Filter cap cover & board construction

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hotwatt
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Filter cap cover & board construction

Post by hotwatt »

Two questions; Is it necessary to use a filter cap cover or dog house as some call it? I imagine its use is to shield from EFI, right? I also remember opening up a Fender filter cap cover and finding material glued to the inside, like rubber or board material. Am I remembering that right?

Secondly, I know Marshall's commonly use the epoxy board w/turrets and Fenders commonly use paper board with eyelets. I think the epoxy board style is superior. Is it ok to build a Fender clone using a epoxy board rather then paper w/eyelets? I know I can do anything I want but just wondering if their are beliefs that the board relates to the tone?

Thanks Sean
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colossal
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Re: Filter cap cover & board construction

Post by colossal »

Definitely use a modern G10/FR4 epoxy board. That garbage Fender used can and does become conductive, resulting in all sorts of problems. The modern replacements have been reported to fail as well.

The doghouse construction method also requires unnecessarily long leads. Keep the caps local as the layout and chassis space allow, and the lead lengths as short as possible. The cover is to keep an unwitting person from reaching into the head or combo while the amp is live and getting a handful of high voltage. There are a number of layouts on this site which are tried and true for the 18W topology.
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