5V relay power from 6V heathers

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Ampsergio
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5V relay power from 6V heathers

Post by Ampsergio »

I have a boost switch built into my most recent Amp Design. Currently prototyping it. I was planning to power the relay from a diode bridge rectifier fed from the tube heathers. That fried the diodes. I think is because the heathers are referenced to ground at the pilot lamp and as the transformer center tap. That is probably creating a short since the rectifier is also grounded at the chassis.
Options to solve:
1- disconnect the bridge rectifier from ground (float it). Problem is that eventually there will be a ground reference, the regulator, caps, footswitch…not quite sure how to solve
2- use a half wave rectifier (not sure it really is a solution to be honest).
3- install a separate power supply instead of tapping the heathers.

Any insides on a possible solution?
sluckey
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Re: 5V relay power from 6V heathers

Post by sluckey »

Replied to your post in the Dumble Discussion forum.
...Steve
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FUCHSAUDIO
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Re: 5V relay power from 6V heathers

Post by FUCHSAUDIO »

There are tons of small switch-mode supplies available on E-bay now. Direct AC input, quiet DC output, small too. Less than 20 bucks...when I can, I get away from transformers and especially try to avoid heater powered relays.
They can be a pain in the ass on higher gain builds with channel switching.
Proud holder of US Patent # 7336165.
Ampsergio
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Re: 5V relay power from 6V heathers

Post by Ampsergio »

Yup. I bought a bunch. Lesson learned. I was able to make it work this time but next amp I will definitely design in room for a separate power supply for the relays. Still going through amp testing at the moment. Once done I will post about noise level.
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