Hmm, didn't they used to wind their own transformers? Seems to me back when
I bought my Centurion (1997?) this was one of the several things they
advertised they built themselves (including the variable tuning & load
capacitors). Mine worked fine, and I remember it having the ratings
mentioned by Bob,K4TAX. Maybe all that has changed.....
73, Duane
Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
www.ac5aa.com
-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Dan Atchison
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 12:10 PM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Oh? Centurion PS
Hi, Bob:
Don't know how you came up with that rating for the Centurion HV
transformer. My four year old 422B has a 2250 volt at 0.5 AMP CCS
transformer in it. That's no where near 2500 W CCS. To answer the
previous question posed by someone who said the HV PS in the Centurion
is less than adequate, my experience is this:
1) 15 months after purchase my HV transformer went bad -- shorted
primary windings. This known transformer deficiency by anyone here on
the reflector was NOT fixed by TenTec under warranty - they steadfastly
refused to replace it. $700 bill because they said one of my 3-500Z was
bad. They sent a new tube (yes I was billed for it), but I put the old
one back in.
2) 10 months after replacing the transformer, the second transformer
went bad - shorted primary windings, same darn thing. While TenTec
would replace that one under warranty, I elected not to ship it back
(they would NOT send me one in exchange) because I was afraid of
shipping damages to the amp - and was afraid they'd say another 3-500Z
was bad.
3) I elected to purchase a Peter Dahl replacement HV transformer. I had
Peter Dahl increase the secondary winding to give me 2400 Volts ($375).
I have never looked back. Same tubes, same amp, different transformer,
no problems (related to the transformer or power supply). The slightly
extra voltages gives me a little extra power that really wasn't
necessary (but 3-500Z like a higher voltage than the Centurion PS
delivers). Oh, yes, I am still using the original tubes - including the
one they said was defective.
Am I bashing TenTec? The Centurion is a fine QSK amplifier, but the
known HV transformer issue has NEVER been admitted by them (read all
the reflector emails about this issue, the Canadian transformer's
always seem to fail with shorted primaries). I just wish the company
would come clean and admit their transformer vendor has quality issues.
Fix the vendor or go with a better one.
Dan -- N3ND
[TenTec] Oh?
Bob McGraw - K4TAX RMcGraw at Blomand.net
Sat Aug 4 21:22:17 EDT 2007
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The Tentec Centurion does what the company says it will do. It is rated
at
1300 watts SSB output. Nothing wrong with that. The HV power
transformer
in the Centurion is rated at 2.5KVA or 2500 watts CCS. The HV power
transformer in the AL-82 is rated at 1.8 KVA or 1800 watts CCS. The HV
transformer in the "light weight" Tentec Centurion HV transformer
weighs 36
lbs while the "heavy duty" power supply in the AL-82 weights 32 lbs.
Folks, just be careful, someone is jerking your leg. As Will Rodgers
once
said "it's not what people know that concerns me. It what they know
that
isn't correct that gives me concerns."
73
Bob, K4TAX
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