Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

[zozoe]

Good day all & hope all is well. I'm getting smart & installing grounded 3 conductor cords into some old 50's P.A. amps. I've watched all the YouTube videos, and all of them deal with guitar amps w/polarity switches & 'death caps', & don't see any clear, confident or consistent info. Okay, Green is GROUND,, some videos show the White Neutral going directly to one of the trannies, and the Hot Black wire going to the power switch then on to the fuse, & then to the tranny. Then others show the white neutral going to the fuse & the black hot
to the On/Off,,, AND vice versa, w/white to the power switch, & black to fuse. These are old mono tube amps, & as I mentioned, no polarity switch or cap. I don't want to be another toasted statistic, or fry anything.
Thanks in advance for your assistance!
BE WELL!!

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

As easy as it is to do this...just take it to a pro. Put the liability on them to do it right.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

yeah you only have to do it wrong one time
and its tragic

professional
at least the first one

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

If you want a youtube vid find Uncle Doug. He 'splains things like that the best that I've seen.

 

[solspirit]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

Don't burn your house down or get zapped.
Take it to a pro

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

Haven't heard or seen the OP reply to this, but definitely drain the filter caps and ground the chassis before you do anything. Any vintage equipment is likely to carry a charge long after being unplugged and etc. Having restored multiple vintage Gibson and Fender amps, there's always the temptation to do things myself, but I know and stick to my lane.

*A ground 3 prong cable shouldn't cost more than $25. Which is why doing it myself has never been worth. Let someone do it right.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[zozoe]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

Thanks all for the cautionary but supportive advice... I finally got it together & pooled my resources, & looking back, it is so easy. Caps are all drained, but I think they've been idle for many years. Now the fun part, modifications, definitely not being done by me, though I'd love to try it, but even with being able to read a schematic, there's just too much stuff & too many variables.
Thanks again all, & stay well~~

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

Honestly, I know all the ways to do this, and all the ways to shunt the caps for safety -But I'm not sure this is something people should be giving too much detail on here -ofter than safety essentials.

At some point, you don't want to get someone hurt -might be best to let them learn the nuance elsewhere.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

You don't want to be able to be considered liable for someone hurting themselves.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

I would think that whoever is doing the mods would have done this task as well
Just throw the cord on top and say
"Here ya go"

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

I did it on a 60s Traynor YGM-2 (3-prong plug grounded, cut out death cap, replaced filter caps) with no experience or difficulties using some YouTube videos several years ago. It's wasn't that hard, but I have a bit of a background with the basics of electrical devices and circuit design in my university courses. If you have no idea what you're doing, it might be worth paying someone to do it.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Installing 3 Prong AC Cord to 50's Amp

One of the easier videos on the topic