DIY Series Box

[jaywalker]

I'll state the obvious...the project box used above is made from non-conductive abs. Don't use a metal box for this project unless the jacks are completely isolated from the box.

[warandhairstyle]

I'll state the obvious...the project box used above is made from non-conductive abs. Don't use a metal box for this project unless the jacks are completely isolated from the box.

It's not that obvious to us rookies...  My first attempt at building this box was indeed with a metal enclosure, and of course it failed to double the ohm load as intended.  Luckily figured out the error before any amps were attached.  Now I have one made of plastic and it works great.  Big +1 for non-conductive materials!

[HRobert]

I'll state the obvious...the project box used above is made from non-conductive abs. Don't use a metal box for this project unless the jacks are completely isolated from the box.

Jay, thanks for adding this info.  When I outlined the project  I forgot that there may be some people out there that have not worked on "box" projects and were unaware of NOT using metal boxes.  Good job.

Rob

[HRobert]

I'll state the obvious...the project box used above is made from non-conductive abs. Don't use a metal box for this project unless the jacks are completely isolated from the box.

It's not that obvious to us rookies...  My first attempt at building this box was indeed with a metal enclosure, and of course it failed to double the ohm load as intended.  Luckily figured out the error before any amps were attached.  Now I have one made of plastic and it works great.  Big +1 for non-conductive materials!

Glad you found the project to be usefull.  It sure is one heck of a lot better than trying to use 3 legged cords to accomplish the same end.

Rob

[Walt-Dogg]

Does anyone know if it's safe to use the box as a connector just to extend the reach of speaker cables?

[HRobert]

Does anyone know if it's safe to use the box as a connector just to extend the reach of speaker cables?

Could you elaborate a little more on what you're trying to do with the Series box? If you need longer cables, why not buy / make them?  Or make something similar with a box and two female jacks wired "tip to tip, and ground to ground". This Series box was designed to put two like resistance speaker cabs in series so as to double the load.  I'm not sure as to how long of speaker cables could be used before there would be a reduction in the current flow, but, the box should be no problem as the internal circuitry wires are rather short.

Rob

[Walt-Dogg]

I meant as a coupler. But it doesn't.

[D.M.N.]

Well, thanks to Mr. HRobert, I can now run my 2000s into BOTH my 2000s cabinets! The Glory! Anyways, I finally put the box together this morning from some part I had lying around. Not the cleanest or neatest, but it works. I used some excess wire from wiring up the cabinets, two extra switchcraft jacks I had, and an anonymous chinese jack that came out of the old cab I've been putting back together. I needed the rig this coming week, so instead of ordering a new box to put it in, I gutted an old Rogue Distortion pedal that someone gave me and didn't work, and wired in the series components. Thanks HRobert!

[pickinatit]

I wanted to be able to hook up (2)  4 ohm cabs to my 2000S.  For my birthday, my wife went to an electronics guru she knows (she works in the computer/electronics field) and had a cable made up that connects the two cabs together in series so I can play thru both cabs with an 8 ohm load.  I don't know how it works but according to the multimeter it does.

[EdBass]

I wanted to be able to hook up (2)  4 ohm cabs to my 2000S.  For my birthday, my wife went to an electronics guru she knows (she works in the computer/electronics field) and had a cable made up that connects the two cabs together in series so I can play thru both cabs with an 8 ohm load.  I don't know how it works but according to the multimeter it does.

A series box is certainly a nice, neat way to accomplish the job, but all you really need to do is get a series connection in there somewhere. An M to F/F "Y" cable with one of the jacks flipped, or just a single daisy chain cable used between the cabs with one of the jacks reversed will do the job.

Just mark it REAL good so it never accidentally gets used in a conventional parallel wiring scheme.

And, don’t forget, as pickinatit obviously knows, the multimeter is your friend. Use it every time before you hit that power switch; just to be sure…

[pickinatit]

I wanted to be able to hook up (2)  4 ohm cabs to my 2000S.  For my birthday, my wife went to an electronics guru she knows (she works in the computer/electronics field) and had a cable made up that connects the two cabs together in series so I can play thru both cabs with an 8 ohm load.  I don't know how it works but according to the multimeter it does.

A series box is certainly a nice, neat way to accomplish the job, but all you really need to do is get a series connection in there somewhere. An M to F/F "Y" cable with one of the jacks flipped, or just a single daisy chain cable used between the cabs with one of the jacks reversed will do the job.

Just mark it REAL good so it never accidentally gets used in a conventional parallel wiring scheme.

And, don’t forget, as pickinatit obviously knows, the multimeter is your friend. Use it every time before you hit that power switch; just to be sure…

The way this guy made up the cable it would be really hard to hook it up wrong, but I put red tape near the end of the two cabinet ends just to help prevent an alzheimer's moment.

[HRobert]

D.M.N.

Glad the little box worked for you.  I've built three of these for friends and they all love them.  Maybe I should have gone into business building the things. Rob