Pierre
Stratologist
Now LUCKILY, by design, my amp empties its filter caps and internal voltages very quickly, in a matter of seconds.
I accidentally touched the fuse terminal inside the chassis while also holding on to the chassis itself. Now if this had been any other amp I'd have gotten close to 450V through me. I got lucky and received 10V. Still...
Strangely enough it took me a good second to release my finger. It was only an accidental, light touch, but the shock didn't actually push me away from the source. I eventually pushed away.
Then just to make sure, I looked inside the chassis and realized I'd dropped the wrench I was holding... and it was shorting the main filter cap. If I'd turned the amp on after this I'd have fried everything, started a fire, or dunno what other catastrophe. Always check if you've dropped something inside!!
So I took some insulated pliers, checked the voltage (was at 0V by this point anyway) and pulled the wrench carefully.
Some lessons to be learnt there. I'm ALWAYS very careful. I don't poke around with high voltages. I don't slip. I don't do anything careless. I've been doing this inside my amp for years. Accidents DO happen. If the amp had been on, I'd likely have been dead or in pretty bad shape by now. Now I do know my old Laney does empty its caps pretty quick, which increases my confidence and how soon I can take care of repairs as soon as the amp is off.
If this had been a Deluxe Reverb for instance, I think I'd invest in a proper resistor to empty all internal voltages. And everyone should do the same. Heck I'm considering it for my own amp despite its cap emptying abilities.
People tell you 'watch out for internal voltages, these things can kill you' in every other post on here or most other amp forums. There's a reason for it. Those 10Vs didn't feel nice at all. I don't want to imagin what 500 would feel like.
I accidentally touched the fuse terminal inside the chassis while also holding on to the chassis itself. Now if this had been any other amp I'd have gotten close to 450V through me. I got lucky and received 10V. Still...
Strangely enough it took me a good second to release my finger. It was only an accidental, light touch, but the shock didn't actually push me away from the source. I eventually pushed away.
Then just to make sure, I looked inside the chassis and realized I'd dropped the wrench I was holding... and it was shorting the main filter cap. If I'd turned the amp on after this I'd have fried everything, started a fire, or dunno what other catastrophe. Always check if you've dropped something inside!!
So I took some insulated pliers, checked the voltage (was at 0V by this point anyway) and pulled the wrench carefully.
Some lessons to be learnt there. I'm ALWAYS very careful. I don't poke around with high voltages. I don't slip. I don't do anything careless. I've been doing this inside my amp for years. Accidents DO happen. If the amp had been on, I'd likely have been dead or in pretty bad shape by now. Now I do know my old Laney does empty its caps pretty quick, which increases my confidence and how soon I can take care of repairs as soon as the amp is off.
If this had been a Deluxe Reverb for instance, I think I'd invest in a proper resistor to empty all internal voltages. And everyone should do the same. Heck I'm considering it for my own amp despite its cap emptying abilities.
People tell you 'watch out for internal voltages, these things can kill you' in every other post on here or most other amp forums. There's a reason for it. Those 10Vs didn't feel nice at all. I don't want to imagin what 500 would feel like.
It wasn't much though.
