#6038
Robin
Participant

Use the current limiter! The idea behind starting the amp without the tubes is that some of the B+ circuit will not be complete and you could “potentially” find an issue (short) before you go full throttle. With the current limiter, you can fire up the whole circuit and if the bulb glows brightly, you know you have a short and it protects the circuit from frying the PT and other components. BTW, you might have read that the current limiter bulb will start out bight and then dim as the circuit warms up, this might happen, or the bulb might not light at all. That’s ok as long as you know you’ve constructed the limiter correctly. It’s only when the bulb starts bright and stays bright (indicating a short) that you need to be concerned.

DH’s suggestion is the safe route but if there is an issue with the amp and you take it to a tech right off the bat, you won’t have an opportunity to discover the problem and resolve it on your own. You can always use the amp tech as the last resort anyway. Many have built the Two Stroke and had it work great from the start, other’s have had issues but most are resolved with out much effort. I always use the current limiter when I build an amp or get an amp in for repair.

Be sure to have the speaker plugged in (or a dummy load) and don’t dime the volume if there is an issue. Triple check all your solder joints and use your meter to confirm all connections and grounds before you fire it up.
Good luck, it’s a really great amp.