Members FearMeWithMyLP Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 I'm freaking out a bit right now.... So I bought a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb on eBay, and it just came in the mail today. It was pretty dirty, so I cleaned it up a bit (vacuumed the inside, polished the outside and a bit of the inside), put the power tubes in (the shipped packed them seperately), and turned it on with standby still going. So far so good.... I get my guitar, plug it in, and flip the standby off. No sound. I fiddle with the master and gain knobs a little bit. Still no sound. About 20 seconds later, I see smoke coming out of the back :eek::eek: I thought I was seeing things, but 5 seconds later, it started to get worse!! I quickly turned it off, unplugged it, and took the power tubes out (not sure why I did this but I did). The room smells like burnt plastic. The amp is sitting in my kitchen right now and I'm deathly afraid to turn it back on. What the hell could possibly be wrong with my amp that it would start smoking?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StringBreaker Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 pwnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knucklefux Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 lots of things could be wrong. usually, smoke happens when there's a short. some people think that electronic components actually work because of the magic smoke that is stored in them. sometimes, the smoke gets out:o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members duncan Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 take it to a tech, contact the seller. have the tech give you a quote, and ask the seller to pay for the repair. if he won't, get a refund and send it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thefyn Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 Ah dude. Get your money back. NOW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lucius Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 take it to a tech, contact the seller.have the tech give you a quote, and ask the seller to pay for the repair. if he won't, get a refund and send it back. /thread Cheers, Lucius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JonathanD Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 Definitely take it to a tech. May cost a couple hundred. Could be the filter caps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FearMeWithMyLP Posted April 17, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 take it to a tech, contact the seller.have the tech give you a quote, and ask the seller to pay for the repair. if he won't, get a refund and send it back. This is what I'm going to do. I used Paypal to purchase the amp. Let's say the seller won't pay for the repair. If I explain this to Paypal, what is the chance of me getting my money back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rameumptom Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 I'm freaking out a bit right now.... So I bought a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb on eBay, and it just came in the mail today. It was pretty dirty, so I cleaned it up a bit (vacuumed the inside, polished the outside and a bit of the inside), put the power tubes in (the shipped packed them seperately), and turned it on with standby still going. So far so good.... I get my guitar, plug it in, and flip the standby off. No sound. I fiddle with the master and gain knobs a little bit. Still no sound. About 20 seconds later, I see smoke coming out of the back :eek: :eek: I thought I was seeing things, but 5 seconds later, it started to get worse!! I quickly turned it off, unplugged it, and took the power tubes out (not sure why I did this but I did). The room smells like burnt plastic. The amp is sitting in my kitchen right now and I'm deathly afraid to turn it back on. What the hell could possibly be wrong with my amp that it would start smoking?? My tremoverb had some issues like that. I had it repaired at one point and a few months later...stolen...gone. Maybe you picked up my old one eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GodBlessTexas Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 This is what I'm going to do. I used Paypal to purchase the amp. Let's say the seller won't pay for the repair. If I explain this to Paypal, what is the chance of me getting my money back? Did you use a bank transfer, balance transfer, or debit/credit card? Your chances depend on the CSR/dispute rep you get at PayPal, and what you used for payment through PayPal. Always use your debit/credit card through paypal, because then you get your card issuers protection in addition to PayPal's, and I can guarantee you that your card issuer is better about protecting you than PayPal is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sufidancer Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 This is what I'm going to do. I used Paypal to purchase the amp. Let's say the seller won't pay for the repair. If I explain this to Paypal, what is the chance of me getting my money back? If you paid with a credit card. But the seller, if he has not intentionally hosed you, should refund you . Items should not be dead on arrival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sufidancer Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 I once had a Crate Blue Voodoo 212 do what your describing after a tube change. It turned out that it was biased waaaaay to cold. The tubes were heating up to cherry red and {censored} was smoking inside the chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FearMeWithMyLP Posted April 17, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 Did you use a bank transfer, balance transfer, or debit/credit card? Your chances depend on the CSR/dispute rep you get at PayPal, and what you used for payment through PayPal. Always use your debit/credit card through paypal, because then you get your card issuers protection in addition to PayPal's, and I can guarantee you that your card issuer is better about protecting you than PayPal is. Looked at paypal, statement says "Added funds from Bank Account". Funding type was "Instant Transfer" from checking account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knucklefux Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 I once had a Crate Blue Voodoo 212 do what your describing after a tube change. It turned out that it was biased waaaaay to cold. The tubes were heating up to cherry red and {censored} was smoking inside the chassis. you mean too hot, don't you? cold bias=tubes are near or at cutoff, thus no current. hot bias=tubes at or near saturation, thus lots of current. redplating=runaway current condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MojoFilter Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 Mesas are fixed bias - unless it's been modded by someone, you can't change the bias on a Mesa. Check the tubes that are being used, first of all...Mesa sells their own tubes, which are specifically tested to operate at Mesa specifications. By the way...the Mesa fixed bias on their amps is supposedly "cold" on ALL their amps, to prolong tube life. If you're in doubt, call Mesa customer service...they're one of the best in the business. 707-778-6565. Hurry up, though...they're only open Monday through Thursday. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catphish Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 My guitarists amp (fender twin) started smoking at a show last year. It was a wire that was up against a hot tube. nothing major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sufidancer Posted April 17, 2008 Members Share Posted April 17, 2008 you mean too hot, don't you? cold bias=tubes are near or at cutoff, thus no current. hot bias=tubes at or near saturation, thus lots of current. redplating=runaway current condition. You are correct sir. It was a Cathode biased amp and no trim pot. It got so hot when I plugged in the back of the amp was smoking. It managed to arc in the tube sockets and things just get going south from there. I ended up having to replace the PCM board. The amp never sounded the same after though. I eventually sold it for parts on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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