Lite 2B-ish in Princeton Form factor

[Big Swifty]

Hey All,
Finished up my 2nd Lite 2B-ish build. This time in a Princeton 12" form factor. Bottom line: Lots of room in the Princeton chassis for components. Excellent sound from the Weber Silver Bell. Mods: Used a 12AY7 in V1 to tame the treble and allow the volume pot a smoother transition from clean to dirty. Installed the Paul Ruby Mod (standard with all 18 watt builds now) Tung-Sol tubes. EH- AY7. Dead quiet. No weird buzz, hum, or noise when clean or dimed. Special thanks to Josh for his circuits and layouts!!

[JMPGuitars]

Very nice, and you're welcome.

I recommend (carefully) straightening up those bent over socket solder tabs. Some of them look way too close to the chassis.

Thanks,
Josh

[Big Swifty]

Thanks for the reminder Josh. Forgot to post the "after" heater wiring pic. Double checked the clearances for the valve wires. Plenty of room. Some might look close due to camera illusion.

[JMPGuitars]

Still, the ones bent over should be straightened up a bit. That photo gives me anxiety for other reasons.

Take a look at your component leads carefully. Now look at Bieworm's photos: viewtopic.php?p=258212#p258212

Thanks,
Josh

[Bieworm]

Still, the ones bent over should be straightened up a bit. That photo gives me anxiety for other reasons.

Take a look at your component leads carefully. Now look at Bieworm's photos: viewtopic.php?p=258212#p258212

Thanks,
Josh

Couldn’t have reached this level without a certain individual that kept pushing me and criticising my work

[JMPGuitars]

Allegedly. I'm innocent!

[Big Swifty]

Thanks guys. The link to the pics has a ton of great techniques and ideas!
One comment related to the pictures posted:

One of my hard and fast rules when soldering is: ALWAYS heat sink the passive component leads with alligator clips to limit the heats tress from soldering – especially with turrets. I understand it’s probably not necessary with resistors, but caps and diodes -always. Seems like that’s unlikely with very short leads in the pictures.
Given a soldering iron temp of approximately 650F, 3 seconds is the maximum time recommended by Illinois Capacitor for electrolytics. Don’t see how that’s possible with turrets.

Thoughts and comments?

[JMPGuitars]

Watch the soldering videos in my signature. The tips there are priceless.

If you can't melt solder quickly using your iron, then your iron isn't hot enough. My iron is usually set to 330 C, which is only 626 F. If you're set to 650 F, and having trouble soldering, then I think your iron is lying about the temperature.

Good quality turrets are also a must. Some turrets are terrible and make soldering more difficult.

Also, watch this video:


You can see my technique for soldering turrets, even though it's not wire, it's the same concept. You can see how long it takes for the solder to melt (heat bridge), then the few seconds to apply the solder when it's at temperature.

Yes, use heatsinks when you can, but also understand that you're heating the turret, not the component. Until the turret is up to temperate, the component isn't at temperature anyway, and once the solder properly melts, you limit your time to what's needed for a good intermetallic bond.

I should also note that it's essential to use the correct tip. I use a 2.4mm chisel tip for most things. You can't use smaller than that for turrets unless they're mini turrets, and even then, I probably wouldn't.

Thanks,
Josh

[Bieworm]

I use very small alligator clips as heat sink in those situations. But as Josh stated, preheat the turrets before adding the components.
Knock on wood, but never had components fail due to soldering yet

[Big Swifty]

Awesome guys!! Thank you for the video and further tips!

[Bieworm]

Allegedly. I'm innocent!

Your memory is deteriorating

[JMPGuitars]

Your memory is deteriorating

It's possible. I can't recall.