Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

ledzepp29

ledzepp29

New member
I just reveived a 1959 gibson explorer amp.
First off the amp was packed horribly, no bubble wrap or peanuts in sight. All Cardboard.
Took the amp out and noticed he had unplugged the 2 6v6 and the 5y3 and laid the in the amp. once again no bubble wrap or peanuts.
I looked at the tubes and everything appeared fine except on the bottom of the plate, in the middle of the tube where theres supposed to be that little plastic knob that fits in the middle of the tube socket. It was broken, i could see the little plastic pieces on the inside the amp from where they had broken off. This exposed the little glass drip that looks like the top of a pre amp tube. i figured it wouldn't matter.

you can kinda see what i'm talking about in this picture, look in the middle of the pins.
http://www.tubeprofi.com/Pictures/6v6.jpg
So i fit the tubes in, the tube socket had holes all the way around it so i just plugged the power tubes in. Then I plugged the rectifier in the only way it would fit.

So I plug in, turn the amp on, light comes on bright, I hear slight click noises(figures sound of tubes turning on) Then I look at the tubes to see if they are lit up, I couldn't really tell but it looked like they weren't. Then I saw a light smoke start to come from the amp(when my head was right next to the tubes) and I turned it off immediately as it began to smell.

It smelt very bitter and it went through my whole room.



What do you guys think happened? What should I do? I'm emailing the seller right now.
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

the piece that broke off is the locater pin...a power tube is supposed to plug in only one way...did you check with pins with the socket and plug it in correctly?
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Damn IT!!!!!
I looked at the plastic peices and didnt notice the small lump on it. Thats what the problem is. Please tell me I didn't kill my amp!!!
If I can determine the correct way the tubes should fit in by comparing the broken peice with the angle it broke off at should i plug them back in?
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

smoke is never a good sign... the very first thing I´d do with that amp is take it to a tech... everything else is just asking for more problems to develop, and can be very dangerous for the head and to a lesser extent you.
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Zerberus said:
smoke is never a good sign...
Click to expand...

I used to have a Peavey Classic - the one with 4 inputs. A couple times a year it would start to smoke. Afterwards, it was the holy grail of shred tone for a week or so -smoke is not always a bad sign!
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

I wouldn't even Email the seller. You messed something up by plugging a tube in wrong. Hopefully, it's not much more than a cheap resistor or something.
The labor of looking at it will be the main cost, unless the transformer died.
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Gearjoneser said:
I wouldn't even Email the seller. You messed something up by plugging a tube in wrong. Hopefully, it's not much more than a cheap resistor or something.
The labor of looking at it will be the main cost, unless the transformer died.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the reason he plugged the tubes in wrong was because the seller broke the locator off.

That said, he probably should have contacted the seller as soon as he noticed the tubes were busted, rather than blindly cramming them back in there.
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Personally, I'd reinstall the tubes, making sure they're going in properly, turn the amp on, and see what happens. If the amp doesn't come on, shut it off immediately, and take it to a tech.
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Hopefully you just burnt some insulation off one of your heater wires? or a screen resistor took the brunt of it. I all depends on what arced to what? You can blame the seller for poor packing. But you installed the tube wrong.
But at least now you know better and will never make that mistake again.:)
I've learned my lesion the hard way to. My Son stepped on my bias probe and cracked it. I just crazy glued it back together, But never bothered to check the pin continuity to see if anything was arcing inside....Guess what?
I saw that same puff of smoke next time I used it.:blackeye: :yell:
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

ok guys all is well
thanks to christian,
a new set of 6v6s was the remedy. This. amp. sounds. amazing....!!
The bad news is the tubes I blew(I have no way to check for sure but christian says 99% sure there gone) were old JAN Sylvania USA 6v6s.

I emailed the seller and he was really cool about it and offered to send a replacement set of 6v6s.
I can't wait to crank this amp.
Thanks for the advice guys.
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Given that you found the locator pins in the tube sockets, I doubt the seller pulled the tubes and laid them in the bottom of the amp. More likely he just left them in the amp, and they fell out during shipping. Happens all the time. Usually, the result is small bits of crushed glass all through the box.

Rule 1: To everybody who ships a tube amp: Always pull the tubes, wrap them in padding, and put them somewhere where they won't get the weight of the amp applied to them, no matter which way the box is turned, rolled, dropped, or tossed.

Rule 2: To everyone who BUYS a tube amp: make sure you make it clear that the seller must follow Rule 1.
 
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Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

Ok I had this happen to me once...accidentally broke off the locator pin and plugged a tube in wrong..I ended up frying a can capacitor. I called Yorkville (it was a Traynor YCV40) and i got a new capacitor for it and put it in myself and that amp never had another problem (under the new owner either)...perhaps it's just something that easy?
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

nevermind..I see where you found your problem..I'm glad it was an easier fix than my amp!
 
Re: Need HELP! Just got new amp, turned on first time and smoke came out!

CapoFirstFret said:
Ok I had this happen to me once...accidentally broke off the locator pin and plugged a tube in wrong..I ended up frying a can capacitor. I called Yorkville (it was a Traynor YCV40) and i got a new capacitor for it and put it in myself and that amp never had another problem (under the new owner either)...perhaps it's just something that easy?
Click to expand...
out of curiousity, did you fry your tubes as well?
 
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