Quad II Refilling the block cap

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Disco Volante

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Jun 20, 2021
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Southern Denmark, Fyn
Almost done restoring a pair of QUAD II monoblocks, 15-17W PP tetrodes, fancy cathode feedback, y'all probably know these. Mine are a bit special/weird since they have a past in the Swedish Radio broadcasting system, bottomless with Tuchel connector and a balance-drive xfmr.

Keith Snook inspired me to do a refill of the old square "block cap".
IMG_4105.JPG
 
Wired up a replacement with a bit more juice:
68µF for the P section bypassed with 4.7µF and 2 x 68µF (136µF) for the E section also bypassed with 4.7µF.
On the shelf is a pair of GZ34s for a better match to the higher capacitance.
IMG_4112.JPG
 
I actually left those caps in place on my pair of QuadII's ,
they must be 60+ years old by now , still going strong ,
There a Drilytic with etched foil .
You might well replace them with something of larger value , but remember theres a maximum capacitance that a GZ32 will stand at the output , moving over to a GZ34 might be a plan , it has a larger maximum value of capacitance , and higher current capabillity ,so you might end up with slightly higher HT voltage , and slightly reduced noise ,compared to the original parts .
none of that is a problem .
There are a few companies that do multicaps still , it might be worth checking the available options if you want to keep historically correct ,

Sorry just saw your later posts ,
Halt a minute , have you checked the max allowable capacitance of a GZ34 ?
its 47uF ,
Also those brown foil bypass caps , they look like 250v parts , if the are its a little low as the HT rail sits around 330v on the Quads.

Your workmanship is first class , but dont you think 70uF after the rectifier is a bit much ?

While the extra few uF will help smoothing noise it might also shorten the life of the rectifier tube , because the current on the peaks exceeds the max allowable .
Typically this ends with a spectacular lightening storm inside the rectifier . so be very carefull .
We didnt see the voltage ratings of the caps you used , Id choose at least 400v in this case .
The other thing is a modern high voltage electrolytic is designed for SMPS , modern construction means lower ESR than typical vintage parts , that only serves to exacerbate the overload on the peaks in the rectifier , and bring your beautifull amps to smokestack/lightening ,which you dont want .
 
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What considerations led you to connect a small 4.7uF in parallel with the large capacitor?

ns
Guessing - for low ESR? Bypass caps have their plusues and minuses, depending on circuit. If this would be slighlty lower capacitance i would put in this can just film capacitor, larger couldn't fit. Expensive, but worth.
 
250v ac foil motor run caps work quite well in tube amps ,
2x16uf foil wont fit in the case though .
Block metalised foil caps might do ,
1690112486844.png
 
250v ac foil motor run caps work quite well in tube amps ,
2x16uf foil wont fit in the case though .
Block metalised foil caps might do ,
View attachment 112185
Not that type completely, AC capacitors are for use before transformer mostly, for AC rail filtering, they don't work on DC side. I had in mind capacitors (mostly axial type) like you can find in speaker crossovers mainly. some round case some flat. Original is double 16uF. If search well, then you should be able to find at least 22uF which should fit. maybe something with bigger capacitance. Not sure is 450V required, probably in Quad 350V could be enough - matter to check the diagram. MKT would be smaller in size too MKP.
 
I actually left those caps in place on my pair of QuadII's ,
they must be 60+ years old by now , still going strong ,
There a Drilytic with etched foil .
You might well replace them with something of larger value , but remember theres a maximum capacitance that a GZ32 will stand at the output , moving over to a GZ34 might be a plan , it has a larger maximum value of capacitance , and higher current capabillity ,so you might end up with slightly higher HT voltage , and slightly reduced noise ,compared to the original parts .
none of that is a problem .
There are a few companies that do multicaps still , it might be worth checking the available options if you want to keep historically correct ,

Sorry just saw your later posts ,
Halt a minute , have you checked the max allowable capacitance of a GZ34 ?
its 47uF ,
Also those brown foil bypass caps , they look like 250v parts , if the are its a little low as the HT rail sits around 330v on the Quads.

Your workmanship is first class , but dont you think 70uF after the rectifier is a bit much ?

While the extra few uF will help smoothing noise it might also shorten the life of the rectifier tube , because the current on the peaks exceeds the max allowable .
Typically this ends with a spectacular lightening storm inside the rectifier . so be very carefull .
We didnt see the voltage ratings of the caps you used , Id choose at least 400v in this case .
The other thing is a modern high voltage electrolytic is designed for SMPS , modern construction means lower ESR than typical vintage parts , that only serves to exacerbate the overload on the peaks in the rectifier , and bring your beautifull amps to smokestack/lightening ,which you dont want .
@Tubetec: The caps are all 450V types. In deciding to up the capacitance, I am following the advice of mr Keith Snook (I've even been in correspondence with him about the amps).
I quote:
"You may have read that there are limits to the value for C6 set by the Mullard specification for the GZ32 ~ Many web based comments about this do not take into account the current drawn by the QUAD II is no more than 200mA and the GZ32 spec. is based on 300mA @ 300~0~300 Vrms ~ Also the series impedance of the HT secondary and reflected primary impedance allow for a higher value
Fitting a GZ34 or similar efficient valve rectifier should give a higher HT which will not be a problem provided the heater voltage and R12 voltage are in spec. and it may actually make the amplifier run cooler"
QUAD II Valve Power Amplifier Information

Cheers, thanks,
Viggo
 

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