DRIP 670 v3.2, In need of info (DRIP SUCKS!)

[TubeMonkey]

Hey guys,

I'm 85% Of the way through a Drip 670 build, but am running into some issues. Firstly I will precede all of this with how good the board quality is...  that being said.....  Marie and Greg at drip have been utterly useless in regards to information.  I've emailed them over a dozen times over the last two months, each time they've promised me a BOM and a Schematic for this new version, each time failing to send it. I've spent $1000(!!) on pcb's from them, but have run into a brick wall.  (They also only shipped me one set and I had to remind them I bought two)

There is a new V3 board, with a new layout (on the board labeled with v3-2018) and a new PSU with black solder mask (labeled with 2017 PSU.2).  The BOM they sent me was for the previous version. There is a lot of the same parts used... but I probably spent $200 on parts that aren't used.

Unfortunately there are some differences in part numbers which i'm unable to find on my own. I actually went so far as to build an entire mouser cart for all boards as the provided DIGIKEY cart (for the previous version) sucked so bad.  (it isn't updated and many parts need substitutes... also DIGIKEY's cart sharing sucks)  - The biggest example of this is the new fuse holder, which i'm unable to find a compatible part number for the provided footprint.

I've also not been provided with a schematic for this version which will be needed once i start to power things up. (and assuming this board version has no errata is a big assumption)

Again a wiring guide would be handy, but not needed, and I'm assuming one doesn't exist, but at the VERY least i need a BOM and a Schematic. I'm an experienced builder with MANY difficult projects under my belt, and if I need to I can cobble together a game plan, but I'm SO incredibly annoyed as even the lowest most disorganized and cheapest projects have all had, at the very least,  these two pieces of information.

SO here's my humble request to the community... Has anyone build this version?  Do these documents even exist?  Happy to pioneer with a new 670 v3.2 thread and figure this stuff out but it's hard to believe I have to spend this much time and effort decrypting this stuff with the cost of this board....

My other annoyance is because they sent me (updated) v3 boards none of the mounting holes for the $800 collective case (from Dan) Line up, so i'm going to have to hand drill a bunch of holes with my drill press.

One of these is for myself, but the other is for a client with $7500 tied up in it. 

Anyway.... anybody able to help me out?  Thanks in advance.



EB

 

[Pusch3l]

I'm 99percent thru exact the same build version. And I only can share your experience with Drip. The BoM is from the version 2 with the outdated PSU. I have so many parts left I could build another half 670 

I would be happy to answer your questions because I think you have many.. The information about the PSU is almost none

 

[Rob Flinn]

I am 90% through a ver 2.    I bought the board & case through the BM here.  Not sure who made the case, but it needed a lot of strengthening and modification to be fit for purpose.  .......

 

[Pusch3l]

I needed to make a drill template on paper for both PCBs. The Mainboard have to be placed as near as it can to the 3 pots on the front. Otherwise you cannot fit the 5ar4 onto the PSU. I know that from own experience  :-\
I had to cut the 5 cooler for the voltage regulators to make them fit.
And yeah I had to reorder many parts that changed from v2 to v3.
the 2 orange wires from the  Control Amp Transformers  must be twisted and connected to the each 440v rail on top of the PSU.
The wiring is pretty straight forward. Only for 2 IDC connections I had to modify something. On the DC Threshold (Mainboard)  I had to remove the casing and for the XLR in/outputs I had to solder the wires to the female IDC cause I used shielded wire instead of the flat one..

Let me know if you have more questions

 

[Pusch3l]

After powering up the unit for the first time the PSU Heater section went up in smoke somewhere. There is a spot right to the rectifier diodes that says "JMP/.1" but obviously a Jumper is not what goes in there...
So I have to remove the whole PSU and take a look what is damaged.

Image attached of the spot on the PCB

 

[31cc7]

So I am not the only one. I purchased "2019 Ultra British" and they didn't send me all boards and I've been asking them to send me the remaining control boards for months. Of course there is no BOM or instructions either.
Marie claimed I don't need control boards (?) - but on their website it says they are included. Then that they are still working on it.
So why they sell incomplete product?

This was supposed to be my first DIY project. Now perhaps I can hang these boards on the wall as I am not sure what else I can do with them.

I am writing this because at the time when I was looking for my first project I didn't see any red flags about Drip. Maybe this will save someone money and disappointment.

I am still hoping that I will eventually receive the remaining boards, BOM and some build instructions though.

 

[TwentyTrees]

I’ve got to say, while I’m interested in some of the projects that Drip offers, stories like this put me off ever going near their products. Good luck to all who’ve been left hanging, hope they come through for you.

 

[Pusch3l]

A Drip as first DiY is ambitious my friend. I wouldn't call myself neither a beginner or Pro, something in between I guess. But Drip stuff is always High Voltage stuff. Personally I would have said go for a 1290 or 312 Clone as first build and then move up the ladder 
I received the PSU board 1 or 2 month after the main pcb and addon boards.

Sad thing is that the Drip stuff is high Price (about 7 to 8K Dollar for the whole 670) and you get NO response from Gregory since half a year. And everywhere is stated to contact for technical questions.
I figured out most of the PSU stuff from Silkscreen, old BoM and Video.
2 or 3 things I couldn't figure out I got help from Brian from Sowter.

But let's not hijack this Thread and get back to the 670 v3.2.
We can discuss that in another topic

 

[31cc7]

A Drip as first DiY is ambitious my friend. I wouldn't call myself neither a beginner or Pro, something in between I guess. But Drip stuff is always High Voltage stuff. Personally I would have said go for a 1290 or 312 Clone as first build and then move up the ladder 

I know, crazy, but I couldn't talk myself out of it. It's not like I don't know anything about electronics - I did build some simple kits when I was a teenager (like a power amplifier) and played a bit with STM32, but nothing related to professional audio.
After I couldn't get the Drip project forward, I purchased boards and case for the DR-ZEN2 limiter and I built it without problem.
Now I am working on a summing mixer using  CAPI 2-ACA-Bo and 2S-LA. Today I powered up the ACA board and tested with generator and oscilloscope and everything works
Couple of months ago I just decided to go all in into DIY and got all the equipment, watched a lot of videos and read this forum for hours every day.
I already have a long list of things that I am going to build
That 2019 Ultra British project looks so great on paper and it would be a great shame to not build it. One option is that in few years when I get more experience I'll figure out what to do with it if there will be no help.

I am sorry for the off-topic. That's my last comment about this issue in this thread.

 

[Ricardus]

That sucks because I was going to build a 670 if they ever did a future run of the boards.

 

[TubeMonkey]

Hey Sebastian,

Sorry for a belated reply.... I've been buried in sessions and some other tech work. 
The jmper/.1 is a .1 ohm wire wound resistor, or a jumper. so I don't think that's the cause of your problem. One thing to not is that the back of the power regulators MUST be insulated from the heat shield/GND so double check that the insulator didn't shift when you tightened it down.

 

[TubeMonkey]

Okay here's a small update....

I was able to figure out through a gentlemen I found (who isn't on this forum) named Sven, and through the aforementioned PSU video (which I hadn't seen before) That there is no longer fuse holders on this version of the PCB.  Through testing with my multimeter I figured out the holes are mounting points which either connect to ground or don't connect anywhere.... they are intended for Volt meters such as the DC meters found on amazon. I was able to order and install them with standoffs and they are working nicely!

I was brave enough to bring everything up (individually at first) on a variac the other day and all 6.3v and 12v rails work flawlessly without load. I'm still waiting on an E80F to test the high voltage PSU.

I have a small problem with the BIAS psu as it is reading WAY high. (full -34v after rectifier instead of -6.3) I just had a small revelation about 10 minutes ago which I will test shortly....  There are provisions for either a 337 voltage regulator OR a 1.5h choke. I don't believe it is intended for both of these to be hooked up in tandem. I had installed both of these, which i think is causing weirdness in the regulation. I'm going to remove the choke and see what happens. I'll also have to do a diode test on the 337 to make sure its still working.  The only other thing I could think of as a reason for this is if the bias PSU acts differently if not under load. (I've seen PSUs that read way over voltage if there is no load)

 

[TubeMonkey]

Okay..... was able to figure most of the rest of this out. It's powered and passing signal and sounding great now! A few issues.....

One is I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the MURATA meters on the board do display the proper -6.3v.  They are erratically displaying somewhere between -5 and -12 at any given time, although if I measure with my multimeter after R142/242 bias trim pot it's a stable -6.2v.  At the input pin (pin 11) I get -5.9ish volts, but the display doesn't reflect that.  I have the decimal jumper set to position 1.

Only other issue is my vintage Daven T-attenuators are not as precision matched as I'd like so I think I'm going to build a pair of T attenuators with Elma switches and .5% resistors. Anybody have a layout for a 21 position T switch with 2db per step?

STILL no correspondence from the Drip people--- EXTREMELY frustrating as I probably could have this metering situation figured out in 30 seconds with a proper schematic.  FUCK

 

[Tubemooley]

"So I am not the only one. I purchased "2019 Ultra British" and they didn't send me all boards and I've been asking them to send me the remaining control boards for months. Of course there is no BOM or instructions either.
Marie claimed I don't need control boards (?) - but on their website it says they are included. Then that they are still working on it.
So why they sell incomplete product?"

==== I have had the exact same experience as 31cc7 on the Drip Ultra British boards. I can build anything. All I need is a schematic and a BOM. I cannot read minds. That is not in my job description. Where are my control boards and build docs? Tubemooley out. ====

 

[TubeMonkey]

I can build anything. All I need is a schematic and a BOM. I cannot read minds. That is not in my job description.

Amen brother....  I can see why a novice who needs a step by step build guide and no diagnostic skills  would shy away from these projects.... and maybe that's a good thing,  but we are experienced builders.  I can build anything from a properly labeled schematic. I can build anything from a neatly laid out PCB and a BOM.  But you said it. We can't read minds.  It costs me time and money trying to reverse engineer part numbers and figure out the designer's intentions.  If you are going to claim to sell a "product" at least include pertinent information, less the product is useless.

EB

 

[Pusch3l]

I don't know when things went sideways at their company but I got lucky in the last couple days and got 2 dox from a 670 V1 and the UE100 and I have to admit that they are a masterpiece. The UE100 doc is over 160 pages and the 670 V1 is more than 200 pages...
Not like the 670 PSU.2

 

[schrobbelbop]

Okay..... was able to figure most of the rest of this out. It's powered and passing signal and sounding great now! A few issues.....

One is I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the MURATA meters on the board do display the proper -6.3v.  They are erratically displaying somewhere between -5 and -12 at any given time, although if I measure with my multimeter after R142/242 bias trim pot it's a stable -6.2v.  At the input pin (pin 11) I get -5.9ish volts, but the display doesn't reflect that.  I have the decimal jumper set to position 1.

Only other issue is my vintage Daven T-attenuators are not as precision matched as I'd like so I think I'm going to build a pair of T attenuators with Elma switches and .5% resistors. Anybody have a layout for a 21 position T switch with 2db per step?

STILL no correspondence from the Drip people--- EXTREMELY frustrating as I probably could have this metering situation figured out in 30 seconds with a proper schematic.  f**k

For Stabalizing the -6.2 meter readout:
pad 1 beneath the words BIAS ADJ
connect to lead of the red cap next to the meter (transformer side)

I've switched to hairballs 600Tpad's for input because i coudnt get the unit
to be L/R balanced due to the diffrences in tube gain.

You can contact me so i can share my doc's with you. i was lucky to have
had support from greg that time.

 

[31cc7]

I am sorry for the off-topic. That's my last comment about this issue in this thread.

I need to break this promise, but for a good reason. I just received the missing boards from Drip!

I think I understand why it took so long - I was expecting one board, but got eleven
So this thing is going to be huge  8)

I hope some documentation will follow, but now I can slowly look into getting required parts.

Awesome!

 

[Pusch3l]

Marie told me before Christmas that she will ship a PSU.2 board to me.
Would fit the timeline

In the meantime I will debug another 670v3 with the old PSU. The 440v rail drops from 512v to 388v with all Tubes in the circuit and the -19/-14v are off about 3 to 4v. The BIAS has the Choke in the circuit and this time I will try the LM337.
The resistors in the HV section aren't 3w types so I will start there and replace them..

Other strange thing is. That the needles from the VUs won't move to 0 when powering up

 

[mwrichardson]

Did anyone ever get docs for the V3.2 supply? I am trying to sort out someones build for them and have no bias supply working Thanks