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Post by paulreeddrz on Nov 25, 2007 14:56:26 GMT -7
ok i have the rx es head and z best cab, i got it last year round this same time, shortly after the transformer blew up, had to get it fixed. well today im playing it and the volume starts cuttin from full power to half power over and over,then i lost all volume and it smelled like somthing was burning. what cha think it is? tubes? transformer? i got all brand new tubes when the transformer was replaced, so maybe its the transformer again? i heard thats rare?... and ive tryed all the obvious stuff diffrent cords, guitars, any help would be appreciated thanks!
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Post by John on Nov 26, 2007 9:13:02 GMT -7
Right off, I'd check the Rec tube, fuses and power tubes.
Is the pilot light on?
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Post by paulreeddrz on Nov 26, 2007 10:42:59 GMT -7
yea all the lights are on, i did notice as it was dying the blue overdose light started to dim just a little.
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Post by kruzty on Nov 26, 2007 11:08:11 GMT -7
Do you have a spare EF86 to try? My Rx Jr just quite while I was playing it (there was some faint sound for a little bit). I feared it was something bad, too, but it was just a bad EF86.
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Post by paulreeddrz on Nov 27, 2007 14:06:36 GMT -7
I just sent it to Dr Z today, he'll get it workin good again
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Post by zone47 on Dec 2, 2007 17:16:24 GMT -7
That is a bummer that your tranny blew up earlier. Be sure to update. My ES died once, but it was just a faulty Sovtek rectifier tube that shorted out and took out the fuse.
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Post by paulreeddrz on Dec 12, 2007 20:48:49 GMT -7
Just got it back, seems to be workin good again so far!
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Post by bluzman on Dec 12, 2007 20:59:33 GMT -7
What was wrong... Just curious!
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Post by jammergreg on Jan 13, 2008 22:42:31 GMT -7
That's funny same the happened to my brand new RX Jr First time out...smelled hot and volumed dropped drastically. The amp waited till the last two bars of the last song of the night; up till' then I was killer. It's a drag in a small town with no EL 84 around. I have 4 Zs first problem ever.. I'm sure Dr. Z will help me through this. I just wish I had not put my other amps in storage 400 miles away.
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Post by awesome on Jan 14, 2008 14:46:10 GMT -7
rock block in nashville says they had problems with a couple of the RX Jr.'s they got in. they were fine then pop.
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Post by DRZ on Jan 15, 2008 15:26:32 GMT -7
rock block in nashville says they had problems with a couple of the RX Jr.'s they got in. they were fine then pop. First I've heard of that, I'll have to call Drex and check out that stotry. Z
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Jan 15, 2008 17:22:19 GMT -7
That's funny same the happened to my brand new RX Jr First time out...smelled hot and volumed dropped drastically. The amp waited till the last two bars of the last song of the night; up till' then I was killer. It's a drag in a small town with no EL 84 around. I have 4 Zs first problem ever.. I'm sure Dr. Z will help me through this. I just wish I had not put my other amps in storage 400 miles away. Keep us posted on what you find out. I'm betting it's a bad tube. That happened to me on my MAZ 38 NR head a few weeks ago; it's happened plenty of other times. EL84's seem to go at the least opportune moment. I preach to every guitarist that I work with to buy a spare set of power tubes and a rectifier. I always ask them, "What are you gonna do when you blow a tube at the gig? Plug straight into the board? Most guys I work with only take one amp to the gig; no backups. It's like suicide to me to not have at least a set of spare tubes.
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Post by Don on Jan 16, 2008 13:36:53 GMT -7
I've learned to carry spare fuses, and tubes for the amps that I'm gigging with. One rough car ride to the gig, can rattle your tubes and cause a failure. In a live situation, I do keep a Ghia head handy so I can swap it out with the failed head (I use a multiple Z setup) and do my troubleshooting during a break or at home. Of course that's a luxury, but do have spare tubes and fuses, AND CABLES on hand.
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Post by dnoseworth on Mar 1, 2008 5:50:31 GMT -7
paulreeddrz, your killing me . What was wrong with your amp when you sent in to doc ? It's like reading a book and not knowing how it ends. Paul
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Post by zone47 on May 2, 2008 5:20:57 GMT -7
I sold a regular Prescription to a guy in Nashville and he had problems shortly afterwards where the volume dropped and I think he said it was distorted too. The weird thing is, he emailed me 3 months after I sold the amp .... he just didn't put any time on it until later and then the problem showed up. I was kind of bummed out because I didn't want him to think I ripped him off. I suggested he install new tubes, which he did, but the problem persisted. Do these amps have problems with the OT? I still have my ES and so far, so good.
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daz
Junior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by daz on May 16, 2008 7:41:25 GMT -7
Hmmm I'm having the same problem right now, power dropped way down and a crappy buzzy distorted sound.An amp-builder friend of mine is of the opinion that the transformers are not of a quality he'd use.No slagging from me, I love my RXES, but it's not even 2 years old and I'm left with an unuseable amp for a 7 month cruise-ship contract gig.There's no servicing available in the UK and sending it back the N.America is rediculously expensive.I'll probably buy another cheap amp in the UK to get me through this contract and sell it at the end.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 16, 2008 9:27:34 GMT -7
It is doubtful that it's the transformer. I repaired amps for ten years and had maybe two transformer replacements in that whole time, and I'm talking even the crappy ones from Fender and Marshall. If your output transformer went out, either your power tubes blew up and took it out, or you played it into an open circuit long enough to burn it out. It is a lot more likely there is an electronic fault of some other variety causing the problem. First choice is always tubes, but after that, it could be anything from a power supply problem to a bad solder connection.
You're not yanking the speaker cord while the amp is on are you? Not accusing, just curious since you've had this problem before and it WAS the transformer. Twice is just too weird - never had an output tranny go out on any of my own amps. And I have two Prescription models here...
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on May 16, 2008 14:43:10 GMT -7
I'm with Steve. I'd put Dr. Z's trannies up against anyone's for quality and tone... and I've seen a few trannies in my day as well. (Voltage and current transformers, not the other kind of tranny!) If you didn't see my thread in the Ghia section a few weeks ago, I told the story of how my three year old turned my Ghia on without my knowledge and it wasn't plugged into a load. It was under another amp (Maz 18) and both were under a cover. It was like that for three to four days. The entire Ghia was so hot I couldn't touch it. When it cooled off it fired right up; I changed the tubes but that's all I did. Even the conjunctive filter was fine. If that wasn't a transformer stress test I don't know what is.
Daz, have you tried a new set of output tubes in the RxES? The symptoms you describe sound exactly a bad tubes (or tubes); I've had the exact same problem and symptoms in my Stingray and Maz 38. EL84's aren't exactly the most robust tube out there, and they can go at any time.
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daz
Junior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by daz on May 17, 2008 8:48:38 GMT -7
You're mixing me up with a prior poster .... I've not had transformer problems before, this is my 1st problem with a fantastic amp. Yes I've replaced all tubes one at a time and mixed them up between 2 sets,and never yanked the speaker cable.Unless I just suddenly happen to have a whole bunch of bad el84's and bad stock GZ34 and Weber copper cap I think I can rule out tube issues. One day it worked fine, the next day we flew to Finland.The day after that I set up on the ship and it sounded bad.Head scratching ensued. Having experienced bad/low power on another ship with a Fender twin I explored that option, but the wall tested at over 120v.So it must be an internal issue ? Of course diagnosis by email is tough and people will have their own opinion.I've been told it could be simply a bad tube to a 'saturated/magnetised' output transformer or failing power transformer. I've tested what I can and outside of that I'm lost until I can find someone who can look at it proper and say for sure.I hoped Z's UK dealer could help, but they say no 110v servicing available. I'm still hoping someone can point me in a direction.Shipping it back to Canada or to Z is bloody expensive.I'd be better off buying another amp for now and selling it again.Of course I'd much rather use my RX. Thanks for the interest lads. Daz
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 17, 2008 10:46:43 GMT -7
You're mixing me up with a prior poster .... Daz Sorry about that! It seems odd to me that the service shop can't manage to service your amp - doesn't sound like a very good shop then. Do you have a stepdown transformer you can loan to the shop while they do their thing? How frustrating - wonder what a step-down tranny costs over there? I wouldn't imagine very much - might be worth having one just so you can get service!
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daz
Junior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by daz on May 18, 2008 9:10:06 GMT -7
Yeah I'm surprised no-one has a step down transformer.Oh well.I'm hoping to be put in touch with a tech in Southampton, maybe he can help.Fingers crossed. It's frustrating that it could be a simple problem, but without the know-how it might as well be a major one.My situation is the same, the amp is unuseable and I'm stuck playing through an awful cyber twin.
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