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Loud Pop playing at low volume


theDogger

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So last night sat down to play and about 20 mins in I hear a really loud pop like someone popped a large balloon in front of me. Was on the Gain channel and channel volume was low as was the master volume.

 

So to say the least really caught me off guard and kinda scared the {censored} out of me to say the least....nothing shut down and seem to be OK. Shut everything down to be on the safe side. At this point was expecting

 

Prior to this happening I have been experiencing the Master Volume starting to crackle when trying to adjust it...also experiencing the volume fluctuating going from set volume to lower and then back up. I have suspect that PWR Tubes might need to be replaced...in fact all tubes as they are the OEM tubes.

 

Having said that first thing I checked were the Tubes and no cracked glass or burns. No burnt electrical smell in the amp head.

 

Eganter Vengeance Head(60w - 120w)

4x12 cab 16 Ohm

Pre: Tuner->NS2->TS-9->MXR 10-eq

Post: TC Electronics G-Major->BBE 382i

 

So current thought are

 

1- Bad Tubes

2- Surge though the electrical circuit that was amplified through the head/cab?

 

 

Any thoughts?

 

-B

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Its not a surge. The power supply would filter that.

 

It can be a loose tube or an oxidized contact. What you can do is remove the tubes then wet the pins on the tubes with non lubricating contact cleaner (not the lubricating stuff designed for pots) or use alcohol then plug and unplug them a few times to clean the sockets. If the problem persists its likely a tube going bad and you want to change them before a catastrophic failure occurs.

 

If the volume is turned off and you hear the popping its likely the power tubes. The problem is if it only happens occasionally its really tough to find the culprit. As a tech one test was to turn the volumes and tones up then tap each preamp tube lightly with a pencil. If the tube has become microphonic you'll hear a pinging sound or a crackly from the speaker. Other then that, you simply have to change them out.

 

When tubes heat up the metal elements inside expand and when they cool they contract. In a combo they also vibrate from the speakers. Eventually the metal weakens and welds that hold screens and plates in place crack and start making bad electrical contacts. The crack you heard occurs when the high voltage path is broken or the suspended screens inside the tubes warp and arching occurs. The only fix is replacement.

 

The problem can occur with new tubes too. Tubes get shipped long distance and can see allot of vibrations in transit. I Re-tubed my Bassman recently. I first tried a set of Ruby power tubes on sale and barely had time to bias them when I got a loud pop like you experienced. I immediately pulled them out and sent them back. I then tried a set of JJ's after biasing I heard light popcorn sounds in the background. Another set of duds, so I sent those back too. The next set I bought Electro Harmonics tubes which I now to be great tubes. I had replaced a set in my Music Man a year Earlier and they were excellent. I had no noise and they sounded great. I replaced all my preamp tubes with the EH too and it was like taking a blanket off the amp for tone,

 

I did have Groove tubes in there which had lasted me a good 15 years and sounded very good. I don't use the head all the time and since its a head, not a combo I can get those kinds of mileage out of them. I developed a problem with one of the preamp tubes so I did the entire set. The EH rate the highest for low microphonics and noise and they have an excellent frequency response high for low noise plus the cost is excellent. You'd have to using something like Mullard black sable's and pay an arm and a leg to get similar results.

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Pot wear is usually progressive and has symptoms of crackle. The crackle can be loud but rarely as loud as he describes. It can be a loose tube contact too, but something as loud as a balloon popping spells bad tube arching out in my book. The pots can be cleaned with lubricating pot cleaner to rule those out but I wouldn't wait around to find out if that pop occurs again. Next time the arching may cause more then a loud noise.

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Issue resolved as this was found to be the issue for several things happening with the amp. Turns out quality control in China is not that good.

Male/Female connector not attached correctly causing sporadic contact. Was wedged on between the rubber boot and the female connector.

 

After connecting correctly back to normal and sounds great again!!! I will give it to Egnater though, Blad called me and gave me a great off to send the AMP out to Cali and they will go through it and replace several things with updated components. I think that I am going to take him up on it

 

 

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Issue resolved as this was found to be the issue for several things happening with the amp. Turns out quality control in China is not that good.

Male/Female connector not attached correctly causing sporadic contact. Was wedged on between the rubber boot and the female connector.

 

After connecting correctly back to normal and sounds great again!!! I will give it to Egnater though, Blad called me and gave me a great off to send the AMP out to Cali and they will go through it and replace several things with updated components. I think that I am going to take him up on it

 

No! Say it ain't so!

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Good find. the plastic insulator was simply putting pressure on it to make a connection but as it heats up and vibrates it would arch out. The brown color comes from the arching. Brown scorching is one of the things you look for when doing a visual inspection. That plus cracked solder joints, discolored parts or parts that have cracks in them are all troubleshooting short cuts any good tech with a trained eye will use.

 

Reseating connectors is something you check when you have PCB boards with plugin connectors. Many newer amps do have these kind of connections because it makes manufacturing less expensive. Unfortunately the cost is also kept low by using unskilled assembly line workers who make mistakes. Its the main reason I always inspect new gear I buy whether it's fully functional or not. I want to know how the gear is built and I also do an inspection to look for shoddy work. Many times I'll clean up traces where huge amounts of solder rosin is left behind too. Rosin is acidic and can corrode connection and it can also suspend small beads of solder which can either add capacitance, resistance or flat out bridge connectors it shouldn't. Learned long abo the difference in fidelity can be quite significant as well as the longevity of the circuits improved with a little TLC.

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