2. amps-preamps
  3. 128282-7026

No bias reading, tubes lit up, no sound

Just replaced the generic brass binding posts and the four connecting wires to/from the output trannies on my Cayin TA-30 tube integrated with Eichmann Pods and Furutech Alpha OCC wire but amp is not playing music now, another set of tubes didn't help.  I had to slightly enlarge the holes for the new posts.  I also got rid of the soldered thin plate connecting/shorting  the two negative posts, on which  were soldered a total of four black wires-two from the output transformers, one from a ground screw, and one coming from a power supply cap. I soldered  them in twos to each terminal and then soldered a short piece of the Furutech wire between the two posts.
Did the vibrations from the drill caused any damage, or is the new four black wire connection the culprit?  I am no technician so I thought to ask for help if anyone could point to a possible remedy that would save me a trip to a qualified service, in which case my system will be down for what would feel like forever.....Thank you so much for your input!!
spinlps
alpha_gt
155 posts
 
Are your new posts isolated from the chassis? Touching anywhere around the positive posts could short the output out. Just a thought? Try putting it back like it was, see if you can get it to work again, then upgrade one piece at a time, so you can see exactly what caused it to stop. 

spinlps OP
6 posts
 
I thought they were, as the securing nut and washer on the inside of chassis ride on plastic threads, the conductive element being encapsulated inside.  However, I measured contact between the nut and the soldered wire, and when I loosened the nut there wasn't any contact anymore.  "Success", I thought,  but alas still no sound.  In off position, I am getting "0" measurement on my tester between any combination of ground, 4 or 8 ohm  posts, set for impedance/electrical contact.  I don't know if this is normal or because of the possible short now the output transformers are dead.......
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
I do not think it is another issue elsewhere in the amp. It is most certainly a grounding issue. Your rewire has upset the original grounding scheme. Go back and match what was done originally. Exactly. 


grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
Did you sort it out? 
spinlps OP
6 posts
 
Unfortunately, not.  I did fix the short to ground on each pole I caused(too much torque applied on the plastic threads) by using nylon washers so at least now that is solved.  We are presently stationed in the Netherlands and was lucky to find a guitar shop in a nearby town(nothing of practical use from google),whose elder owner once worked for Philips- reel-to-reel machines, amps, and the tube factory as well.  He called me this morning to say amp is ....fixed!!!  Didn't discuss what was done over the phone but the charge is.....280 euros.  Everything is so outrageously expensive here, at least for me.  But I am most happy, anyway.  I meanwhile purchased a Marantz HD Amp1 from Amazon(fearing I toasted the amp), with the Dutch Hypex class D modules, based on its 21century design and connectivity.  I hope I like its sound(as all the reviewers) enough to sell my Cayin although with all the upgrades in it, I have taken it to a few hifi shops in NL, Germany, and Belgium just for fun, and all the salesmen pretty much agreed that they have nothing in their stores under 5-6K that approaches  my amp sound-wise.....  May be a keeper for life, perhaps.
Will post how I broke it(still don't know) and what was done to it when I pick it up tomorrow.
More to discover