1 Topic by NPB_EST.1979 (edited by NPB_EST.1979 2011-04-01 15:33:48)

  • From: Detroit
  • Registered: 2006-06-02
  • Posts: 5,807

Topic: My amp was smoking...(got it fixed)

My most recent amp purchase was a River K-100 knucklhead... very nice amp!

After my first practice a couple days ago... we were over an hour into it, and we smelled something... something was burning. My amp had smoke coming out of it! It stunk up the entire basement. Right behind the power transformer. This could be bad. Power transformers are UBER expensive.

I turned it off right away. Still powers up... all the tubes light up fine. No blown fuses. Time to take it in for service.

I did some research as to who is the best around Detroit and the name that kept coming up was Dean Zink. So today I went to his place, and he fixed it for me on the spot:

1.suppressor chip? was the culprit, not the power transformer. $2 part
it smelled terribly, so bad. Took the old one out, cleaned the board good, and put a new one in with a higher tolerance.

2.some of the screws holding the amp together were stripped

3.the "new" JJ tubes in there had the red JJ logo faded, they're supposed to be bright red and fresh.... indicating the tubes are runnning WAY to hot. Further investigation yielded results of 98-100 on the voltmeter instead of the recommended "50" range. THAT'S DOUBLE! A re-bias of the tubes made it good to go.

4. the preamp tubes had a mix of JJ and Tung-SOL preamp tubes... they were even labeled 1-5 with a marker. The "quietest" tube was suppossed to be in position 1, and it wasn't. So we had to rearrange all of the preamp tubes.... get the marker numbers off the tubes, etc.

5. cleaned the scratchy pots, etc.
It was a great experience to see all of this and I was on the road in a little over an hour.

Apparently one cause for what happened could have been a power surge. I plug my amp into a surge protector, but most of them are cheap and don't condition the power. Most "power conditioning" power strips only handle 2 amps, whereas a guitar amp draws 5 amps, so a computer or tv power conditioner might not work.

After getting everything setup, the tech said it was more like a  120 watt amp than a 100 watt!

-Nic

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool
  • macg1
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: St. Petersburg, FL
  • Registered: 2010-01-21
  • Posts: 1,020

Re: My amp was smoking...(got it fixed)

I never ever leave home without my Furman power conditioner.  I actually bought extras and anything electronic in my old as dirt apartment goes into the Furman.  Glad it was a quick fix.

Amp: Firebird Musical Amplifiers
Guitars:62 LP SG , 02 FB VII, JB FB I, 76 Electra Omega, 64 Firebird V, 73 LPC, 61 Custom Tele, 59 and 60 Melody Maker
Effects: Mythos Chupacabra, Strymon Deco/Flint
  • From: N.Wales, UK
  • Registered: 2009-03-06
  • Posts: 2,183

Re: My amp was smoking...(got it fixed)

After mucho researcho, I've found that the UK has some of the best conditioned power in the entire world (not sure the ins and outs of this) and the USA has some of the worst in the modernised world.

Maybe not so important over here then...but I always have a surge setup.

PS. I had an Orange Rockerverb with KT88s and that was 143w RMS...and peaks of around 180-200w (not that makes a hell of a lot of difference when you are already breaking windows).

4 Reply by macg1 (edited by macg1 2011-04-02 15:21:24)

  • macg1
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: St. Petersburg, FL
  • Registered: 2010-01-21
  • Posts: 1,020

Re: My amp was smoking...(got it fixed)

calling the power grid in the US dirty is the understatement of the century.  Take a meter to any outlet and it will fluctuate between 105-115.  Whereas most circuitry can handle a minor surge, the voltage drop is a parade into brown out land!

Amp: Firebird Musical Amplifiers
Guitars:62 LP SG , 02 FB VII, JB FB I, 76 Electra Omega, 64 Firebird V, 73 LPC, 61 Custom Tele, 59 and 60 Melody Maker
Effects: Mythos Chupacabra, Strymon Deco/Flint
  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: My amp was smoking...(got it fixed)

that would have made for a good Kiss ace frehley stage trick at a gig.

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