[HAM] Converting to a SS rectifier

[Kon Zissis]

Ted Thompson wrote:
>No matter what you do, the voltage will go up.  Even if you do a full 
>wave like the original (it's not a bridge) you'll see a big leap in 
>voltage because a silicon diode only has a .6 volt drop, where as a
tube 
>rectifier has a drop that is much higher.
 
>You should seek the correct tubes - even the so called "plug in" 
>replacements are dangerous for this very reason.
 
Hi Ted and everyone.
In some locations such as in Australia the rectifier valves are either
hard to find or expensive so it would be cheaper  to use a diode based
rectifier.
If it turns out that voltage dropping resistors are not the best  way to
produce the required voltage drop , then another option that I can think
of ( as long as it is electrically  safe and reliable  to do so )
would be to wire up a normal full wave diode  bridge rectifier  and then
wire up several silicon diodes in series  after the output of the bridge
rectifier until  the correct voltage drop was produced. For example if
the required voltage drop was 12 volts ,  twenty silicon diodes wired in
series  ( 0.6 X 20 = 12 volts dropped ) will produce this required
voltage drop. 
 
Does this approach of wiring several diodes in series after the bridge
rectifier  in order to produce the required voltage drop sound
electrically OK or would this cause problems or potential harm to the
valves or the  power transformer ?
 
All the best.
Kon