DIY Class A/B Amp The "Wolverine" build thread

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Holzarbeiter

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Joined 2014
stuartmp::
fireamimal:

I can't seem to find the email asking for participants in the latest 4th group buy.
stuartmp said:
- Color Selection: As voted by the majority, the PCBs will feature a matte black finish. We're excited to see how these new boards turn out. Matte black is one of my favourites.

- I will finalize the order on Monday when the PCB house reopens.

Thank you all for your active participation and support you've given to the Wolverine project. This wouldn't have been possible without you guy!
Stay tuned for more updates after we finalize the order and production begins.
Click to expand...
Would it be possible to add me to the list of 4 output boards?

You have my contact info as this would be my second buy of boards.

Thanks, Charles
 
fireanimal

fireanimal

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Just an update on the GB1/GB2 heatsink prices from my earlier post, I cannot edit it. Thanks!

EF3-3 - Includes Driver, Predriver, and CCS/VAS Heatsinks - $55 USD
EF3-4 - Includes Predriver and CCS/VAS Heatsinks - $40 USD
Heatsinks_1.png
 

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Chiptech

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stuartmp said:
The insulator that covers the wire needs to be made out of an approved material to prevent or be highly resistant to fire.
One suggestion is good quality silicone wire. Its also way more flexible then toroidal transformer wire, which is usually quite stiff.

Please consider this for all your non rated wire. Amp wire

I've used it many times and its very good quality.

Please watch again the YouTube video on how to wire your amplifier there are may tips there. Wiring your amplifier.

That wiring that you have on the Perf board is not suitable for high voltage the outer rings of the pads are two close together to be save. You could get the voltage jumping across those pads. Maybe not now but in future as dust and other contaminants build up. Also those pcbs are certainly not design for the currents that are flowing through them.

We all want each other to be safe and what you have isn't, please don't take this as criticism think of it as an opportunity to improve and develop a better method to wire your amplifier.
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Hi Stuart,

Could you identify the wire your link lead to? It is no longer active.

Thanks,

Chip
 
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stuartmp

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Joined 2016
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lotharx

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Joined 2020
Wonder if anyone could offer a little help with an IPS board build. Seems like I have V+ on the test PD+ <> ND- <> NFB shunt. It is supposed to be zero.

Applied the parallel resistor at R17 and made the G1 <> G2 <> G power supply shunts. When I apply +/- 20V, all 4 LEDs light and no magic smoke appears There is, however ~+20 V on all three leads of Q11. I think the collector of V11 should have ~+2 volts.

Took out the PD+ <> ND- <> NFB test shunt and checked the outputs:
PD+ +20V
ND- -0.11V
NFB: +0.4

I removed Q11 and checked the empty traces for shorts to V+ but there did not seem to be any.

I replaced Q11 and again there was +20V on all three leads.

It seems like something is dumping V+ onto the PD+ line. Q11 is suspicious but it seems to be working and there were no direct shorts between V+ and PD+.

If anyone has any ideas what might be causing this, I sure would appreciate your wisdom!!!

Thanks
Jon
 
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stuartmp

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lotharx said:
Wonder if anyone could offer a little help with an IPS board build. Seems like I have V+ on the test PD+ <> ND- <> NFB shunt. It is supposed to be zero.

Applied the parallel resistor at R17 and made the G1 <> G2 <> G power supply shunts. When I apply +/- 20V, all 4 LEDs light and no magic smoke appears There is, however ~+20 V on all three leads of Q11. I think the collector of V11 should have ~+2 volts.

Took out the PD+ <> ND- <> NFB test shunt and checked the outputs:
PD+ +20V
ND- -0.11V
NFB: +0.4

I removed Q11 and checked the empty traces for shorts to V+ but there did not seem to be any.

I replaced Q11 and again there was +20V on all three leads.

It seems like something is dumping V+ onto the PD+ line. Q11 is suspicious but it seems to be working and there were no direct shorts between V+ and PD+.
Click to expand...

Hi Jon,

Based on your numbers and your brief description I don't think Q11 is the issue.

I am going to post an image below of what the voltages should be with 20v rails.
Please do not try to run the IPS or amplifier without the NFB trace connected. Bad things could happen.
Are you trying to adjust R25 to achieve 0v at the NFB Node?
The trimpot R25 (DC offset) should be around 2.1K from pin 3 - 2.
The trimpot R11 (LTP Bias) should be around 19R from pin 2 - 1. Are you getting 5V from TP1 to TP2 ?

Just to clarify something you said "The collector of Q11 should have ~0 volts." not +~2 volts.


1716210139860.png


The next image is something you can try if you get really stuck to try and help and determine which section of the circuit is at fault.

1716210788297.png


Add RX1 & RX2. Make the connections as shown in the additional wiring box.
Use a low value resistor for RX1 ~0.1 ohms & RX2 ~0.1 ohms. Make sure you have your current limit set as per the build guide.
Turn on and record the Voltages at Q11c and Q13c and report back.

If Q11c is close to 0V then you know Q11 is not the problem and the problem could be somewhere in the rectangle surrounding Q13
If Q13c is close to 0V then you know Q13 is not the problem and the problem could be somewhere in the rectangle surrounding Q11
If Q13c and Q11c are close to 0V then you should not have a problem.

At the end of the day the voltage at the base of Q1 should be extremely close to the voltage at the base of Q2.

Good luck.
 
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stuartmp

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Another thing to check and report is your rail voltage. With your power supply current limit set to 50mA. If your power supply rails drop below there initial value then your power supply is probably going into current limiting mode. This would indicate that you have either a short somewhere or you have a component installed incorrectly (wrong value or orientation).
 
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wkloppen

wkloppen

Member
Joined 2023
Hello Gents,...

I've built the wolverine and opted for 2 x 500W Toroidals with 2 seperate 42 Volt secondaries per toroidal instead of a quality smps. I know there are hundreds of threads, forums, articles zooming in on the pro's and con's of LPS vs SMPS. Even in this thread....I don't want to start anotherone for sure:)...I do have one specific question as I was discussing this topic with a friend of min ,...another very experienced audiophile but not a DIY guy. He said a LPS is "slower" then an SMPS and that you can hear it. I asked him....what do you mean exactly?..... but he couldn't provide me a satisfying answer so i was wandering whether or not some of you guys have heart of this or understand what means with "slowish".....

reg

w.
 
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