VJ Head Toggle ON/Off wiring ???

[Sully]

Hey Guys
I'm new to the forum, and I'm the happy owner of the VJ head, and am already into the mod phase. What a great amp !
Would anyone know how to wire in a toggle switch as a replacement for the stock on/off switch ?

Looking at the underside of the chassis, I've got a brown wire and a blue wire coming off the AC "in" recepticle, ( the green is ground)
Then above that on the chassis is a grommet with a yellow wire, and a black wire comin' thru.
Above that on the chasis is another grommet with a blue, brown, and white wires comin' thru.

Then theres my toggle waitin' to be connected.
Anyone know how I would be hookin' this up ?

Many thanks ...sully

[Manoteal]

You can put a toggle in there, but you would lose the on/off light that is connected to the other two wires. Are you planning on putting in a different power status light, and what are you going to do with the big hole left by the original switch? Just a thought. . .
M

[Sully]

Hey M
I already put a wood veneer over the faceplate, re-drilled for the toggle, and I'm going to skip the light for now. I just want to get it turned on again.
...sully

[Manoteal]

Hi, I don't have my head open right now, so I can't tell you which colors to use on your switch. I do know you only need to use 2 of the four, but which 2 I don't know. Anybody got their amp open and could help with this?
M

[Sully]

Thanks M.
...sully

[drhulsey]

Anybody got their amp open and could help with this?

Here are pics of the mains input and on/off switch in the stock head. Blue and brown wires connect mains input to power switch. Black and yellow connect switch to PT.

[Sully]

Thanks Tim
My situation is that I put in a new board, and I'm not using any of the stock connectors.
I already have the reds and oranges connected to the appropriate spots on the board.

I have the blue and brown at the AC mains, and I have the black and yellow at the power trans, and I've got my toggle switch.
I'm wondering how to get them all hooked up.

I'm not hooking up an "on" light, just a toggle for power.

thanks ...sully

[Strat]

Is your toggle switch Double Pole, if so it will have four or six lugs. The stock switch basically joins Brown to Yellow (live) and Blue to Black (neutral) when in the 'on' position. With the amp unplugged you can check this out with your DMM. If your switch only has two or three lugs (single pole) you will only be able to switch 'live', ie connecting Brown to Yellow and you will have to join Blue and Black.

With this information you can meter your toggle and connect appropriately, just important that you don't link live and neutral.

If you have a 120V pilot just connect one lead to the yellow and one to the black.

[Sully]

Its a single pole switch, 2 lugs.
So then I would connect the brown from the ac main to one side of the switch, and the yellow to the other side of the switch ?

And just hard wire the blue from the ac main to the black ?

I don't have a meter, and wouldn't know what to do with one if I did, ...laughs !

Do they make a 120V Pilot ?

thanks Strat ...sully

[drhulsey]

I'm not using any of the stock connectors.

Sorry! I assumed you were using a double pole, single throw toggle. The LED circuit on the stock switch is all internal to the switch. All the wires hooked to the stock switch are required to hook up the PT. The switch is wired in parallel in the stock circuit. As Strat said, you could wire a SPST in series in the PT circuit.

[Strat]

That's right Sully. With joining the neutral you could use an insulated stand-off or solder and heatshrink it. As a tempory measure you could use the spade connectors but personally I don't think they're great inside a tube amp and certainly not on incoming mains.

120V pilots are a stock item on your side of the pond, I'm sure ratshack and most other outlets will stock them.

[Sully]

Thanks Strat,
I'll hard wire the blue and black and heatshrink it. I'm looking forward to hearing this new board !

I was told a 120V light would possibly make the PT overheat ?
So I was thinking of skipping the light.
...sully

[Sully]

You mentioned
"you could use the spade connectors but personally I don't think they're great inside a tube amp and certainly not on incoming mains."

Should I remove the spade connectors from the ac mains wires, and solder them directly to the lugs on the AC recepticle ???

...sully

[Strat]

I was thinking more about spade connection to the switch and would probably leave the IEC as is - it's not been moved so is ok. The thing I find with spade connectors is once they've been off and on a few times they're less secure and I worry about loose wires floating about inside amps. Always check they're on before you power up.

As for a 120V pilot causing the PT to overheat I just can't see it. I believe there is already one within the OEM switch wired exactly the same. They only draw 20 or 30mA and that is taken from the mains. The only thing I can think of is 6.3V pilots on the heater supply. In extreme cases where heater current was on the edge of the PT's supply it could theoreticaly be possible as some 6.3V MES bulbs can draw 300mA - the equivelent of adding another 12AX7!

[Sully]

Thanks for the feedback Strat, ...think I'll skip the light.

regards ...sully

[Manoteal]

Looks like you're good to go, Thanks strat and drhulsey!:D
M