I messed up

[anewdefguitarist]

Hey all, been a LONG time lol
recently while unloading our trailer, I was attempting to pull my very cold, very stiff chords from the back of my mesa combo. Long story short, the power cable was wrapped around the power tubes, and in didn’t realize this. When I finally got the cables out, the power tubes were loose. One of them was basically hanging there. None of the pins were bent or damaged. I’ve seen some videos online how to tighten the little clips inside the tube sockets, but I’m wondering if I should just take to a tech - Which for me is Sweetwater. If you’ve done this before, any tips on what to do or things you learned?

Thanks in advance!!

[jeremy]

so the tube socket is loose? id see if you can tighten it up before you pay to have it shipped and all that, mesas are usually heavy! my advice is to go slow and be careful not to bend anything too far. its not very hard to tighten things up so go for it

[dave74]

So you live near Ft. Wayne IN? If that's the case then you are probably just better taking it in IMO.

[LLL]

You sure pulling on the power cable (wrapped around the power tubes inadvertently) didn't just sort of pull the power tubes out of their sockets?

Why not ensure all tubes are seated properly first and power on before jumping to huge conclusions...?

[LLL]

And, if it comes to this - don't tighten any tube socket pins before discharging caps. if you're not familiar with discharging caps, don't bother and take it in.

[anewdefguitarist]

You sure pulling on the power cable (wrapped around the power tubes inadvertently) didn't just sort of pull the power tubes out of their sockets?

Why not ensure all tubes are seated properly first and power on before jumping to huge conclusions...?

Not at all jumping to conclusions- it takes next to nothing to pull the power tubes now, and the fact that this is a combo amp (tubes very near the speaker) I worry they will fall out from vibration alone. They won’t seat properly, that’s the thing - and the tubes a very loose in the sockets. The right tube is far worse, but neither is anywhere near tight.

[Bogner]

In these situations, when people have to ask what to do I get very nervous for them. If you have to ask you most likely don't know (and that is ok) but you also may not know that you can kill yourself or shock the hell out of yourself by messing with amps and not knowing what you are doing. If you genuinely do not know how to work on them, take them to a proper tech who does. It's safer, wiser in the end to do so. YMMV

[anewdefguitarist]

This is good advice. When it comes to home electrical, I get professional help. No reason to do anything different now. I appreciate the concern for my safety - this forum is still a great group of people! Truthfully, I watched a YouTube video and read an article but don’t really feel confident. Was mostly hoping for someone who has either fixed this or had this issue guide me.


Thanks all! I’ll reply with whatever Sweetwater tells me if anyone else is interested