255ext HF Start

[performance]

No, that is the solid state board. Must be a little different than the one I have. The "can" doesn't emit light on my unit. It's metal.

[labmaster02]

It's strange. You wouldn't think it was a light by just looking at it, but it definitely lights up when the pedal is depressed. It kind of looks like a capacitor.

[Rambozo]

That can is a gas discharge tube. Very much like a sealed spark gap. It is typically used for input protection from things like lightning strikes and other over voltage events. Kinda a clever use of it as a point gap for an HF board. Depending on how thick the ceramic can is, the light obviously can shine through it, if thin enough.

[WhitsonMetal]

So is that the "points" or are they elsewhere? Sure seems like a delicate part the way the light flickers through it.

[Rambozo]

It looks like that has replaced the points. Depends on what you mean by delicate. Electrically that thing is as tough as nails. You could blow every chip in the machine and that part would probably survive. Physically it is a sealed ceramic piece, so you could break it with enough force. Mounted inside the machine it would be hard to break, without doing a lot of other damage, first. A lot of ceramics let some light through. It should provide greater consistency, as there are no exposed points that must be set by hand, and are subject to getting bumped around during assembly and in transport.

[everlastsupport]

Very clever, using a gas discharge tube (aka lightning protector and in the day $$$).

First I have seen. Bad news, you are not going to adjust that part and like Ram said, they are tough as nails so I would not think it died, but never know. I have metal ones I use on projects as well and have seen them shot out of a circuit board hit by lightning. Would not want to be there when it happened.

But very clever, I do not get to see in the machines much anymore, but that make the points a non-failure point (no pun)

[WhitsonMetal]

that seems like good news to me, i was not happy about having to adjust the points, at some point.