Bottlehead Forum

Bottlehead Kits => BeePre => Topic started by: docbob52 on June 30, 2013, 06:48:45 AM

Title: Ground bus wire location
Post by: docbob52 on June 30, 2013, 06:48:45 AM
Caution is given in the manual to keep the ground buss wiring as close to the chassis as possible, yet on page 35  the picture shows the 6" black wire from tube socket D center to 13,14L well away from the chassis plate.  Which is the correct position?  Thanks so much.
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: Paul Birkeland on June 30, 2013, 07:10:47 AM
To a large degree, we like those ground wires to be low so that all the other wires you install are laying on top of them.

The particular wire you're speaking of should be anchored to the adhesive wire tie mount that it passes over, so perfection in terms of touching the chassis plate isn't practical.

Enjoy the rest of your build!

-PB
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: docbob52 on July 01, 2013, 02:17:39 PM
Paul,

I messed up a cut on the 18" cat5 cable.  Can I substitute a cat5 cable I have here at home without sonic degradation or do You use some special type?
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: Paul Birkeland on July 01, 2013, 03:17:12 PM
Hello Bob,

We can send you some more if you like.  Just look for solid core shielded Cat5.  We used a cable with some special temperature ratings, but I've had good results from a variety of Cat5 types (especially from some made for NASA).

-PB
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: docbob52 on July 01, 2013, 03:19:05 PM
Thanks PB.  I will just pick some up here locally as it takes a week to get to Alabama from the Left coast.
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: docbob52 on July 09, 2013, 02:11:54 PM
I got impatient waiting on the replacement so I used an external cat 5 but it has stranded wire. Will that make a sonic difference?
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: fullheadofnothing on July 09, 2013, 03:59:04 PM
The main reason to use solid core is it will stay where you put it and is just generally much much easier to deal with. The piece we sent you will probably arrive before you get done cursing the unwieldy wire...
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: Grainger49 on July 10, 2013, 12:01:51 AM
If you strip the whole length of stranded wire and tin it first it will stay where you put it.
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: fullheadofnothing on July 10, 2013, 04:56:45 AM
If you strip the whole length of stranded wire and tin it first it will stay where you put it.

This does not make sense for CAT-5 applications.

It would involve stripping the whole length of CAT-5, unwrapping the foil, untwisting the four twisted pairs, fully stripping each of the 8 wires individually, tinning each wire, insulating the wires (in a way that preserves some kind of color code), twisting them in pairs, wrapping in foil and drain wire and insulating the whole package. That's a lot of work for a wire that is cheap and relatively easy to find in solid-core!
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: docbob52 on July 10, 2013, 08:56:57 AM
All of this was welcomed advise but I did make an important discovery-- stranded Cat5 was invented by underemployed  Psychiatrists !!!!!
Title: Re: Ground bus wire location
Post by: Grainger49 on July 10, 2013, 12:54:38 PM
This does not make sense for CAT-5 applications.

It would involve stripping the whole length of CAT-5, unwrapping the foil, untwisting the four twisted pairs, fully stripping each of the 8 wires individually, tinning each wire, insulating the wires (in a way that preserves some kind of color code), twisting them in pairs, wrapping in foil and drain wire and insulating the whole package. That's a lot of work for a wire that is cheap and relatively easy to find in solid-core!

Exactly!  That is what it requires and that is an option.