I just got a palomar skipper 300 yesterday hooked it up and powers up but no transmit power I have no clue on how to tune and load when I turn either of the two knobs nothing happens the front 3 tubs glow bright but the back tube is half as bright they are 8950's the guy I got it from said the back tube was weak but still got 300 watts out of it I let it warm up on stby mode for half hour before I even tried to key up what am I ding wrong he gets power and I cant and yes coax is hooked up right lol my radio has variable power first thing I did was turn it to 0 then to 4w dk no higher but im stumped I never owned a tube amp so any and all info would be greatly appreciated thanks......
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palomar skipper 300 help
- Thread starter pimphand442
- Start date
This is gonna sound dumb but....
... are you sure you have it in the 'operate' position and not 'standby'?
Here is great article on how to tune a tube amp : http://www.worldwidedx.com/amplifiers/26225-how-tune-tube-amp.html
Be careful with those 8950s. They are very pricey to replace.
... are you sure you have it in the 'operate' position and not 'standby'?
Here is great article on how to tune a tube amp : http://www.worldwidedx.com/amplifiers/26225-how-tune-tube-amp.html
Be careful with those 8950s. They are very pricey to replace.
yes i have checked that too I was told to put in stby when not tlkin and operate when talking then back to off when not
LOL, sorry dude I was in hurry got excited to have my first tube amp and it didnt work out for me was hoping it would but just my luck the driver tube is out. So now it sits in a corner until I can come across a 8950 tube for now Im just barefoot. I wish I never traded my 1x4 for it.
A Palomar Skipper 300 will have 4 tubes, 1 driving 3. And as Wavrider said, you can convert those to a 6LB6, which is a much cheaper tube. Your output power will drop a little, but nothing real bad, maybe 50W PEP max.
~Cheers~
~Cheers~
Skipper no power out
Can you hear the relay in the amp click when you key up the radio?
Have you tried swapping the tubes around?
You say one tube is dimer than the others.
Pull the dim tube and put one of the bright tubes in that socket.
Whenever working on a tube amp make sure it is unplugged and before
you touch a tube short the top to ground on the amplifier. I also
put a jumper from the tube clip to ground when the screwdriver is
used.
Hope this helps
Monk
Can you hear the relay in the amp click when you key up the radio?
Have you tried swapping the tubes around?
You say one tube is dimer than the others.
Pull the dim tube and put one of the bright tubes in that socket.
Whenever working on a tube amp make sure it is unplugged and before
you touch a tube short the top to ground on the amplifier. I also
put a jumper from the tube clip to ground when the screwdriver is
used.
Hope this helps
Monk
no, have not tried to swap tubes around I didn't know if it would short another tube out but the driver tube it the one that is dimmer than the rest. I did pull it out but that's as far as I got was trying to find a cheap 8950 tube to replace but if I cant find a cheap one ill just junk this thing and find another transistor amp I just mainly wanted a tube amp because I hate charging my batteries all the time and I love the oldschool look about them tube amps. do you think swapping them will make another tube go bad?
Lets slow down for a minute.
Your first tube amp?
There is lethal voltages on top of those tubes. If you get bit it will hurt and could be fatal.
With the warning put out let's discuss swapping tubes.
Turn the amplifier off, unplug it from the power source.
Let the amplifier sit for 10 to 15 minutes and let's HOPE there are bleeder resistors in the amplifier.
If I am not mistaken I think the relay has to key to supply B+ in this amplifier.
Do you know how to discharge capacitors? If not google is your friend. I won't try to explain how to do that. Google chicken stick.
Once you have verified your caps are discharged
( a voltmeter or multimeter is used for this) THEN you can remove the wire/cap/ or whatever the tubes have on top of them connecting them to the RF plate choke.
Remove the driver tube.
Read the number on the driver tube. On several occasions I have had amps in for repair that had the wrong tubes in it. 12 pins? hey this tube will fit stick it in and oh shit does not work.
Remove another tube, pick one any one. take the one that lights up bright and put it in the driver tube socket, put the dim one in the other tube socket.
Connect the B+ wire/cap or whatever it is that is used and then put the cover back on the amp.
Take a look at the fuse and see what amperage rating it is.?? Should be 10 amp or less. If it is 20 or 30 amp you may have other issues.
Once the cover is back on then make sure the power switch is in the O F F position. Plug the amp into the power source and turn it on to see what happens.
If you do not feel comfortable, if you are unsure of any of the above STOP, take the amp to a repair tech.
I have discharged them and the driver tube is taken out but I was unsure of putting the dim tubewith the others will it make a good tube go bad? and the relay clicks when I key the mike. would it work if I just put one of the good tubes in the driver socket an just ran 2 tubes or does all 4 have to be in place?