A B C D E

REV: Initial design: Randall Aiken

2 Added 100 ohm AC hum-balance resistors
3 Fixed reversed VTL5C1 LED symbol
4 Removed redundant 100 ohm resistors
5 Changed to differential dropping resistors

4 4

P O W E R TRANSFORMER

T1
MAINS INPUT 3 B+ AC

J1 POWER SWITCH 4 B+ AC SUPPLY

F1 S1
6
5 1
2A SLO-BLO FUSE 4 5 B+ AC

3
2
MAINS 1 2

SW DPDT
6 VFIL1

6.3VAC +6.3VAC SUPPLY

3 7 VFIL2 3
V1FIL1
T-TUBEPT-2S
12AX7AFIL
Typical filament connection for DC supply. Should
be used only on low-level filaments. Do not power
t h e o u t p u t t ubes off this supply, it is a waste of
4 9 5 power.
+ 6 .3VDC SUPPLY

D1 R1
1 2 6.3VDC RELATIVE TO "FLOATING GROUND"

1N4007 1 ohm 1W
D2 1%

1
C1
15000uF/16V
+6.3VDC SUPPLY
1N4007
Note: The two 100 ohm resistors, R3 and R4, may

2
1

b e o m i t t e d i f t h e 6 . 3 V w i n d i n g h a s a c e n t er tap, R1
which is grounded. Likewise, a hum b alance pot R2 R3 D3
1 2 "FLOATING GROUND"
m a y b e s u b s t i tuted in place of the two resistors for 100 100
balancing out hum on the AC filaments. 1% 1% 1 ohm 1W N o t e : 1 5 , 0 0 0 u F v a l u e is not critical,
1N4007
2

1% anything over 4700uF may work,

D4 depending on current draw. Larger

1
2 2
v a l u e s g i v e b e t t er filtering and R4
higher voltage. 220
1N4007 5%

To circuit

2
2

4
Note: The 1 ohm series resistor values will change, depending on current draw
o f D C s u p p l y . T h e y s h o u l d b e a d j u s t e d f o r t h e d e s i r e d D C o u j t p u t voltage VT1
under full DC load. VTL5C1

Note: If you encounter noise problems, the two 1 ohm resistors may be S2

3
eliminated and a single series dropping resistor may be added after the filter Footswitch "ground" 1 2 To circuit
c a p ( i n s e r i e s w i t h t h e l o a d ) t o r e d u c e t h e D C v o l t a g e . T h i s w i l l result in poorer SW SPST
regulation, however, so you may want to use a string of 1N4007 or equivlaent
diodes as voltage dropping elements, because they will have a more constant
voltage drop of approximately 0.7V per diode.
Footswitch "select"
Note: To properly see the residual noise on the supply, you MUST use a
f l o a t i n g d i f f e r e n t i a l s c o p e p r o b e ( o r p r o b e b o t h s i d e s o f t h e o u t p u t on a
Typical opto switch connection. Note that the "floating ground" is the ground for the switch. This
two-channel scope with the "invert" button on one of them and the two
should also be used as the ground for any external footswitch controller. This point should never
channels added. If you look at only one side with respect to ground, you may
b e c o n n e c t e d t o " r e a l " g r o u n d o r i t w i l l s h o r t o u t t h e f l o a t i n g D C s u pply.
s e e w h a t l o o k s l i k e n o i s e s p i k e s f r o m a s m a l l differential charging current
difference of the cap with respect to ground, due to the balance of the resistors
1 1
u s e d . T h i s i s n o t " r e a l " n o i s e , i t i s j u s t a scope trick. A true differential probe
will show the actual noise at the output. AIKEN AMPLIFICATION
DULUTH, GA
T E L: 770-279-2492
F A X : 7 7 0 - 2 7 9 - 9 189
Title
DC filament/switch supply
Size Document Number Rev
4
Date: Saturday, February 02, 2002 Sheet 1 of
A B C D E