Post by Mark "Snaily" on May 9, 2017 21:24:53 GMT -7
Well, this is embarrassing, but accidents happen. I'm a long time Dr Z amp owner - Maz-18 (traded in for a) Z-28, Ghia (sold), and now the CURE. I lurk on the forum all the time, rarely post. I received my new CURE about a week ago - I love the amp! I have just been playing in the house to get to know the amp.
A few days ago, I picked up an Archer silver "klon" and I proceeded to integrate it into my pedalboard, and play through the CURE. I decided to move the chain-order of the Archer and my 4 other gain pedals around to test changes in tone and stacking, so, I put the amp in standby, switch things around, flip the amp standby back on and hear this loud oscillating helicopter sound. Immediately flipped amp back into standby, and realized in the haste of unplugging things and ripping pedals off my neatly arranged board (powered with One Spot C12 brick), I had plugged my OCD's 18v power cable into the Archer's 9v power input. After correcting the power cables, I play through the amp and pedal - you can guess what's next - I had fried the Archer. Removed it from board (Chris at Archer agreed to repair it for me at no charge - very cool).
I proceeded to play and test for any malfunction with the CURE and pedals. All the pedals seemed to work just fine, but after about 30 minutes of playing, including tweaking amp knobs and volume, I thought I heard volume drops and tube clatter, and it seemed the CURE's level control was weak, not producing full volume. The next day I removed the back panel, played the amp extensively without pedals, observed the tubes, and didn't see or hear anything wrong - it sounded fine. Next day I played through the pedalboard and amp, and again the tubes seem to look fine and the amp sounds like its working properly. Maybe I had ear-fatigue when the "event" happened; it seems unlikely that the amp "recovered".
So, I'm hoping all is well, but I'm worried if I damaged the amp. I am not knowledgable about electrical/technical things. Could a voltage/current spike have damaged any amp components, let alone damage the tubes? What the heck did the amp "see" when I mismatched the power to the pedal?
I would appreciate any insight or perspective from anyone who has knowledge of the consequence of such a "stupid accident" (you don't have to admit doing what I did! ).
Happy picking,
Mark
A few days ago, I picked up an Archer silver "klon" and I proceeded to integrate it into my pedalboard, and play through the CURE. I decided to move the chain-order of the Archer and my 4 other gain pedals around to test changes in tone and stacking, so, I put the amp in standby, switch things around, flip the amp standby back on and hear this loud oscillating helicopter sound. Immediately flipped amp back into standby, and realized in the haste of unplugging things and ripping pedals off my neatly arranged board (powered with One Spot C12 brick), I had plugged my OCD's 18v power cable into the Archer's 9v power input. After correcting the power cables, I play through the amp and pedal - you can guess what's next - I had fried the Archer. Removed it from board (Chris at Archer agreed to repair it for me at no charge - very cool).
I proceeded to play and test for any malfunction with the CURE and pedals. All the pedals seemed to work just fine, but after about 30 minutes of playing, including tweaking amp knobs and volume, I thought I heard volume drops and tube clatter, and it seemed the CURE's level control was weak, not producing full volume. The next day I removed the back panel, played the amp extensively without pedals, observed the tubes, and didn't see or hear anything wrong - it sounded fine. Next day I played through the pedalboard and amp, and again the tubes seem to look fine and the amp sounds like its working properly. Maybe I had ear-fatigue when the "event" happened; it seems unlikely that the amp "recovered".
So, I'm hoping all is well, but I'm worried if I damaged the amp. I am not knowledgable about electrical/technical things. Could a voltage/current spike have damaged any amp components, let alone damage the tubes? What the heck did the amp "see" when I mismatched the power to the pedal?
I would appreciate any insight or perspective from anyone who has knowledge of the consequence of such a "stupid accident" (you don't have to admit doing what I did! ).
Happy picking,
Mark