Can anyone name this odd part?

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
I am confused, I myself never seen one of these, is it a antique Electrolytic Capacitor? I am working on a
Varmint XL-250 AM, Single Sideband Linear, it is a 250 Watt power amp. You put in around 4 or so watts, and she puts out any where from 250 to 600 watts out the Antenna, but this little Varmint started arcing for me. I am thinking if it is a Capacitor, then this is not retaining voltage, it is spitting the Voltage out all inside the Amp looking for a ground I would guess.
If anybody can identify this part for me, I would deeply appreciate your time and for helping me out, have a great rest of the weekend, Mark,KB9GTB 73's to all.
 

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AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,345
I think I can read '56uH' on it which would suggest that it is an inductor. Also it looks like a coil of wire inside.
The problem is that it is unlikely that the component itself is causing it to overheat. It is much more likely that some other fault is causing too much current through it,
 

Delta Prime

Joined Nov 15, 2019
1,311
Hello there!
I know you didn't ask, and I'm definitely not insulting your intelligence, respectfully. The ones I've circled maybe a game of light and shadows but the arrows definitely need attention, further inspection, not to mention the transformer itself.
Love your electronic work bench! :) photo_1623543661117.png
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
Hello there!
I know you didn't ask, and I'm definitely not insulting your intelligence, respectfully. The ones I've circled maybe a game of light and shadows but the arrows definitely need attention, further inspection, not to mention the transformer itself.
Love your electronic work bench! :) View attachment 241140
Hello.thanks for the love workbench, I am a little embarrassed,it is a mess. I work on CB radio's, tuning, finals, peaking, basic maintenance. I want to let you know, just let beer that tube is where I found that burnt piece, I was wondering if the Tube may have caused this exploded part.
Can you kindly let me know what is on your mind, I cannot wait, I am very interested in any comments, and or issues you may know for me. I shall check back,maybe by then, the bench will be neater, and I will pic my bench. Thanks ,Mark
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
I think I can read '56uH' on it which would suggest that it is an inductor. Also it looks like a coil of wire inside.
The problem is that it is unlikely that the component itself is causing it to overheat. It is much more likely that some other fault is causing too much current through it,
Thank you for the observation,the unit worked about ,3 weeks ago, I am not sure what happened. The area of throwing sparks was coming from that area,like I said, the Amp worked, I am thinking this whatever happened, this I believe is my culprit. It is odd to have the guts exposed,and all the arcing, I am going to have to replace this and see if there is a non arcing situation after replacing the part. Thank you. Still do not know what that is.
 

Delta Prime

Joined Nov 15, 2019
1,311
Where are my manners.
Hello there. Welcome to AAC! :)
I have to take care of some business my apologies.There is the entire community here willing to help you out! In the meantime here's some good reading!
I wish you well! bye-bye.
 

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Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
Hello.thanks for the love workbench, I am a little embarrassed,it is a mess. I work on CB radio's, tuning, finals, peaking, basic maintenance. I want to let you know, just let beer that tube is where I found that burnt piece, I was wondering if the Tube may have caused this exploded part.
Can you kindly let me know what is on your mind, I cannot wait, I am very interested in any comments, and or issues you may know for me. I shall check back,maybe by then, the bench will be neater, and I will pic my bench. Thanks ,Mark
Where are my manners.
Hello there. Welcome to AAC! :)
I have to take care of some business my apologies.There is the entire community here willing to help you out! In the meantime here's some good reading!
I wish you well! bye-bye.
Thank you.this made my day I did not even think to look for anything online,I figured there would be nothing on this old thing. Thank, great reading, but really, what is this, Elec Capacitor, or a Resistor? I am really wanting to find out, as I very curious. Oh well, time will tell. You have a fantastic Sunday, and again, I appreciate you doing this for I. Have a quiet evening, talk soon, Mark,
 

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SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Just throwing out a SWAG here but that coil was encased in ceramic. Ceramic has a much higher dielectric strength than air. That is an old unit that may have been sitting for a while and somehow the ceramic cracked. Which introduced air with a far less insulating value and high voltage started arcing between the coils of the inductor! Replace the inductor with like kind and see what happenns?
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
Just throwing out a SWAG here but that coil was encased in ceramic. Ceramic has a much higher dielectric strength than air. That is an old unit that may have been sitting for a while and somehow the ceramic cracked. Which introduced air with a far less insulating value and high voltage started arcing between the coils of the inductor! Replace the inductor with like kind and see what happenns?
Hello, where do I find these? I have some, Inductors, they look like Resistors,GREEN in color. I have the value they call for, but I need to make sure this is what I need, I will post picture later when I get to the garage work bench, in the morning, late now, going to bed. it is 2;30 A.M.,my wife is going to me MAD,, Mothers Against Disturbance, at 2;30 A.M.,,im history.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
That part is either L1, L5 or L7 according to the parts list. We need to know which one (and I doubt its L1) Also that drawing shows only 1 output tube and as the photo shows there are two output tubes running in parallel - so there are 2 L7s! It would help to get a good hi-res picture of the other ones and measure DC resistance and case size, to help identification.

I estimate L5 will carry up to 80mA and the L7(s) up to 300mA.

If the B+ is 600v as suggested on the power supply page then the clearances between the anode resistors and the transformer core are way too small as @Delta Prime already highlighted.

As someone who used to build tube RF amps in my youth I would be extremely wary of working on this... I would question the integrity of any part connected to B+!

A quick scout around threw up the attached data-sheet.... which looks similar, but more info needed as above...
 

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Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
L5,that is a Receive pot for tuning the receive sound and clearness of incoming sounds, static, white noise, and person's speaking.
Given this is a transmit side equipment that statement makes no sense... L = inductor. Additionally, given you originally thought this was a capacitor when even the simplest of visual inspections would suggest otherwise I do wonder about the wisdom of you attempting to repair this...
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
OH,I am not attempting to repair this Amp, I was curious on what this part is, as I know squat about Amps, the only thing I know is to discharge the Capacitors before messing around inside the Amp itself. I am curious on learning how this works, I know the basics of a Amp, but I needs to do some reading and study the schematics of a Amp to understand the concept of how to make the power from 4 Watts in, to 400 Watts out. This is to me a non complicated electronic power source, as I understand how a CB works, now I should understand how this works.
I have the online hand drawn schematics, I have to sit down and start from point A and get to point Z, and try to understand a Amp and how it works. I am new at Amps, this has been sitting on a shelf for over 30 years, it worked 3 weeks ago, as I had a person I met on the CB that does Amps, as we did some work on it. This Amp was putting out around 900 to 1000 Watts when he got done with it, this person has over 30+ years in electronics, he owned 3 shops in the past, started in tubes when he was 9 years old, and the first thing he taught me is to discharge Capacitors before repairing. I don't understand how he was able to get ( and I saw it on the Watt meter ) 1000 Watts out of this.
I am actually afraid of this opening the cover on this, as the voltage on this I understand will kill you if not handled correctly, as I am debating on repairing this Amp, so I have not mentioned about repairing, I was wondering if this opened, cracked part would cause a sparking, zapping issue. It only does this when all is hooked up with a CB radio, 4 Watts in, and keying the mike you get a loud zapping and can see the lightning bolts coming out of the top of the cover vents. I aim to stay away, but I would like to replace this part and see if this fixes it, but I am really considering leave well enough alone, and my son is telling me just leave it alone after seeing the lightning bolt and hearing the loud nasty electrical zapping noise, even I know better than to mess with a high amperage and high voltage kicker. With this, to sum it up, yes I should leave it alone, but I would not mind replacing the part, and if it does not fix it, throw it in the scrap yard and get my $5;00 for it from the scrap guy.
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
Or tuning CBs.
A short comment, I started to tune CB radios when the government locked us down over 1 year ago. I have worked on cars, Jeeps for 30+ years, and my back is rotten and fused up to my head ,neck, ect. So I needed something to keep me busy and out of trouble. So, I took Trumps recovery money, and went out and purchased the equipment, and it has been history after that. I needed something to occupy my time so I do not go CRAZY. Being lock in my house for 1 whole year will drive any man plum loco, so this is why I chose to tune CB radios, a learning curve, and to keep my mind off of a lot of things.
In the past,3 and 5 years ago, I had one of my 18 year old sons murdered, and 3 years later, another 18 year old son was crushed at killed at work. Now you tell me, after loosing 2 18 year old son's that I am going to sit in a house, for 1+ years, and not think about them and doing something stupid. I already was in a hospital for 1 month before this Covid crap, lost my mind having lost 2 out of my 5 children. These 2 sons of mine, Arlen, and Alton were best friends, it was a shame to loose 1, but loosing 2, who would not consider doing harm to themselves. This is a situation I do not wish on my worse enemy, as I am still suffering this even keeping my mind off of them.You could look it up of Google, Bradley is the last name, and there up is their first names.
This is the whole story on how I began to work on CB radios, therapy for the loss of 2 18 year old son's, 3 years apart. So understand, I am not laughing at tuning a CB radio, it is called Mark's Therapy, as I do a lot of reading, looking and understanding schematics, this helps me keep my mind on my work,and yes, I stiil have my outbursts, but it has calmed me down a whole bunch. Have a nice day.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
I am truly saddened by your loss and wish you well. And I am heartened to hear you decided to use the money wisely, it is indeed an impressive workbench you have set up. As a tetraplegic I fully empathise with your desire to keep active and busy - I am the same but with many years of experience to fall back on now I do more teaching and advising than physically doing. I appreciate you want to teach yourself how this works, but I am also conscious you are at the beginning of a steep learning curve, far steeper than learning how to tune a CB. Feel free to message me if I can help in any way with your learning journey...
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
OK, I did not see how many posts there were. The device is a linear amplifier intended for CB radio frequency use. Such use is totally illegal in the USA. IN addition it does not look very well made.
You could legally sell it to a ham radio operator to use on the "ten meter" band, where it could be legal. But there is no legal way it can be used for CB operation. And it does not look to be in good condition, anyway.
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
OK, I did not see how many posts there were. The device is a linear amplifier intended for CB radio frequency use. Such use is totally illegal in the USA. IN addition it does not look very well made.
You could legally sell it to a ham radio operator to use on the "ten meter" band, where it could be legal. But there is no legal way it can be used for CB operation. And it does not look to be in good condition, anyway.
Howdy, by rights, I can legally use this on 10 meters, as It have my ticket, and I had to learn 10 words a minute in CW. I received my ticket back in the early 90's, that's when you had to take the VW test with the written. I passed, with 100 on exam, and I wound up doing 13 words in a minute, to me, I was blown away, I struggled with the Morse Code. But I apparently surprised myself. The Amp is not mine, so with all due respect, I do not use it. This was sitting around and thought I would have someone take a look at it, he fixed it about ,,3 weeks ago, and this cranked. But now,issues with it, this is what becomes of a electrical part, it does not last forever, as we and I can see. I may sell this, or maybe have my bud fox it, not to concern about it right now, I shall let all know when I am ready. Thanks for your comment and ✅ ncern, more to call me. Enjoy the awesome day. Mark KB9GTB
 

Thread Starter

baconater4749

Joined Dec 17, 2020
23
I am truly saddened by your loss and wish you well. And I am heartened to hear you decided to use the money wisely, it is indeed an impressive workbench you have set up. As a tetraplegic I fully empathise with your desire to keep active and busy - I am the same but with many years of experience to fall back on now I do more teaching and advising than physically doing. I appreciate you want to teach yourself how this works, but I am also conscious you are at the beginning of a steep learning curve, far steeper than learning how to tune a CB. Feel free to message me if I can help in any way with your learning journey...
Thanks Bro. yes it has been a long 5 years with out my son's, and there other brothers,( one girl )twins, they miss them so bad. It got so bad for one of the grind, Andrew,, he quit High School with 2 weeks left, he could not handle the students that kept asking him questions and they kept mentioning both boys. There were so many people at these boys wakes, the line went out the doors and around the building,and we the Superintendent open the High School to use the theatre, the funeral homes were all to small, the boys were loved. These boys woke up 2 3 4 in the morning, when they got a phone call to give rides to their buddies, if they were drunk, needed ride from work, broken car, anything these boys would not do for anyone, they were the best kids. I was home on disability when Arlen was 8 or so, I had them all, the twins were tiny, but I taught the kids manners, and pretty much put them in their spots. I was home, and taught them well, I had a 12year old Woman, and a bunch of very young gentleman, raised them like my Father raised me. OK , I am getting sick to my stomach talking about them, I will keep u up to date with this project, OK, thanks. any ideas, throw them my way, enjoy, Mark
 
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