Mini shorts & leakage tester

[Deejay Davo]

Hi guys i just completed my shorts & leakage tester.

It's quite small but quite handy though.
And it's something that i really miss when it comes to testing tubes.

The uTracer is great for matching tubes, but to dig out the bad ones without damage your board always concerns me...
HK shorts  for instance kan mess-up your power supply...

I havent't made the board yet, hopefully this weekend, if time is on my side lol

[Deejay Davo]

Sorry if the pictures are to big hahaha
It's the first time i posted a picture in google groups...
But the leakage tester works quite good, i tested it on the breadboard, but can't wait till i made the prototype...
Hopefully i didn't made a fault lol

Let me know what your thoughts are.

Grtz,

Dave

Op vrijdag 18 februari 2022 om 23:58:17 UTC+1 schreef Deejay Davo:

[Félix Menéndez]

Hi, Dave

 

Interested in your leakage test circuit.

Could you add some more information?:

-How “Leak1” “Leak2” work.

-How “Heater Continuity” and “Heater-Cathode” work.

That is: how the LEDs are lit.

Thanks

Regards

Félix

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[Deejay Davo]

Hi Felix!

It works like this...

You can add the tester between the output of the uTracer  (Anode, Kathode & Screen) and the input off your tube sockets  (Anode, Kathode & Screen) 
connected to a  4P4T Rotary switch. (4 Pole 4 Throw)

The heater is In & out is connected to the leakage tester and controlled by a relay with the rotary switch.
I use and external heater supply because the the uTracer standard heater isn't that great imo.

*1 First setting, you will test for heater continuity. So if the filament is good the green led will light up.
The relays is energized in this setting, and It's connected with switched ground to prevent to damage the power supply. when you have a shorted heater Cathode for instance.
If there's a Heater Cathode short, it will reveal it self in the second setting..

*2 Second setting you will test for Heater Cathode short &  (H-K Led) & Anode to screen short/leakage (Scr-Cat Led)

*3 Third setting you will test for Anode+Screen to Cathode short/leakage (Scr-Cat Led)

*4 Fourth setting is for  the normal test procedure, Anode, Kathode & Screen are routed to the sockets. same as the heater.

I hope this will clarify how the tester works...

Grtz,

Dave

Op dinsdag 22 februari 2022 om 17:28:58 UTC+1 schreef Felix Menendez:

[Johan Bekaert]

Hey dave

Me too, I'm interested in your circuit! Can we indeed have some more info, like where to connect it etc, I'm not all that strong in electronics

Thanks!

jo

Op dinsdag 22 februari 2022 om 17:28:58 UTC+1 schreef Felix Menendez:

Hi, Dave

 

Interested in your leakage test circuit.

Could you add some more information?:

-How “Leak1” “Leak2” work.

-How “Heater Continuity” and “Heater-Cathode” work.

That is: how the LEDs are lit.

Thanks

Regards

Félix

De: utr...@googlegroups.com [mailto:utracer@googlegroups.com] En nombre de Deejay Davo
Enviado el: viernes, 18 de febrero de 2022 23:58
Para: uTracer
Asunto: Mini shorts & leakage tester

 

Hi guys i just completed my shorts & leakage tester.

It's quite small but quite handy though.
And it's something that i really miss when it comes to testing tubes.

The uTracer is great for matching tubes, but to dig out the bad ones without damage your board always concerns me...
HK shorts  for instance kan mess-up your power supply...

I havent't made the board yet, hopefully this weekend, if time is on my side lol

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[Deejay Davo]

It's pretty straight forward if you look at the schematic.

The dotted lines are hard wired, on the board there are 3 connectors J1, J2, J3 those go to the 4P4T rotation switch as in the schematic.

J1= Ground
J2= line to activate the relay (Controled by the switch)
J3= Line to the leakage circuit  (Controled by the switch)

Connect your heater to heater supply on the board, and connect the heater output to your socket
Connected your main AC to the board (AC230v) this is for  the ACDC converter 48V  (works on 110v AC also)

Ground on the switch is also connected to other parts of the switch, same as the leakage circuit, see schematic. 
Just wire the connections as described in the schematic... follow each dotted line.
Sometimes rotation switches can be confusing, but with a multimeter in diode test, you can figure out how the connections are made, you can make notes
with a marker to get a more visual view...

The leds can placed in your tube tester housing, just extend the leads...

Parts list:
1x ACDC Converter   Recom RAC20-48SK (ACDC Converter)

1x  Relay  Omron G2RL-2 48V
1x Transistor BC547B

1x Resistor 1k

2x Resistor 10k
1x Resistor 820K

1x Diode 1n4007
1x Varistor S14K20  (is not essential, except when switching high current loads, you can leave it out also, it's parallel connected)
2x Led Red
2x Led Green

Optional:
4pole terminal for heater 

3 pole terminal for J1,2,3
You can solder them to the board also

Op dinsdag 22 februari 2022 om 20:09:21 UTC+1 schreef jo.be...@gmail.com:

Hey dave

Me too, I'm interested in your circuit! Can we indeed have some more info, like where to connect it etc, I'm not all that strong in electronics

Thanks!

jo

Op dinsdag 22 februari 2022 om 17:28:58 UTC+1 schreef Felix Menendez:

Hi, Dave

 

Interested in your leakage test circuit.

Could you add some more information?:

-How “Leak1” “Leak2” work.

-How “Heater Continuity” and “Heater-Cathode” work.

That is: how the LEDs are lit.

Thanks

Regards

Félix

De: utr...@googlegroups.com [mailto:utr...@googlegroups.com] En nombre de Deejay Davo
Enviado el: viernes, 18 de febrero de 2022 23:58
Para: uTracer
Asunto: Mini shorts & leakage tester

 

Hi guys i just completed my shorts & leakage tester.

It's quite small but quite handy though.
And it's something that i really miss when it comes to testing tubes.

The uTracer is great for matching tubes, but to dig out the bad ones without damage your board always concerns me...
HK shorts  for instance kan mess-up your power supply...

I havent't made the board yet, hopefully this weekend, if time is on my side lol

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[Félix Menéndez]

Hi Dave,

 

Many thanks for your answer. Now all is clear J. I thougth that the relay is shown energized, but it is not. That was my confusion.

As a curiosity, I’m including our machine plans (beginning to get a bit crowded, hi…) with your design.

Hi guys i just completed my shorts & leakage tester.

It's quite small but quite handy though.
And it's something that i really miss when it comes to testing tubes.

The uTracer is great for matching tubes, but to dig out the bad ones without damage your board always concerns me...
HK shorts  for instance kan mess-up your power supply...

I havent't made the board yet, hopefully this weekend, if time is on my side lol

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[D.A.R Achterberg]

Your welcome Felix!

And there’s no actual need to keep the relay energized since it’s only for testing purposes…

With most relays the closed contact is always at coil side, and in the schematic it’s always showed as not energized, if so the maker make a note about it

I’m glad it’s clear now…

Hahaha “” our machine plana beginning to get crowded” 

Hmmm seems i’m not the only one having that problem…

I keep adding tools, gadgets and upgrades till i have want i want..

It’s starting to become a “swiss knife”

Well the building process is really nice to do… I like to create

But anyway happy building Felix, and if you have any answer, feel free to ask!

Kind Regards,

Dave Achterberg 

Op 23 feb. 2022 om 19:48 heeft Félix Menéndez <fmene...@telefonica.net> het volgende geschreven:



[Davo]

Answer must be question… 

Op 23 feb. 2022 om 20:58 heeft D.A.R Achterberg <d.a.r.ac...@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

Your welcome Felix!

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[Johan Bekaert]

Hello,

It's an old thread I know. Still looks worthwhile to add to my uTracer. 

Now, this may be a stupid question, I'm not an electronics expert....Why 48V? Surely you can make a transistor work on, say, 12V? Or on the 19V that feeds the UTracer?

Thank you for an answer!

Jo

Op woensdag 23 februari 2022 om 20:59:55 UTC+1 schreef djda...@gmail.com:

[Davo]

Forget this one & search for the leakage tester from Martin Manner, this one is more based using an analog tester circuit..

Op 17 jul 2025 om 18:40 heeft Johan Bekaert <jo.be...@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

Hello,

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/utracer/26efa700-f022-44d8-973e-a43960ff2c34n%40googlegroups.com.

[Johan Bekaert]

Thanks... but please enlighten an amateur: why? it doesn't look all that complicated to build and sure looks handy (I thought of using an extra contact on the rotary switch as on/off switch for the whole uTracer). And the circuit of Martin Manning uses 40V as well. Why can't you use -in both designs- like 19V by changing the resistors? Again: I'm beginner's level in electronics. Thank you for your help!

Jo

Op donderdag 17 juli 2025 om 23:10:16 UTC+2 schreef djda...@gmail.com:

[Davo]

In traditional tubes tester it’s common to use 50v for testing tubes on leakage.

Also a cold or heated tube makes a difference to detect a leakage…

A cold tube could show no signs of leakage, but when the tube is heated it’s possible that there’s some HK leakage for instance…

But there’s quite some info on the net, and nowadays AI could provide you some helpful info about the subject

Op 18 jul 2025 om 13:47 heeft Johan Bekaert <jo.be...@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

Thanks... but please enlighten an amateur: why? it doesn't look all that complicated to build and sure looks handy (I thought of using an extra contact on the rotary switch as on/off switch for the whole uTracer). And the circuit of Martin Manning uses 40V as well. Why can't you use -in both designs- like 19V by changing the resistors? Again: I'm beginner's level in electronics. Thank you for your help!

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/utracer/f63ec37e-3f86-45a0-82dc-f2e5705f2b45n%40googlegroups.com.