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I finally got my Pilot SA-232

Redboy

Redboy

a few good watts
I've been trying to land an SA-232 for a while now, and it's finally happened! I picked this one up over the 4th of July weekend and recapped with 716P Orange Drops, JJ and Atom electrolytics.

Finished up late last night, and fired it up. Everything's as it should be. :music:

I've got some more cleanup to do, but here's how things look now:

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Some underbelly shots for those of you who like that sort of thing...


BEFORE

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AFTER:


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hmmm,
i have a 402 that i bought from an ak'er, pretty sure you know who and the unit. wondering if that is basically the amp section in mine, been thinking about possible recap but have not even looked at yet, other projects...

question, i believe those are caps, the ones that look like resistors. why did you not change those out as well ? or are they actually resistors ?
 
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perchdog said:
hmmm,
i have a 402 that i bought from an ak'er, pretty sure you know who and the unit. wondering if that is basically the amp section in mine, been thinking about possible recap but have not even looked at yet, other projects...
Click to expand...
Would that have been purchased from our local purveyor of all things Pilot? He'll pop in here before long, I'm sure! :D

question, i believe those are caps, the ones that look like resistors. why did you not change those out as well ? or are they actually resistors ?
Click to expand...
In this case, those are 2W carbon comp resistors. There are indeed some old caps that look similar, with the color code banding on them. They're referred to as Bumblebee caps, and they're typically a gloss black in color whereas the resistors are matte brown.
 
Jeez....what a sweet looking amp!!

So how many bad resistors did you have to replace?
Old amps can be funny that way.....I didn't have a single out-of-spec resistor on a 60's Webster 6V6 PP amp.....but close to 75% out-of-spec on a Magnavox 8802 amp?

Steve
 
Since the amp didn't come with a shorting plug (I got an SP-210 pre instead! :D), I had to fashion some jumpers for the power socket to make it all light up. Does anyone have ideas for where to find a shorting plug, or where to buy parts to make one? I think all I need is an 11-pin tube base and a cap for it.
 
gearhound said:
Jeez....what a sweet looking amp!!

So how many bad resistors did you have to replace?
Old amps can be funny that way.....I didn't have a single out-of-spec resistor on a 60's Webster 6V6 PP amp.....but close to 75% out-of-spec on a Magnavox 8802 amp?

Steve
Click to expand...
Steve, I was surprised to find that all resistors measured pretty close to spec, so I didn't replace many. I replaced the cement cast power resistor with a nice Mills 12W, and another across the terminals of the big cap that you see underneath, mostly because I didn't think I could salvage the old one.
 
I think for sure, the SA-232/Sp-210 is a 245-A integrated...But i think they are close enough I think.

nate, how is it thay you Minnesotans find all the good ****.
 
WhiteSE said:
Can you draw any conclusions as to improvement from stock form?
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I didn't actually listen to it until I recapped it, Jack. Those old wax caps were melted, oozing, leaking and swelling. The electrolytics were bulging and crumbling.

I'm amazed at what people consider to be "stock form." No way did the designers think those components would last 50 years, and no way do they sound the way they did when they were installed. :no:

Sorry for the rant, Jack... :D

What I can tell you is that the amp sounds very good now. When I first fired it up I had some noise from dirty tube sockets. I did a cursory cleaning and it took care of the problem, but I still want to do more. Then there's the gunk on the outside - I want to shine that up a bit, for sure!
 
Its a great amp for sure.....

regarding stock: you know me, I just plug anything and turn on!!! and the hide behind the couch!!
 
WhiteSE said:
regarding stock: you know me, I just plug anything and turn on!!! and the hide behind the couch!!
Click to expand...
Yes, we know you, Jack! You're a madman for sure! :D



Oh, I did make one "modification" to the original circuit. I upped the capacitance in the power supply...
  • Original was: 40uf-R-80uf-R-20uf-R-40uf
  • Changed to: 60uf-R-110uf-R-100uf-R-100uf
I tried this after reading a popular thread that's out there on the subject. I didn't increase the capacitance as much as the other fella did, but the idea made sense to me based on others' experience with hum problems in this amp. Since I didn't listen earlier, I don't know if doing this actually improved anything but I hear only a tiny amount of noise now, that I think may actually be caused by dirty sockets or a weak tube somewhere.
 
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nice, nate. what's that big black cap? is that a single or a multi? or does it replace both the double below (the 40-20) and the double up top (the 80-40) in a single can?
 
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