[L0rdGwyn]

Awesome thanks for the info. Although on the other hand kinda feel if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Since it’s easy to replace then should it fail then it’s time to replace it.
It’s about 10 months now that I’ve built the Aegis and so far everything is working well

Yeah, my feeling is it's not something that is going to happen to everyone, but I also understand wanting to be proactive. If a channel goes out, measure the voltage at TP15 and TP16. If either one is high (greater than say 25V) and the other is low, then the high one is the channel with the bad cap. But quick on and off for measurements, don't want to run a tube at high current for a prolonged period of time.

I may reach out to Jupiter and politely point out they have a QC problem with this particular cap. Heck, I could drive there and tell him in person, they're half hour away from me.

 

[Kdot]

I just reached out to Jupiter to see if I can get a discount on the 600v seeing as the 400v died within 6 months, they said they can do 40% which is not bad!

 

[mchuckp]

Nice. Good to hear that you don’t have to remove the board. Curious did you notice any sonic differences after swapping the caps?

Awesome thanks for the info. Although on the other hand kinda feel if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Since it’s easy to replace then should it fail then replace it
It’s about 10 months now that I’ve built the Aegis and so far everything is working well

Yeah, my feeling is it's not something that is going to happen to everyone, but I also understand wanting to be proactive. If a channel goes out, measure the voltage at TP15 and TP16. If either one is high (greater than say 25-30V) and the other is low, then the high one is the channel with the bad cap. But quick on and off for measurements, don't want to run a tube at high current for a prolonged period of time.

I may reach out to Jupiter and politely point out they have a QC problem with this particular cap. Heck, I could drive there and tell him in person, they're half hour away from me.

You all may remember pages of @L0rdGwyn helping me troubleshoot this earlier this year. I was one who got one dead on arrival. It was VERY stressful after so much money and work thinking I did something wrong. Thank god LG nailed it down to that cap and put me on the right path to replacement.

Couple things on mine:
1. I did choose to remove the board to replace. I preferred to make sure I did it right being a new builder and I'm kind of a perfectionist and wanted it looking right.
2. I had a frustrating time getting a replacement. They didn't question the warranty but communication was subpar. Never responded to emails after my first one. Never returned calls so would have to just try until they picked up. Took me I think 2.5-3 weeks to get it because they claimed they shipped it and never gave me tracking. After asking multiple times about it, it was finally discovered that it never shipped. Eventually got it shipped but was so frustrating to sit with this dead amp for weeks unnecessarily.

 

[AnyDave]

Well assuming some 30 or so DIY Aegises (I'm not certain of that number, ballpark), and four instances of this occurring, that's 4 out of 60 caps, around 7%. Two of the four cases arrived bad and the issue was seen at first turn on, two occurred after about a year. My feeling is most will be fine, but I can't say for certain.

7% is a fairly atrocious failure rate on an electrical component. And the fact that some died in situ does not inspire confidence.

Yeah, my feeling is it's not something that is going to happen to everyone, but I also understand wanting to be proactive. If a channel goes out, measure the voltage at TP15 and TP16. If either one is high (greater than say 25V) and the other is low, then the high one is the channel with the bad cap. But quick on and off for measurements, don't want to run a tube at high current for a prolonged period of time.

I may reach out to Jupiter and politely point out they have a QC problem with this particular cap. Heck, I could drive there and tell him in person, they're half hour away from me.

If I ran Jupiter, I would want to know this info. Who knows how many threads like this exist out there? Once you establish a reputation for quality issues, it can be hard to convince people otherwise, even if the quality issues are addressed. Giving them a heads up is a kind thing to do.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

7% is a fairly atrocious failure rate on an electrical component. And the fact that some died in situ does not inspire confidence.



If I ran Jupiter, I would want to know this info. Who knows how many threads like this exist out there? Once you establish a reputation for quality issues, it can be hard to convince people otherwise, even if the quality issues are addressed. Giving them a heads up is a kind thing to do.

Yeah I'll shoot him an email. Who knows, maybe he's taken action on the issue already.

 

[Toonartist]

Nice. Good to hear that you don’t have to remove the board. Curious did you notice any sonic differences after swapping the caps?

Awesome thanks for the info. Although on the other hand kinda feel if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Since it’s easy to replace then should it fail then replace it
It’s about 10 months now that I’ve built the Aegis and so far everything is working well

If they have an unlimited shelf life when not used then maybe pickup the replacements and only replace if they fail.

I ended up building a new board for my latest build and I intend to strip it down for spares, @L0rdGwyn do the Jupiter caps have a finite life a bit like the Rubycon caps or is it a safe to buy and store as a spare and are there any other components that have a life expectancy? Don't want to store something for years to find its past it's best Thanks

 

[L0rdGwyn]

If they have an unlimited shelf life when not used then maybe pickup the replacements and only replace if they fail.

I ended up building a new board for my latest build and I intend to strip it down for spares, @L0rdGwyn do the Jupiter caps have a finite life a bit like the Rubycon caps or is it a safe to buy and store as a spare and are there any other components that have a life expectancy? Don't want to store something for years to find its past it's best Thanks

The film caps will have a finite lifespan, it's typically a lot longer than electrolytics, usually decades, but honestly I couldn't put a number on these Jupiter caps. They will need to be replaced some day. A film cap on the shelf will last longer than in circuit given it isn't exposed to heat and high voltages. However, there will be film caps available in the future, so I don't necessarily think you need to buy spares now. Resistors tend to drift in value over time, but should remain within tolerance for decades.

 

[Toonartist]

The film caps will have a finite lifespan, it's typically a lot longer than electrolytics, usually decades, but honestly I couldn't put a number on these Jupiter caps. They will need to be replaced some day. A film cap on the shelf will last longer than in circuit given it isn't exposed to heat and high voltages. However, there will be film caps available in the future, so I don't necessarily think you need to buy spares now. Resistors tend to drift in value over time, but should remain within tolerance for decades.

My new board has the Jupiter 600v caps. I liked the Jupiter sound so I stuck with them but with the uprated versions. I'll pop the 400v to one side for now. They were used for nearly a year so probably good ones but if I had to replace I'd go with the 600v again!

I'll just strip the rest of the board and bag them with details of their PCB position reference on the bag

 

[DenverW]

I love Jupiter caps, and have also had great experiences with duelund. Ive read great things about vcap but haven’t heard them.

When building my next aegis I’ll probably go Duelund for variety. Can’t really go wrong with any of those three as long as you’re matching or beating the specs.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I love Jupiter caps, and have also had great experiences with duelund. Ive read great things about vcap but haven’t heard them.

When building my next aegis I’ll probably go Duelund for variety. Can’t really go wrong with any of those three as long as you’re matching or beating the specs.

And here I thought you might be leaving the Aegis club, but you're actually going to build a second lol.

 

[miter53]

Is the Sophia Electric blue 274B compatible? I see the Elrog 274B being used, but in researching the Sophia Electric, there's mention of the first PS cap after the rectifier needing to be under 4uf.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Is the Sophia Electric blue 274B compatible? I see the Elrog 274B being used, but in researching the Sophia Electric, there's mention of the first PS cab after the rectifier needing to be under 4uf.

The 4uF limitation assumes you are running the rectifier at its maximum specified voltage (450V) and current (160mA), the spec can be loosened given they aren't being run close to max in Aegis. Elrog are high quality tubes and can handle the input current with a 22uF cap. The Sophias you might want to be more careful with. If you want to use them, you might want to reduce the input cap to 10uF.

 

[Toonartist]

The 4uF limitation assumes you are running the rectifier at its maximum specified voltage (450V) and current (160mA), the spec can be loosened given they aren't being run close to max in Aegis. Elrog are high quality tubes and can handle the input current with a 22uF cap. The Sophias you might want to be more careful with. If you want to use them, you might want to reduce the input cap to 10uF.

Do you know if there will be any issues with the Takatsuki 274b? I pasted the specs I found below


Type: Twin diode tube.
Product name: TA-274B.
Configuration: Directly heated twin diode tube.
Filament voltage/current: 5V/2A AC.
Maximum plate voltage (RMS): 660 V/plate.
Maximum DC output current: 225mA.
Maximum transient current: 2.5 A 20 msec or less.
Peak plate current: 700 mA/plate.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Do you know if there will be any issues with the Takatsuki 274b? I pasted the specs I found below


Type: Twin diode tube.
Product name: TA-274B.
Configuration: Directly heated twin diode tube.
Filament voltage/current: 5V/2A AC.
Maximum plate voltage (RMS): 660 V/plate.
Maximum DC output current: 225mA.
Maximum transient current: 2.5 A 20 msec or less.
Peak plate current: 700 mA/plate.

They will likely be fine, but it's one of those things you can't really judge from a spec sheet. The concern is the inrush current on start up as the reservoir capacitor charges. A higher cap value means a higher inrush current. In the spectrum of rectifiers, the 274B has one of the lowest specified input cap values. If the cap value is very high, it can cause the rectifier to arc on startup. I would say if you think you'll be using 274B primarily, you may want to consider changing the input cap to 10uF, it may improve the lifespan of the rectifier.

 

[Toonartist]

They will likely be fine, but it's one of those things you can't really judge from a spec sheet. The concern is the inrush current on start up as the reservoir capacitor charges. A higher cap value means a higher inrush current. In the spectrum of rectifiers, the 274B has one of the lowest specified input cap values. If the cap value is very high, it can cause the rectifier to arc on startup. I would say if you think you'll be using 274B primarily, you may want to consider changing the input cap to 10uF, it may improve the lifespan of the rectifier.

So 600v 10uF rather than the 22uF.

Will this impact on other rectifiers at all? So far (touch wood) the Elroy has been spot on with 650hrs of use.

Edit… sorry, I think I may have misunderstood here. Are you talking about the Rubycon 450v 22uF on the terminal block and not the Jupiter caps?