Jimmy’s Junkyard » Blog Archive » Bleeder Resistor: Who the Hell Are You?

Bleeder Resistor: Who the Hell Are You?

Posted on Sunday, 4th October 2009 by Auw Jimmy

To simplify the answer, Bleeder Resistor is used to “short” the positive and negative rail on your High Voltage (B+) circuit. The main reason is safety. Without Bleeder Resistor, your capacitors will store some amount of electricity after your system turned off. This may result of hazardous shock if touched, accidentally off course

This time, I change the old Bleeder Resistor (no brand metal film) into Kiwame Carbon Film Resistor with 5W rating. Here you go.

kiwame

The old resistors used as Bleeder Resistor. Your turn is over, buddies…

old

Does it make a different?

Some people may say this is only a Bleeder Resistor. Use the cheapest you can get. This is proven to be not correct.

From this session, I could confirm, better resistor quality on this Bleeder position will affect your sound (the reason is your audio signal will return from the B+ rail, which off course, it will “hit” the Bleeder Resistor). After I replace the Bleeder Resistor with Kiwame, I could hear better separation and wider sound staging. Very clear on “Isn’t She Lovely” by Livingston Taylor. I could hear the “knock” on the right side easily and well defined, compared to before (with no brand Bleeder Resistor).

I will do some more research which Resistor is better on this position… Just wait

Tags: bleeder, Kiwame, resistor
Posted in DIY Audio | Comments (15)

15 Responses to “Bleeder Resistor: Who the Hell Are You?”

SS Says:
October 5th, 2009 at 11:03
Every component got some noise, if that’s the case, remove the bleeder resistor may even give more impact on sound quality right?

if the capacitor value is not large in power supply, sometimes not necesary to use bleeder resistor, as the the cap will discharge even the system off because the tube filament need time to cold down…
Jimmy Auw Says:
October 5th, 2009 at 21:57
Bleeder has its own good and its own bad. Removing the Bleeder wont guarantee to get better sound.

It’s too risky to remove the Bleeder. If you ever shocked with over 300 Volts, then you will understand what do I mean

Thanks.
SS Says:
October 6th, 2009 at 10:08
in my case, i will measure the voltage drop of the capacitor after switch off, if it drop very slow then i will use bleeder resistor, if it drop very fast then i won’t use, since my casing always screwed, by the time i unscrew the voltage normally drop till lower than 10v…
Jimmy Auw Says:
October 6th, 2009 at 21:06
Sometime… Bleeder Resistor is not just for “bleeding” the capacitor…
Bryant Says:
October 6th, 2009 at 21:37
I hope you will try Mills MRA-12 but it’s only maximum 100K ohm. Thanks.
Jimmy Auw Says:
October 6th, 2009 at 21:54
Mills good for Anode… but not really good as Bleeder Resistor.
Thanks.
Bryant Says:
October 7th, 2009 at 14:23
Thank you so much. Could you let me know, have you ever used Mills as Cathode resistor or in PSU ? Is it good or not ?
Jimmy Auw Says:
October 7th, 2009 at 18:05
Mills so far very good as Anode resistor. Never use it as Cathode though.
Thanks.
aphinx Says:
October 14th, 2009 at 08:36
wah, ditunggu review-review berikutnya, Pak JA …
yildiray Says:
October 29th, 2009 at 03:06
if you were, which resistors did u use for lm4702 project?

draloric,halco,prp,riken,shinkoh,takman metal film,vishay vta54,caddock ?? which one?

regards yildiray
Jimmy Auw Says:
October 29th, 2009 at 21:27
Riken RMG and Shinkoh.
Thanks.
encephalus Says:
April 5th, 2010 at 17:09
You boys need to familiarize yourself with the “placebo effect”, and you may want to ease up on the ganja as well. I can assure you that the bleeder resistor, with respect to where it lies in the power supply circuit, has ZERO impact on sound quality. I love it – “the reason is your audio signal will return from the B+ rail, which off course, it will “hit” the Bleeder Resistor”. Now there’s a scientific explanation that Al Gore would be proud of. Now if it would make a difference, and if any of you clowns were actually intelligent, you would have the bleeder kick in automatically via a switch or relay when the power is turned off. But the bottom line is IT WOULD MAKE NO DIFFERENCE. What you’re hearing in better sound quality is exactly that – what you want to hear, because you want to hear it. You guys need to brush up on electrical theory and physics a bit…
Kimoru K. Says:
April 5th, 2010 at 17:33
hi there,
i think you need to try yourself encephalus. dont just play with your simulator to assume 1k is 1k no matter what is that inside those 1k. i ever tried some different bleeder and they produced different sound. agree with jimmy if they produce different sound but perhaps my R preference is different with him. the best not the expensive. just not all the resistor sound the same. but off course, if you’re completely ignorant or spend yourself more with those papers and simulator, then you are out of the league.

be real. you can’t hear, doesnt mean other can’t to.

it’s been many years ppl talking about placebo, like talking aliens, physics, big bang, worm hole, but at the end, they have to admit that they are real or least, they are trying to find out more because they got more evidence. like chinese ancient, voodoo, telepathy, etc. those scientist can prove nothing, they only can claim as coincidence, but they are real and waiting to be found. the study about such are on the way in most university, but most, still closed and confidential.

thanks.
Kimoru.
William Chong Says:
June 2nd, 2010 at 15:38
Yes, totally agreed.
In audio world, scientic explanation does not works all the time.
Ian Says:
November 3rd, 2011 at 21:38
Hi, I find encephalus’s comments offensive. He refers to everyone as clowns and attacks everyone’s intelligence,and to top it off sights the “placebo effect”.
I think encephalus, you need to have an open mind, and understand that just because science at this point and time has not discovered way to qualify many real world results, doesn’t mean that one day they will