5F1 Champ build help

JollyRoger523

New member
Can anyone help me with a question I have regarding a potential problem with the output transformer?

I am currently building a Mojotone 5F1 Champ clone kit that I got for X-Mas. Upon testing it I ran into a problem. Following Mojotone's testing procedure, everything was fine until the step of installing the power tube. I installed the 6v6 power tube (yes, the speaker was plugged in) and as soon as I turned the power on I noticed some smoking. The 470ohm resistor burned up.

I'm experienced at soldering guitar electronics and building pedals. I've never worked with an amp before. I'm fairly confident I followed the wiring diagram and instructions correctly. I checked and rechecked several times. The multimeter I had was very cheap. I picked up a better one today that has continuity feature. Checking the continuity of the circuit, I found the 4ohm wire from the output transformer is connecting to ground.

The output transformer from Mojotone only has 3 wires, blue, red, yellow. Blue and red go to the power tube and board respectively. Yellow goes to the center lug of the RCA speaker jack along with a wire from the board. There is a ground wire soldered directly to the transformer chassis, which in turn is grounded to the amp chassis when bolted together. I've checked from the OT chassis to the yellow wire, as well as grounding lugs in the chassis to the yellow wire. Both show continuity. At this time I haven't pulled the OT as that necessitates unsoldering lots of things to remove the eyelet board to access the OT bolts/nuts. I have a clear view of the entire wire to verify the insulation is not frayed, punctured, pinched, etc.

Am I correct in thinking that the yellow wire (4ohm output to speaker jack) shouldn't be connecting to ground? Is this the likely cause of burning out the 470ohm resistor?

Thank you for your assistance,
JR
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

Since I didn't state so above, being that I can see the entire wire to ensure it's not accidentally connected to ground, I'm assuming this is something internal inside the transformer.
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

I'm assuming here that the output jack is a simple, Switchcraft type mono (T/S) jack. If it is that type, the sleeve is grounded to the chassis. Make sure you have the output transformer connected to the correct tab (tip) of that jack otherwise your grounding that 4 ohm secondary. No offense intended, I know it's a simple, common sense thing ... but also not an uncommon mistake.
 
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Re: 5F1 Champ build help

Thank you for the replies.

The red wire is connected to the eyelet board at B+1. The 470 resistor (measured close to spec) is listed as a 1watt carbon film (supplied in kit) but is approx. the same size as the 1/2 watt carbon comp. resistors in the kit.

The jack is a simple RCA jack with sleeve grounded to chassis. The yellow 4ohm tap wire and one of the wires from eyelet board was soldered to the tip. However, I'm showing continuity between the tip and ground. I unsoldered the jack to remove it from the equation. The bare end of the yellow 4 ohm tap wire also shows continuity to ground with nothing connected to it.


Thank you for the link. My Google-foo didn't turn up any results that I was really looking for.
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

The 5F1 spec for the 470 Ohm resistor is 5W...I have never seen a 1W cathode resistor on one...
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

I wondered about that since a lot of the gut shots I've seen online have a much larger (physical size) resistor in that spot. I just used what came with the kit.
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

Not the best quality but all I have for right now. The first two are when I had just finished soldering. The last is after the burned resistor.

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Re: 5F1 Champ build help

where is your ground buss between C3 & 4 (B+1 &2)...also ground buss for the preamp section???did you run those under the board?
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

Power tube is bad or you have a downstream short...check all the wiring after the cathode resistor...then try another 6V6
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

I checked, rechecked, and checked again. I can't find any errors in the layout or connections. I'll be ordering a higher watt resistor and new power tube. I'll also get a bypass cap for the preamp to try out, since this layout didn't include one.
 
Re: 5F1 Champ build help

maybe try this to double check wiring from a different layout...make sure all the grounds are connected....especially the cathode res & cap:

5F1_Layout.jpg
 
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