Author Topic: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer  (Read 2535 times)

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Offline Watson

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Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« on: December 22, 2013, 06:07:05 pm »
Has anyone had any experience with biasing a Sunn Enforcer?  I haven't any service information to reference.  I do have an Enforcer User Manual and schematics but they contain no information on setting tube bias.  I have moderate experience with electronics and the equipment that is needed but haven't done this before and lack the reference material needed.

The amp currently has 6L6GCs and I would like to replace them with KT66s. Any help, observations or advice is appreciated!

« Last Edit: December 22, 2013, 06:52:34 pm by housekustoms »

Offline Isaac

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2013, 12:30:03 am »
Soundmasterg is well versed on this. Here's what I got from him.

Determine the maximum power dissipation of your power tube type. 6L6? Looks like 24 watts per tube. Next, find the static plate to cathode voltage in your amp. Bias should be set such that the tube dissipates 60% to 70% of maximum power. That should be about 14.4 to 16.8 watts. Here's where it gets slightly tricky. To determine the power dissipation of the tube, you need the plate to cathode voltage and the current. To determine the current, you need a way to measure it. Conceivably, you could put an ammeter in series, but the way usually used is to put a 1 ohm resistor in series with the cathode. Measure the voltage across the resistor. Ohm's Law states that, for a 1 ohm resistor, one millivolt equals one milliamp. Set the bias current such that the bias current times the plate to cathode voltage gives a value between 14.4 and 16.8 watts.

You can buy a bias probe kit. Plug the bias probe into the tube socket, then the tube into the probe, and read the voltage. Or, if you're adept at such things, you can solder in a resistor in series with the tube socket and measure the voltage across the resistor.
Isaac

Offline Watson

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2013, 09:18:28 am »
Thanks for the input Isaac.  I went out and looked at several different biasing tools ranging from the wired sockets to the Cadillac's like the TAD, Weber and Compu-Bias units. Although a bit pricey, I have a few tube amps and am thinking that it would be nice to have one of the smart units. Of those I looked at the the Compu-Bias unit looks to be the most thorough as far as the information it presents based on the reading I did on the mfgr's websites and several amp forums.

Has anyone on the forum had experiences they can share using any of these products?

Offline Watson

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2014, 11:41:38 am »
Has anyone on the forum had experiences they can share using any of these tube biasing products?

Offline Watson

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2014, 10:30:38 pm »
Didn't get any feedback on the various biasing devices so I went with adding a 1 ohm/5 watt wire wound resistor between the ground and each cathode. 

Worked great, thanks again!

Offline Isaac

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2014, 11:57:57 am »
Congratulations. Glad it worked for you.
Isaac

Offline Soundmasterg

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2014, 04:35:01 pm »
Didn't get any feedback on the various biasing devices so I went with adding a 1 ohm/5 watt wire wound resistor between the ground and each cathode. 

Worked great, thanks again!

Glad that worked for you! I do this in my own builds, but I have a Weber Bias Rite to work on amps that don't have the 1 ohm cathode resistor. The Weber Bias Rite is handy because you can flip between the cathode current reading and the plate voltage, so you don't even have to open up the amp to set the bias. With any of these bias tools though, you need to set the bias and then unplug the meter and put the tubes back into the sockets, and then play. If you play with the meter and sockets in the circuit, the sockets will blow.

Greg

Offline Watson

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Re: Help/advice with biasing a Sunn Enforcer
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2014, 04:44:29 pm »
I noticed the Compu-Bias product displays the plate voltage, cathode current and wattage dissipation for two tubes on screen at all times. This seems very handy. No fuss no muss other than plugging in the sockets.  Thanks for the warning on blowing the sockets too!  I wish it would show all 4 tubes concurrently.