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Aninexpensive,easytobuilddiyvalve/tubetester

ForquitesometimeIhavebeenlookingatdevelopingadesignforadiyvalve/tubetesterthatis
easytobuildandusesreadilyavailable,lowcostparts.

ForyearsIhavebeenusingavalvetesterthatIhaddevelopedinthepast.Thistesterwasquite
simpleandusable,butonlytestedvalvesatoneoperatingpoint.Inaddition,itonlyhadoneoctal
socketandneededoutboardextendercablestotest9and7pinvalves.Itoperatedby"triode
strapping"pentodevalveswhichprovidedusefulemissionreadingsbutlackedthecapacitytotruly
testvalvesatdatabookoperatingpoints.

Soinlookingatanewvalvetesterdesign,Iwantedittoprovidethesefunctions:

1.Provideemissionreadingsattherecommendeddatabookoperatingconditions(Plate,Screenand
Gridvoltages)
2.ProvideGmormutualconductancereadings,directlyorindirectly
3.Testvalvesforinternalshorts
4.Testfor"gassy"valvesvalveswhoseinternalvacuumhasbeencompromised
5.Testawiderangeofvalves,from12AX7stoKT88sandanyother"receiving"classofvalve
6.Beexpandablewithoptionstoincludeheater/cathodeleakagetesting,othervalvebases,
differentheatervoltages,"lifetest"etc

Attemptingavalvetesterdesignisquiteachallengeitisveryeasyforadesigntobecomevery
complexmoredifficulttobuild,anddifficulttouse.Inshort,itisabalancingactbetweentheneed
tohaveauseful,comprehensivetester,andforadesignthatisstraightforwardandeasytobuild.I
havecomeupwiththefollowingtesterdesignthatallowsfortheabovetestsinaneasytobuild
formatanduseslowcostreadilyavailableparts.

First,somebackgroundonwhatisrequiredtotestavalve.Valvedatabooksprovidesuitable
operatingconditionsforaparticularvalvetypespecifiedplate,screenandgridvoltageswhich
resultinacertainplatecurrent.Thisisanemissiontestandwillindicatetheconditionofthevalve
undertest.Inaddition,severalothertestsneedtobeconductedtestsforinterelectrodeshorts,
measurementofGm(transconductance),integrityofthevalve'svacuum(gastest)andseveralother
tests.

Sotobeabletotestvalvesatspecifiedoperatingpoints,avalvetesterneedstogeneratearangeof
testvoltagesfortheplateandscreenofthevalveundertest.Asourceofvariablegridbiasisfairly
straightforwardtodesign,howevertogeneratearangeofdifferentplateandscreenvoltagesatup
to150maofcurrentcanbealittleinvolved.WhileaconventionalpowersupplywithaMosfetVVR
variablevoltagesupplycanbeused(andwassuccessfullyinthe"Sussex"valvetesterdesign),Iwas
lookingforasimplersolution.Whilethinkingaboutthisawhileago,itoccurredtomethatthe
voltagemultipliersthatareusedinmyLamingtonampdesignsalreadygenerateseveralvoltages
alongeachstageofvoltagemultiplication.Inadditionifamultitappedtransformerisusedtodrive
themultiplier,numbersofothervoltagescouldbegenerated.
Itwastimetotestthisidea,andhereisaphotoofthetesterdesignbeingbreadboardedandtested:

Theabovephotoshowsasuitablesupplylasheduponthebench.Asexpected,awiderangeof
voltagescouldbegeneratedwithgoodvoltageregulation(importantforaccuratetestresults).With
anumberofoctalvalvesconnectedtothisvariablevoltagesupply,Iwasabletoreplicatethevalve
databookoperatingconditionswithgoodresults.Also,withattacheddigitalmeters,itwaspossible
tomeasuretheGmofatestvalveindirectlybyvaryingthegridvoltageby1voltandreadthe
changeinplatecurrenttomeasureGm.

Encouragedbytheseresults,Ineededtofinetunethefinaltesterdesign.Lookingatawiderangeof
valvedata,itisevidentthatitisnotnecessarytoprovideunlimitedtestvoltagesinatester.The
majorityof"receiving"typevalvescanbetestedwithoperatingpointsof90V,120V,180Vand250V.
Thesetestvoltagescanbegeneratedeasilywitha4Xand6Xvoltagemultiplierdrivenfromareadily
available30VACmultitappedtransformer.The30Vtransformercanalsosupplytheheatervoltages
forthevalvesandasourceofvariablenegativebiasforthevalvegrids.Thisarrangementgreatly
simplifiesthedesignofthetesteranduseslowcostreadilyavailableparts.

Herearesomephotosoftheprototypeunderconstruction:

Inpresentingthevalvetester,IthoughtI'dmakeavailableafewversionsofthedesign.

Thisfirstversionisaboutassimpleasthetestercanbe.Ratherthanprovidingthenecessary
switchingtocoverallvalvetypes,thissimplifiedversionwilltestmostoctalpowervalves(6V6,6L6,
KT66,KT88,6550,EL34,6W6etc),numbersofnovalpowervalves(6BQ5,EL82,EL84,EL86,6P18P,
6P43Petc)andtheusualsuspectpreampvalves(12AX7,12AT7,12AU7,ECC81etc).Thistestercan
bebuiltusingthesimplifiedschematicifitisonlygoingtobeusedfortestingtypicalaudiovalves
like6V6,6L6,EL34,EL84,12AX7etc.Laterisaversionwhichallowsfortestingany7pin,9pinand
octalvalvesinthe"receiving"classofvalves.
Hereistheschematicdiagramforthefirstversion:

Asyoucansee,thetesterisquitestraightforwardwitha30V2Atransformerdoingmostofthe
work.Itdrivesa4Xor6Xvoltagemultiplierviaa"HI/LO"switchtogenerate90,125,180and250
voltsforsupplyingthetestvoltagesforthevalveundertest.TheHI/LOswitchfeedsthevoltage
multiplierfromeitherthefull30Vfromthetransformerorfromthe15Vtaptohalvetheoutput
voltages.
Themultiplierdeliberatelyusesa"shunt"arrangementwiththefiltercapacitorsratherthanthe
seriesarrangementIhaveusedinthepast.Thisprovidesmuchbetterregulationthantheseries
arrangement,andtogetherwiththe3Adiodes,2Aratedtransformerandlarge470ufcapacitors
producesahighcurrent"stiff"supplywhichisessentialforpowervalvetesting.Undertest,the
supplywaseasilyabletosupply150mA+intoaKT88undertest.

The30VtappedtransformeralsoprovidesavariablegridbiassupplyviaD2,C2andVR1anda
sourceof6.3Vat2A+tofeedthevalveheater.

Thetwo"plate"and"screen"switcheshaveacentre"off"function.Thisallowsfortestingforshorts
inthevalveundertestbeforeapplyingthetestvoltages.
Thethreevalvesocketsarewiredtogetherwiththecommonpinoutsforanode,screen,grid
cathodeandheaters.Gridandscreen"stoppers"areusedtoeliminatethepossibilityofthetest
valveoscillatingandupsettingtestsmeasurements.
Alsonotethesection1/2switchwhichallowsforthetestingoftwintriodepreampvalves.

Thequestionwithanyvalvetesterdesignishowtoprovidemeteringspecificallyformeasuringgrid
voltageandplatecurrent.Iconsideredanalogmovingcoilmeters,butreadingaccuracyislimited
andrangeswitchingisrequiredtocoverawiderrangeofvoltageandcurrent.Theidealdisplayisa
digitalpanelmeter.Asuitablerangeselectedeliminatesswitchingandmeasurementscanbemade
withbetteraccuracy.

Digitalpanelmetersareavailableonebay,butIwaskeentouseamorereadilyavailableoption.AsI
lookedattheoptionsavailablefromJaycarandAltronics,IsawaminimultimeterfromJaycarfor
$4.95!Twoofthesemeterswereusedinthetesterwithonesetto200VDCtomeasurethegrid
voltage,andtheothersetto200mADCtomeasureplatecurrent.The200mAplatecurrentmeter
hasa1N5404powerdiodewiredacrossittoprotectthemeterfromaccidentalshortsoroverload.
Theonlyissuewithdigitalmetersisthatunlikeanalogmeters,theyneedasourceofpowertowork.
Inaddition,inthistester,theyarereferencedtodifferentgroundpotentials,soaseparatesupplyis
requiredforeachmeter.Idecidedintheendtosupplythemwithbatterypowerastheyonlydraw
250uAofsupplycurrentmeaningthatabatterywilllastalong,longtime.
Toswitchthemeterbatteriesonandoffwhenthetesterispoweredup,Iusedtwo4N28
optocouplers.Whenthetesterispoweredon,theoptocouplerLEDsareturnedonbythesupply
generatedfromtheheatervoltageviaD1andC1.TheseLEDsturnoneachphototransistorinthe
optocouplerstopoweronthemeters.

Thetesterusesapushtobreakswitchtoinserta1Mresistorinserieswiththevalvegrid.A"gassy"
valvewilldrawgridcurrent,andthiscurrentwillcauseavoltagedropacrossthis1Mtoeffectively
reducetheappliedgridvoltage.Thisinturncausestheplatecurrenttoincrease.Agoodvalvewill
seelittlechangeinplatecurrentwhenthe"gas"switchispushed.

Thepanelneonlampassemblyservestwofunctions.Theplateandscreenvoltagesetswitchesare
putina"centreoff"positionbeforetest.Whenthetesterisfirstturnedonandthevalvehasnot
warmedup,anyplateorscreenshortwillilluminatetheneonlamp.Ifnoshorts,thelampwillbeoff
untilthevalvewarmsupandnormalelectronflowwillilluminatethelampprovidingthesecond
functionasa"power"indicator.

Hereistheschematicdiagramofthefullversionofthetester:

Thisisthefinalversionofthetesterwhichusesbananaplugstoapplythevarioustestvoltagesto
anypinconfigurationof7pin,9pinoroctalvalve.
Thesocketpinsarewiredsequentiallywithallpins1joinedtogether,allpins2joinedtogetherand
soon.9leadsfromatotalof9pinsarethenbroughtoutthroughtherearofthetesterand
numbered19tomakeappropriateconnectionstothetestvoltages.Whilethisversiontakesalittle
moretimetosetuptotestdifferentvalvetypesasyouneedtochangebananaplugconnectionsto
suiteachvalve,itmakesthetesterveryversatile.Anyadditionalvalvebasescouldbeaddedtothe
testerifdesired.Thereisalsoanoptiontoprovidedifferentheatervoltagesifyouwishbytaking
advantageofthedifferenttapsonthepowertransformer.

Tousethetester,lookupthe"characteristics"sectionofthevalvedatasheetforyourvalve.
Plugthevalvetobetestedintotheappropriatesocketandalsothecorrectbananaplugsforthe
pinoutofyourvalveifyouareusingtheMkIItester.Settheplateandscreenswitchesinthecentre
offposition.Turnthetesteronandmakesurethe"shorts"neondoesnotlightup.Turnoffthe
testerandsettheHI/LOandtheplateandscreenswitchesaccordingtotherecommendedsettings
inthedata.ThenturnonthetesterandsetthegridvoltageontheDMMtothedatasheetsetting.
YoucannowreadtheplatecurrentontheDMM.
Totestforapoorvacuum(gassy)valve,pressthegasbutton.Agoodvalvewillnotnoticeablyread
anincreaseinplatecurrent.Agassyvalvewillincreaseinplatecurrent.

Theprototypewasconstructedinamediumsize"baking"traywhichallowsforaneasytousetester.
Acutoutforthemeterpanelswascutwithajigsawaftercoveringthetopofthechassiswith
maskingtape.Thepowertransformerwasmountedunderthechassiswithapowerboardmounted
nexttoit.Thepowerboardwithitssupplycapacitorsanddiodesweremountedonasmallpieceof
perforatedboard.Hereistheundersideofthecompletedboardwiring:

Andhereisaphotooftheundersideofthecompletedtester:

Youcanseealloftherelevantwiringmademostly"pointtopoint"asthereisnotmuchtoit.The
optocouplersweregluedtotheinsideoftheDMMcasesandwiredtothebatteryleads.Thegrid
biascontrolcanbeseenonthelowerleftwithD1andC2andthe"gas"switchwireddirectlytoit.
The3HTswitchescanalsobeseenontheleftsidewiththe2diodesforthe"shorts"neon.Youcan
alsoseethe3valvesocketswithallthepinswiredsequentiallyandbroughtouttotheflyingbanana
plugs.

Finally,herearesomeimagesofthetesterinoperationtestinga6V6,KT88anda12AX7.Thegrid
voltageisreadontheDMMtotheleftandplatecurrentontheright:

Hereisapartslistforthetester:

Powerswitchand500mAfuseholder
240Vneon
2XQM1502JaycarDMM

C1
100nf100V
C2
47uf25V
C3
47uf63v
C4
470uf100v

C5
470uf100v
C6
470uf200v
C7
470uf200v
C8
470uf350v
C9
470uf350v
D1D4,D11 1N4007
D5D10
1N5404
Momentarypresstobreakpushbuttonswitch
2XSPDTcentreoffminiswitches

1XDPDTminiswitch
R1
10K
R2
1001W
R3
1M
R4
560
R5
150K1W
T1
M667430v2amultitappedtransformer
U1U2 4N25 optocoupler
VR1 10KBlinearpot
Mediumsizebakingtray
Variousvalvesockets
Bananaplugsandsockets
Hookupwire
Mainspowerlead

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