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NotTaR of Television Sets : What is a tripler?                      
 Copyright © 1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying. I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.

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What is a tripler?

In some TVs, the flyback transformer only generates about 6-10 kV AC which is then boosted by a diode-capacitor ladder to the 18-30 kV needed for modern color CRTs. The unit that does this is commonly called a tripler since it multiplies the flyback output by about 3 times. Some TVs use a quadrupler instead. However, many TVs generate the required HV directly with a winding with the required number of turns inside the flyback transformer.

Triplers use a diode-capacitor ladder to multiply the 6-10 kV AC to 18-30 kV DC. Many triplers are separate units, roughly cubical, and are not repairable. Some triplers are built in to the flyback - it is probably cheaper to manufacture the HV diodes and capacitors than to wind a direct high voltage secondary on the flyback core. In either case, failure requires replacement of the entire unit.

For external multipliers, the terminals are typically marked:

Symptoms of tripler failure are: lack of high voltage or insufficient high voltage, arcing at focus protection spark gap, incorrect focus voltage, other arcing, overload of HOT and/or flyback, or focus adjustment affecting brightness (screen) setting or vice-versa. Where there is overloading, if you disconnect the tripler and everything else comes back to life (obviously, there will be no HV or picture), then it is very likely bad.