Is my bugera head broken ?

[mbengs1]

I used it while ago and I noticed it's not as loud as it used to be. I tried turning up to volume to 4 and didn't get much volume. It's supposed to be really loud at that level. It's as if it was just 1. Will the amp die if I still use it when it's this way? It's loud enough to jam to backing tracks. it's like a 20 watt amp. I don't really jam with a drummer so if I don't have to fix it, that's cool. Maybe it can last 2 years this way ?

[nice keetee]

All things are possible...also your ears might be plugged with wax or cotton

[mbengs1]

what i'm trying to say is, should I fix it right way coz it can get worse? It's a nice amp to me. It's very cheap but if I can still hear the notes coming out of the speaker there's no problem. It's cool.

[WRGKMC]

Isn't this the same amp you had worked on for similar issues? Take it back to your tech for repair.

 

From your previous posts its obvious you know nothing about amps or electronics so its a waste of time for people to make suggestions. You never acknowledge people who try and help and ignore all of their suggestions. You don't even post the amp model or the things you've tried to fix it even after being told its essential for them to know.

 

You are like the boy who called wolf one too many times. After awhile people simply aren't going to care what your problem is, and when something actually does occur you will have used up all your options by asking people to help with problems that don't exist. You also have a long history of posting imaginary problems. People have good reason to be skeptical and are more likely to question your hearing or sincerity in actually having a problem.

[onelife]

Your amp probably has two power tubes. If one of the power tubes has stopped working (but not caused the fuse to burn out) then it's possible that the amp will still function but at a reduced volume.

 

Is the amplifier making any unusual noises such as excessive hum?

 

You should also check the intergrity of the connection between the amplifier and the speaker(s). This is important because a compromised load on a tube amp can result in serious (expensive) damage to the output stage.

[DeepEnd]

First I'd check to make sure the knobs are all set where they normally are. Beyond that, I tend to go with onelife's suggestion. My gut is telling me you have a bad tube. It may or may not lead to worse problems down the road but why wouldn't you fix it? 'Way cheaper than a new amp.

[mbengs1]

Your amp probably has two power tubes. If one of the power tubes has stopped working (but not caused the fuse to burn out) then it's possible that the amp will still function but at a reduced volume.

 

Is the amplifier making any unusual noises such as excessive hum?

 

You should also check the intergrity of the connection between the amplifier and the speaker(s). This is important because a compromised load on a tube amp can result in serious (expensive) damage to the output stage.

 

It's not making unusual noises like excessive hum. I did notice that the lead channel is normal. it's only the clean channel that weakened. If the power tubes are failing shouldn't both channels be affected?

[mbengs1]

First I'd check to make sure the knobs are all set where they normally are. Beyond that' date=' I tend to go with onelife's suggestion. My gut is telling me you have a bad tube. It may or may not lead to worse problems down the road but why wouldn't you fix it? 'Way cheaper than a new amp.[/quote']

 

I probably will fix it. can I retube it by myself? just by tubes like tung-sol and replace them at my home. or do I have to have the amp rebiased or something?

[onelife]

 

It's not making unusual noises like excessive hum. I did notice that the lead channel is normal. it's only the clean channel that weakened. If the power tubes are failing shouldn't both channels be affected?

 

Yes, a probem with the power section would affect both channels.

 

The most likely problem is with whatever preamp tube is unique to the clean channel. It may simply need to be carefully reseated - and only after the tube has cooled down. Tubes get hot enough to burn your fingers if you touch them.

[WRGKMC]

Never happen. One power tube goes out in a push pull circuit the other one is not going to keep working.

 

Problem may be a preamp tube but preamp tubes typically begin to distort when they drop in volume and go bad. OP says the sound quality is good which doesn't make sense nor does it sound like a tube issue. If I remember right he had a similar issue with this amp a year ago. Think he bitched the tech couldn't find an issue. I'm wondering why he hasn't mentioned the amps history in this thread.

[onelife]

Never happen?

 

Obviously you know more about this stuff than I do (I don't have two degrees in electronics) so please explain how my SF Princeton Reverb kept working -albdit less than 100% - when one of the 6V6 output tubes did not light/heat up.

[DeepEnd]

I probably will fix it. can I retube it by myself? just by tubes like tung-sol and replace them at my home. or do I have to have the amp rebiased or something?

Assuming onelife is correct (and he usually is) you only need to replace preamp tubes and those don't need to be biased. Any good brand will work. I don't remember what model your amp is so I can't say anything more specific.

[badpenguin]

You own it, so yes, it's broken. Just like every other piece of gear you own, something is terribly wrong with it.

Can you retube yourself? Yes you can.

Will that fix the issue? Don't care, because we will never know what possible solutions you took to fix it, since you aren't a "serious forumite", and have NEVER ONCE explained what it took so fix something you claim is broken.

[mbengs1]

So the tubes need replacing? how many tubes and how do I know which ones? or do I change all of them. this means I have to buy tubes online. ebay maybe.

[onelife]

What is the model number of your amplifier?

 

If it does not come with a tube chart then I'm sure you could find one online.

 

You may not need to replace all the tubes. If the presmp tubes are all the same (12AX7 for example) then swapping them one at a time with a known good one should isolate and fix your problem.

 

Just remember that tubes can get very hot and there is a risk of hurting yourself if you are not careful - let the tubes cool down before touching them.

[DeepEnd]

I mentioned that we don't know the model number of his amp five days ago. He's posted since then but we're still waiting.

[mbengs1]

It's a Bugera 6262

[1001gear]

Check switches too.

[DeepEnd]

Your amp has six (6) 12AX7's. Since I don't know the tube layout I suggest you buy one and replace the existing tubes with it one at a time until the problem goes away.

[mbengs1]

My bugera head isn't broken. It was a bad cable or something. It sounds fine. All my pedals sound great too.

[WRGKMC]

When you say one 6V6 Tube heater went out, I guess you mean the tube went cold, no heater at all. Seeing the heaters visually light up on some 6V6's can be difficult to see. The tube would be cold if it was open.

 

Tubes can function at reduced heater voltages. When a single tube in a push pull amp goes down you'd only get a half wave at much less then half power plus huge amounts of crossover distortion. It would be more then obvious you had a serious problem.

 

If the Anode, Cathode or Screens shorted you'd either blow a fuse or smell smoke from a blow a screen resistor.

 

The only possibility I could see the amp still making sound without blowing a fuse is with one tubes filament opened up without shorting against anything else. Its an extremely rare occurrence with any decent quality tube. Even corroded tube sockets are more common then open filiments.

 

All tube heaters are wired in parallel on that amp so one heater opening up will only make that one tube cold and non conductive. The filament obviously didn't short or it would have killed the heater voltage to all other tubes. The tube cannot conduct a signal unless the Cathode heats and radiates a beam from Cathode to Anode. If you actually got a signal through a single tube with the other cold it would have sounded awful.

 

Lets put it this way - it wouldn't have switched to operating as a single ended amp nor would it sound like a 4 power tube amp with a pair removed. A push pull circuit is only going to supply a half wave to the transformer and that transformers will try to pull the other half and distort badly when it doesn't find the other half. Its a matter of symmetry and balance.

[onelife]

thanks for the update

[DeepEnd]

My bugera head isn't broken. It was a bad cable or something. It sounds fine. All my pedals sound great too.

Glad to hear the amp is working again. As for what was wrong, I'm going with "or something," since a bad cable wouldn't affect just the clean channel. You may have an intermittent fault, which can be a bear to trace even if you know what you're doing. Or you may have simply screwed something up and just as accidentally corrected it.