DIY Dodd Buffer

TrungT · « **Reply #880 on:** 5 Mar 2011, 05:24 pm »

^^^^^
I have not get any tube cost more than $50 yet.
The $79 DR tube is on my list. (year 1986)

HAL · « **Reply #881 on:** 5 Mar 2011, 05:43 pm »

Trung,
Thanks! Will be saving up for one to give it a try after I hear your experience with it.

Atlplasma · « **Reply #882 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 12:37 pm »

The DR Supertube at Parts Connexion is now listed for $99.95. Market forces at work apparently.

HAL · « **Reply #883 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 12:42 pm »

Oh well, will stick with my www.tubes.ru 6H30P-DR version.

TrungT · « **Reply #884 on:** 22 Mar 2011, 01:45 pm »

WoW
Just look at it last night at $79

Atlplasma · « **Reply #885 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 03:30 pm »

I have a charging question. My buffer runs off of three 12 volt 7 ah batteries in parallel. What's the best way to connect my Ctek 800 charger? So far I've connected it to the first battery (pos and neg) and to the first and last battery (neg on first and pos on third). Is there a best configuration when using multiple batteries in parallel?

jtwrace · « **Reply #886 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 03:44 pm »

Quote from: Atlplasma on 23 Mar 2011, 03:30 pm

I have a charging question. My buffer runs off of three 12 volt 7 ah batteries in parallel. What's the best way to connect my Ctek 800 charger? So far I've connected it to the first battery (pos and neg) and to the first and last battery (neg on first and pos on third). Is there a best configuration when using multiple batteries in parallel?

Connect to one battery and leave the charger on all the time and do not disconnect the charger. Listen to music!

mikeeastman · « **Reply #887 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 04:30 pm »

your last way,pos on first batt and neg third is best, the buffer should be connected the same way. Most batt chargers will put some noise into the system, by hooking up the charger on opposite side of batt bank as the buffer it
might help.

Atlplasma · « **Reply #888 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 04:56 pm »

I wondered about noise from the AC trickle charge (although I haven't really noticed any). I'll give your suggestion a try and see what happens.

TrungT · « **Reply #889 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 05:16 pm »

Ctek charger pluged in my battery 24/7 and I can't hear no noise at all.

jtwrace · « **Reply #890 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 05:17 pm »

Quote from: Atlplasma on 23 Mar 2011, 04:56 pm

I wondered about noise from the AC trickle charge (although I haven't really noticed any). I'll give your suggestion a try and see what happens.

I had a long conversation with the CTEK rep when I saw him. The charger does NOT induce any noise. Try it!

Danny Richie · « **Reply #891 on:** 23 Mar 2011, 05:19 pm »

I have found the C-Tek chargers to be dead quiet. At least the first level or two of its cycle. My battery (100 amp hour) never gets low enough for a heavy charge from the charger.

ebag4 · « **Reply #892 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 04:51 pm »

In a flash of idiocy I apparently left my buffer on the last time I used it (Sunday?). The issue is that it is running on a Optima Yellow Top and the voltage was down to just below 5V when I found I had left it on. The batttery appears to be taking a charge, I am now over 12V with the charger connected, so I will let that continue to see if it will take a complete charge. My question is; will the low voltage supplied to the buffer have any affect on the buffer components? How about my 6H30 Pi tube? Anyone have to deal with this scenario?

Thanks,
Ed

Atlplasma · « **Reply #893 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 07:03 pm »

The 6H30 draws 5.2 watts, but I have no idea if letting it drain the battery might cause a problem. How does it sound? I'm assuming you have the power switch in the 6 volt position as well. (Asks the guy who played his tube at 12 volts for half a day.)

HAL · « **Reply #894 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 07:33 pm »

I discharged my Optima Blue Top to about 8 volts after leaving my buffer running over night by mistake. I just turned it off and recharged the battery. Everything was fine.

The 6 volt regulator would stop regulating at below 8 volts, so the filament would be below its normal voltage level and current draw going down.

The HV supply for the tube probably has a cut off point as well.

I think I am going to install a power LED on mine for that reason.

ebag4 · « **Reply #895 on:** 25 Mar 2011, 02:18 pm »

Thanks for the replies guys. The battery appears to have taken a charge and the buffer is now playing without any obvious issues.

I think the power LED is a good idea!

Best,
Ed

Danny Richie · « **Reply #896 on:** 25 Mar 2011, 04:02 pm »

I have one of the Dodd Audio battery powered tube amps also. If I leave it on too long, the green light on the front panel turns Red, and then it starts to beep.

HAL · « **Reply #897 on:** 25 Mar 2011, 07:03 pm »

My Dodd battery preamp does that with the front panel LED as well and has the alarm. The battery buffer does not have one.

It would be nice to have that on the buffer!

Will do the power on LED as an alternative. I think I know how to wire the LED to the standby/on switch to make it show both modes as using the battery.

usp1 · « **Reply #898 on:** 9 Apr 2011, 01:37 pm »

I just bought a used Musical Fidelity X-DAC - the round barrel shaped one. In any case, just figured out that it wont work with the Dodd buffer. Probably does not have enough output voltage..right? So I thought I should route it through my Odyssey Tempest preamp then through the buffer but that doesn't work either. SHould the buffer come before or after the pre? It works fine when I bypass the buffer entirely.

Atlplasma · « **Reply #899 on:** 11 Apr 2011, 01:11 pm »

Quote from: usp1 on 9 Apr 2011, 01:37 pm

I just bought a used Musical Fidelity X-DAC - the round barrel shaped one. In any case, just figured out that it wont work with the Dodd buffer. Probably does not have enough output voltage..right? So I thought I should rout it through my Odyssey Tempest preamp then through the buffer but that doesn't work either. SHould the buffer come before or after the pre? It works fine when I bypass the buffer entirely.

No one is chiming in, so I will venture an opinion. I'm always thought it was one or the other (buffer or pre). To have the simplest replay chain, you go with the buffer. At least that's the way I understand how one approaches this type of setup.