Clegg Ster Psu

Grind Customs FX
www.grindcustomsfx.com
Cleggster PSU
Group Hug
This project is another unholy alliance of four people in three different countries: PCB
elf Jason (Jubal81), Rej, Cleggy and myself (Juansolo). Its like a intercontinental
DIY love-in. Or something.
Overview
This project is based on a Nixie PSU design that has been tailored to be more suitable
for high voltage guitar effects pedals utilizing valves (toobs for people in the US).
When I say high voltage, I mean it. This project is not to be taken lightly. You are
dealing with proper voltages here that can give you a hell of a crack at the very least,
and potentially much worse. In the interests of safety, we employed a French
Canadian to test this (twice) and he reported back that it bloody hurt. So check and
double check before you power it up.
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Grind Customs FX
R1
R2
1k
10k
C1
C2
330uF
100nF
D1
D2
1N5817
UF4004
R3
R4
56k
2k2
C3
C4
330nF
2,2nF
D3
Q1
1N4001
IRF740
R5
10k
C5
100pF
Q2
BC547
R6
R7
220k
470R
C6
C7
47uF
47uF
IC1
IC2
L7806
NE555
C8
2.2uF
F1
Polyfuse
Ind
ELC16B121L or
09HCP-121M-50
120uH
Before You Start

Please read all these instructions and the important notes at the end.
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Grind Customs FX
Assembly
Grab yer board!
Start populating with the smallest components first. This is good practice anyhow. So
in this case, watt resistors, then diodes, then 1 watt resistor (R5)
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Grind Customs FX
At least thats how I would have done it had Rej not bunged the big caps and inductor
in next. J However his argument is strong, as it involves gravity, which stops us all
floating around. Putting the big components in first allows the smaller components to
dangle so when you solder them in, they are straight. This use of Newtonian thinking
is acceptable to my OCD.
Next for me would have been the IC, then the trimmer, then the MLCC caps, then the
polyfuse and then the shorter electrolytics. You get the idea.
The polyfuse by the way, is a self resetting fuse. How cool is that!?
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Grind Customs FX
Still this doesnt explain the IC and trimmer. They dont dangle. I feel his logic has
some merit, but also some flaws regarding the dangle factor of certain components.
Aha! Back on track, and this bit I absolutely agree with: fit everything apart from the
mosfet and regulator, he has a nice trick for those.
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Grind Customs FX
The trick is to fit the heatsinks (as per appendix A over the next page), place the
assembled fet and reg in the board, then turn it over so it sits on the caps and inductor.
This nicely sets the height of the two before you solder them in. Simple, yet clever at
the same time.
Testing
Once you are confident that everything is right, stick the 9v and GND leads in, hook
it up and grab your multimeter. Stick it on DC and probe a ground pad and the test
pad. Turn the trimmer until you get 190V.
Then do a quick sanity check. The HV pads should read 190V and the heater pads
around 6V to 6.3V. Now unplug it and keep an eye on the HV until its discharged
before you start poking around with it again. Without any load on the supply itll
probably take a couple of minutes. Until its discharged, even unplugged it can still
get you. Treat it like an amp.
Disclaimer
This is a high voltage DIY PSU. As such, if youre not confident dealing with this
sort of thing, dont! As stated earlier, it can give you a nasty shock and will have
enough poke in it to potentially kill you if manage to fire that across your heart.
If you die, please do not haunt us. We warned you over and over.
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Grind Customs FX
Appendix A
Assembling Heat Sinks
1. Grab the parts, these are:
1x L7806 Regulator
1x IRF740 Mosfet
2x Heat transfer pads
2x Heat Sinks
2x Bolts with washers
2. Put the heat transfer pads into

the heat sinks.
3. Put the bolt through the washer

then through the component
4. Bolt the component to the heat

sink
5. Trim off the excess heat

transfer pad
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Grind Customs FX
Appendix B
Important Notes
1. It is designed to run from a 9v supply and 9v supply only. Running it from a
higher voltage source will cause the regulator to have to do more work and
dissipate even more heat in the process. It already gets hot enough.
2. As mentioned, running 2x 12AX7 valves, the regulator will run at around 130
degrees C. Which the heat sink can deal with no problems. However it can be
beneficial to bolt the regulator (L7806) to the case (providing its aluminium)
as this will make an even better heat sink and lower the in case temps a bit.
Still use the thermal pad though, as it helps transfer the heat better.
3. The Mosfet (IRF740) MUST NOT be bolted to the case however. The outside
of the fet is live, bolting it to the case would be a bad thing. If youre unsure of
the definition of a bad thing I refer you to the movie Ghostbusters. It runs at
around 80 degrees C anyhow, so really doesnt get that hot.
4. Do not go over 190V. The supply will become unstable beyond this. Plus
190V is plenty to make most valves work properly.
5. 190V is easy to set with no load. Once you build your effect you might find
that the voltage under load is less. Personally I dont adjust this, but Rej readjusts it to 190V by once again probing the test point. As long as the supply
remains stable this should be fine. He hasnt blown up yet.
6. Dont use sockets for the IC, or anything else for that matter. Solder
everything.
Appendix C
Part Identification
R1: 1K 1/4W Brown-Black-Black-Brown-Brown
R2: 10K 1/4W Brown-Black-Black-Red-Brown
R3: 56K 1/4W Brown-Red-Black-Blue-Green
R4: 2K2 1/4W Brown-Brown-Black-Red-Red
R5: 10K 1W Metal Oxide Gold-Tan-Orange-Black-Brown
R6: 220K 1/4W Brown-Orange-Black-Red-Red
R7: 470R 1/4W Brown-Black-Black-Purple-Yellow
C1: 330uF 25V
C2: 100nF MLCC 104
C3: 330nF MLCC 334
C4: 2n2 MLCC 222
C5: 100pF MLCC 101
C6-C7: 47uF 250V C8: 2u2 250V
F1: Polyfuse
Trimpot: 2K
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Grind Customs FX
Appendix D
Schematic
Page 9

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Grind Customs FX

Before You Start

Grab yer board!

2. Put the heat transfer pads into

3. Put the bolt through the washer

4. Bolt the component to the heat

5. Trim off the excess heat

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