transformer i have is 660 volts ac center tapped 120 milliamps. Most small signal vacuum tube devices have been superseded by semiconductors, but some vacuum tube electronic devices are still in common use. He tested and comparated this topology versus a pure tube vacuum state power supply design with a 300b output tube amplifier and there was no difference both while listening and measuring the output. Jun 04, 2014 schematic of 120 vdc power supply with regulation. Oct 06, 2016 in this video, i show you how to modify the isolation transformer shown in the previous video so that way it can power a variety of different vacuum tube projects.
A sideeffect of the design was that the receiver could in principle operate from a dc supply as well as an ac supply. The magnetron is the type of tube used in all microwave ovens. Power supply for vacuum tube experiments c 202019, g. Transformers used in vacuum tube rectification systems almost always have higher primary and secondary resistances than transformers used with solid state. In addition to the standard solidstate regulated external power supply, we also. This is a very interesting and unique electronic project kit. The wa7tp power supply has all of the advantages of a separatechassis power supply, including the low noise that comes with physical separation. This guide discusses all relevant aspects for an integrated pushpull vacuum tube amplifier design, including the power supply unit. To offer you a unique high quality, rationally priced pure vacuum tube amplifier, we designed a lovely polished stainless steel chassis and added a double anodized faceplate. Vacuum tubes can be tested outside of their circuitry using a vacuum tube tester. Please, follow these basic instructions to place your order. The ultravalve has premium input jacks, 5way binding post output jacks on 34 centers for 4 ohm, 8 ohm, and 16 ohm taps, a line fuse, and an standard iec power jack and.
See more ideas about vacuum tube, tube and valve amplifier. Ever wonder what goes into the design of a vacuum tube audio amplifier. Power supplies are vital in the world of electronics. Back in 1904, british scientist john ambrose fleming first showed his device to convert an alternating current signal into direct current. In this video, i show you how to modify the isolation transformer shown in the previous video so that way it can power a variety of different vacuum tube projects. Power amplifier load line a few basic guidelines should be followed even in simple minimalcomponent vacuum tube transmitters. Low cost argon power supply unbuilt kit vintage vacuum tube. I copied this design from a ham radio friend who has been using a similar power supply in his moonbounce amplifier vacuum tube of course for years without problems. A very unassuming title for a 617page engineering book. Apr 10, 2010 the slides are pretty heavy on engineering design terms, but give a good feel for what it takes to construct and tune an audio amplifier using vacuum tube technology.
For example, if the input voltage to the regulator is 330 v, and the output is set to 180 v, with a load current draw of 40 ma the beam power tube dissipates 330 150 v. Regular power factor is where the current and voltage are not in phase, and so the current times voltage no. Beside that, el34, el84, and 12ax7 vacuum tubes are used in many practical examples, to design the various parts of the circuits and to compute the values of the needed components. The heater is simply using the power for resistive heating.
You construct a power supply, featuring a lowvoltage, purple glow, argon gas vacuum rectifier tube. Most power supplies are made up of four basic sections. If you want to learn more of the technical details behind vacuum. Greatly improving the already pristine performance of the woo audio wa7 fireflies is the wa7tp power supply, using classic vacuum tube circuitry.
Any convenient, safe connector can be used for the supply outputs. Theres a lot of material on tube design, but these are my personal favorites. Ultravalve vacuum tube amplifier audio by van alstine. This project is a general purpose power supply for small vacuum tube projects. Keep those filaments lit, design your own vacuum tube audio. The total output is rated at 75 ma, but the voltage regulator circuit uses 15 ma, so the main output is down to 60 ma. Tube amplifier power supply unit designer software psu designer ii is designed to help you with the design of simple linear unregulated mains power supplies, as often found in tube amplifiers. With true vacuum diodes, the voltage varies depending on the current passing.
I dont always spend as much time on my power supply designs as i should. When the top connection to the secondary is positive with respect to the bottom. As i understand voltage after bridge rectifiers across the smoothing capacitor increases. The pstube kit was designed for those who wish to build a tubebased line stage or phono stageusing a tuberectifierbased power supply that uses a classic tubeamplifier power transformer that holds a. Matt renaud usa flag to email matt, type out the email address.
It is an allinone due to it holding everything, including the power transformer. Modern solid state equipment utilises the highfrequency switchmode power supply design to both filter and regulate the output, however the extra complexity, cost and potential unreliability of a switch. Tube power supply design its time for a little confession. Tube amplifier power supply unit designer electronic circuits. A 40 minute presentation on how to design a vacuum tube rectifier. The transformer steps up the 120 volts ac in the primary to 540 volts ac in the secondary. The power supply on a separate chassis solves the problem of the power tranny external magnetic field contaminating the valve amps electronics, whereas a monoblock does not. Premium vacuum tube power supply unit greatly improving the already pristine performance of the woo audio wa7 fireflies is the wa7tp power supply, using classic vacuum tube circuitry. Well, radio building master greg charvat has you covered with his latest presentation, design your own vacuum. A timehonored practice is to use a chicken stick a wooden dowel or pvc tube, with one end attached to a grounded wire to make sure filter. Designing power supplies for valve amplifiers is a unique guide to the operation and practical design of linear power supplies, especially for valve equipment. Seta single ended tube amplifier audio design guide.
This article presents various vacuum tube power supply designs and some. The first part of the book has a rather indepth treatment of vacuum tube operation, and details of amplifier circuit design. If you are down with bode plots and circuit diagrams, though, it could serve as a nice introduction to building a class ab amplifier circuit. I copied this design from a ham radio friend who has been using a similar power supply in his moonbounce amplifier vacuum tube of course for years without. The first electronic amplification of sound was done with vacuum tubes. It also warms up at the same rate as other tubes which many people feel is much easier on filter capacitors.
Keep those filaments lit, design your own vacuum tube. If you need a little more current, and dont need the 105 volt supply, the voltage regulator tube can be pulled. Many viewers of this site have found the regulated power supply and amplifier. Vacuum tube power supply design diy audio projects. Sometimes i get excited about my latest circuit and after looking for just the right tubes, output transformers, coupling caps, and low noise resistors, the power supply design becomes almost an. Low cost argon power supply unbuilt kit vintage vacuum. Class a2 also requires a special driver circuit, that can supply power to the grid. The schematic below is a pspice model of the supply. I copied this design from a ham radio friend who has been using a similar power supply in his moonbounce amplifier vacuum tube of. A vacuum tube devices heater filament can be supplied with either dc or ac, the tubes work the exact same way with either type of supply. You probably never heard of this or considered it, but power factor causes some very strange effects in a power supply. The cl38uc control amplifier and the mq88uc power amplifier are based on the latest technology and design, but the exterior styling evokes a classic image from the heyday of vacuum tube audio. The 6ax5 does not require a separate filament winding.
For example, if the input voltage to the regulator is 330 v, and the output is set to 180 v, with a load current draw of 40. Hello im just starting to work with valves but have a question on the power supply side. The circuits that use a 5y3 rectifier tube require a transformer with a 5 volt 2. Dec 29, 2014 a 40 minute presentation on how to design a vacuum tube rectifier. Add only the numerical characters of the item number. Allinone tube power supply the ps10 is a new allinone power supply kit for tube lovers. R1, r2, and r3 represent the load by external circuits, including voltage dividers and vacuum tubes. Trace the flow of ac and dc in a power supply, from the ac input to the dc output on a schematic diagram. Tube amplifier power supply unit designer electronic.