DC 5 Tube Swap?

[ursinus]

Does anybody know if thr tranny on the DC5 can handle EL34's and/or 6550's ? One of my customers has a DC5 and he would like me to do the conversion for him, but I'm not sure the amp hand handle the filament current draw. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ken j]

You would need to re-bias/mod the amp for EL34's.

 

[ursinus]

You would need to re-bias/mod the amp for EL34's.

That is already on the list, but my concern is the filament draw on the power transformer. I want to make sure it will handle the draw, especially with 6550's

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Hey Carl,

You could call Mesa and ask for George Mueller. He would know.

I think you would have to add a filament transformer for just the power tubes though. I don't think the original PT can handle it, or they would have offered it as an option.

 

[fdesalvo]

^Yep- you can get them cheap from mouser or partsexpress or wherever. You could do something cool like set up a little bridge rectifier and get some dc on those filaments, too.

 

[stokes]

Just install the tubes,bias them up,then check the filament volts,if you still see 6.3vac you will be okay.If the tranny isnt capable of handling the extra current,you will drop a volt or so.Most trannies are underrated for a safety margin.I know the tranny in my C+ was able to handle it,even tho Mesa told me they werent sure.If it isnt able to handle the extra current,the couple of seconds it takes to check wont damage the tranny.

 

[ursinus]

thanks for the tips. I decided to add an extra filament tranny.