well hell.....
I hooked everything up...wish I could post some pics

as soon as I turned the power supply on my meter was showing 8.03V
so I guess this little guy can work when its not soldered in the amp...idk smh 
so back to the drawing board...or schematic...
on the plus side this was lots of fun damn I learned a lot in the last few days....
just wish I had a different cadaver to pract8ce on because I really love this amp 

so thanks guys dont bail on me yet ha ha

thanks guys it is helping to actually do stuff in real life instead of just calculating current and voltage drops. 

just an FYI of my thought process....last night I had wondered if I could connect it to a 12v battery (automotive) immediately I was horrified imagining 650-700 CCA vaporizing the little device and kinda breathed a sigh of relief that I didnt do that.

so then this morning on the way to work I got to thinking...in my boat I have a big ass dedicated 12v deep cycle hooked to one thing...a Lowrance sonar.  and its not drawing hundreds of amps or glowing red from current. (lots of times I run sonar with the outboard off and so I have a separate cranking battery)

so I kinda came to my senses about this...I think my thinking got corrupted by imagining a variable power supply could dial in any current...maybe it can idk..

so anyhow I am going to take a 12v batt or power supply and connect to pins 1 and 2....then connect multimeter to pins 2 and 3 and see if it reads 8v.

also I plan to connect the DUT to a heatsink before testing

it also occured to me that this is precisely what Mr Tassie Viking instructed me to do while it was in the amp (thank you sir!) 

hey guys when people at Peavey dumped hot glue on components was that supposed to act as a heat sink?

thanks again
    

resistance across C58 about 3.5kohm

yes sir will def be checking that.  glad to see you recommend using mouser or digikey....was tempted to go elsewhere.
if there is anything else I should get from there let me know I hate to spend $7.99 on a $3 order.  maybe some of the other peavey-esque chips..just to have on hand.
I ordered a function generator today....that should make me learn the signal path
anyhow thanks for all of the help

hello all
I have a realistic power supply 13.8v 3A
I want to hook up and test an old 7808CT removed from my amp.  I dont know much but I am thinking 3 amps is gonna blow this thing up or melt it....
(I dont want to reuse it this is just me trying to learn some stuff...)
I also have a topwon 6303A that I havent unpacked yet maybe I can dial current down..
also I read the data sheet on some of the semiconductors...about a I could find was the output current.
I did some preliminary diode type tests per youtube...it seems to be good idk....if its good its good I will replace it regardless that dag blasted glue had to come off anyway.  Anyhow mucho beer and pizza to all I really appreciate it all the help I have gotten here.
regards
Wesley

well guys I kinda inadvertantly jumped the gun.  I wanted to remove the "silicon" blob encompassing 7808 only to discover it was armor piercing resistant hot glue.  so I resorted to some medieval methods ie soldering iron and picks etc to get all of that crap off and out of there.
meanwhile I wanted to short that diode and measure but it was getting late and it was so tiny I was trying to think of how I could achieve it....then I was wanting to lift those links as advised so I knew I would have to turn the board over...which I did...and then that poor 7808 had suffered so much abuse I just desoldered it and put the board back like it was. 
go figure in other places the hot glue just peeled right off.

anyhow the marking on the device is

"MC (MC logo)

7808CT
QQ8606A"

thanks for your help

thanks guys
I havent ordered any components yet but aside from the physical dimensions is something like this ok

Linear Voltage Regulators 3 Pin 1.5A Fixed 8V Pos Vltg Reg

I want to do as much testing as possible to learn

regards
Wesley

btw Happy Easter or whatever your endeavour

ok im back...the three transformer wires...red/yellow with red on each side...I get 13.6v a/c testing each side to center

on the big c57 I get 17.6v dc

on the little c58 I get 0.646v dc

then I tracked down cr24 and got dizzy trying to remember arrows and cathodes.... bands.

I messed with it quite a while got lots of different readings...but all under 1v...time for refresher course

hth btw I will look to subscribe or contribute as gratitude for the help I have received

regards
Wesley

yes sir thanks that is a monumental (to me  homework assignment but will be a great learning experience

I will report back with results

update
all three 4558 have nearly identical readings
the two socketed 4558 have -9.4v on pin 4 and -0.64 on pin 8
the 4558 that is not socketed has -0.64v on pin 4 and -9.4v on pin 8

all three measure about 8.8v pins 4 to 8

now moving on to 7808...the good news I think I found it...the bad news is it is underneath about a gallon of silicone

I cant get to the legs at all...I could probably lift the board out and measure that way....

thanks again

also now going back I see where mr TV did say measure each one....doh 

guys...im sorry
in my haste I didnt notice there were three RC4558Ps

because I was at work today and wanted to see where I had been on the schematic and look at what mr Phatt discussed and then i saw them.  now I am at home and see them on the pcb as well.
my apologies.
some good news though maybe it looks like two of them are in sockets
 
so let me look at the schematic and try to figure out which one I took measurements on.

thanks again

sorry forgot to add...the speakers were disconnected during the testing...dunno if that matters

well I googled 4558 pin out, removed the chassis and turned it on and measured the pins 4 and 8

I need to find my mini grabbers because I was slip slidin away like Paul Simon worried I was going to short something out.

anyhow
pin 4 to ground -9.36v

pin 8 to ground -0.64v

pin 4 to pin 8  -8.73v

all measurements rechecked a few times

btw my chip or whatever had these markings

731 A B
RC 4558P

with a Texas Instruments? logo
and thank God for that circle mark I guess that helped me know which way was up...TM Richard Pryor

 

also I noticed a nice wooden adjustable chassis holder in a D-Lab video I thought he had bought it but a vendor sent it to him.
I want to put something like that together sure would be nice