Voltage Check - High on some terminals [resolved]

[thewatergod]

Hi everyone! I'm very new, so be gentle  .

Just finished building my Crack and all the resistance checks passed within the ranges listed.

However, when I got to the voltage checks I found that some of the terminals were a bit high:

1. 86v
2. 203v (should be 170v)
3. 0
4. 203v (should be 170v)
5. 86v
6. 0v
7. 120v (should be 90v - 115v)
8. 0v
9. 123v (should be 90v-115v)
10. 0v

Any idea where I went wrong? Both of the LED's lit up if that matters. The only thing that springs to mind is that maybe I misread the initial voltage check on Page 23, after which you go to different sections based on your reading there. Is that possible?

Thanks!

[fullheadofnothing]

Well... what did you read, and what did you do?

[thewatergod]

The reading was 105v.

I then wired according to the directions page 24 of the manual, as the voltage was less than 115, and proceeded on to page 29.

[fullheadofnothing]

Where are you located?

[thewatergod]

I'm in Canada.

I'm guessing by your question my voltage maybe shouldn't have been that low, based on where I am? I don't know much about this kind of thing but that's what made me second guess that reading.

[fullheadofnothing]

Canada is a 120V country. You almost certainly misread your meter, either by not correctly attaching probes, or not correctly setting your meter to read AC, or some other error.

[thewatergod]

Nuts, I thought so. The meter is new and the leads are a little stiff, so that's very possible.

I knew that too, I'm just very unsure of myself here. Thank you! I'll rewire and try again.

[thewatergod]

It worked! Voltages are all bang-on and it produces sound!

One minor issue yet - it definitely favours the right channel a little bit. I switched the the cables around in the jacks and the issue persisted. I them switched the cables on the headphones and the issue travelled to the other can. I even turned the headphones around just to make sure I wasn't hearing things and I wasn't.

Any thoughts? Please let me know if I should move this to a separate thread/topic.

Edit: I'm looking at the post on the left channel and I'm wondering if I maybe over soldered it and the wire isn't contacting the post as much as it should. I'm going to try to desolder and see if that fixes it. But in the meantime I'm open to any other suggestions.

[Doc B.]

My suggestion is slow down and enjoy it for a while the circuit breaks in. That may change the balance issue for the better.

[thewatergod]

Thanks Doc! Sure, I'll give that a try. Much more fun than more soldering  .

How long should I give it to settle in do you think?

I'm hoping you are right, it's not a massive difference. I might not have even noticed if the left channel hadn't come in a little late as I slowly turned up the volume. Heck, the sound was so good that I kept wanting to turn to look over my right shoulder to see if the singer was there .

[Doc B.]

It could take several hours of play time to get the tubes cooked in. There is no exact number, maybe 10, maybe 50.

[thewatergod]

Fair enough! I'll give that a shot and let everything settle out before I go messing with stuff or installing the Speedball or what-have-you.

I greatly appreciate everyone tolerating me and my foolish questions.