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Post by Teleman on May 10, 2006 20:10:27 GMT -7
I just took delivery of a used RXES head. When I went to fire it up it was DOA. No sound coming out at all. Looking at the back, all of the tubes are lit except the EF86 which I think is the culprit. Will a dead EF86 cause no tone at all to come from the amp? I don't have another EF86 to try so can I safely try something else in that slot to verify if that may be the problem? Any other suggestions?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2006 20:21:01 GMT -7
You probably don't want to try another type of tube in the EF86 slot. Also I have noticed that the EF86 dosen't glow very bright at all. Have you tried just tapping the tubes gently to see if any noise comes out of the speakers? Did you plug in your cab into the right speaker jack? Also check the fuse to see if you might have blown it. Get in contact with the Dr. Z or Myles as soon as possible would be my only helpful suggestion.
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on May 10, 2006 20:58:59 GMT -7
Teleman, I had the exact same problem with my Original strength RX once right after I first got it and....turned out it was just a bad fuse.... I'd look at that first and then move from there if that doesn't fix it... BTW, I'd NEVER had a bad fuse before that one... I've never had one since ( knock on head cab wood).... and it has been a great, very reliable amp as all my Z's have been!! in the meantime you COULD go ahead and order a 2nd EF-86 for it cause even if it's just the fuse you could always use a spare.... I DON'T think you want to use another type tube in place of the EF-86, I don't think you can without hurting the amp... could ask myles or DR Z or one of the other experts... but I don't think you can. hope this helps... and worst comes to worst, call the doc and he'll fix it... bought used, you'll have to pay for it, but He'll fix it right up and won't charge you too much. Great customer service. Jason
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Post by jwr on May 10, 2006 21:42:38 GMT -7
I agree with Jason and aruntang, don't put anything other than a EF-86 there. It is directly linked to the overdose switch according to Z's web site, have you tried getting sound out of the amp with the overdose OFF. Just a thought.
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Post by Teleman on May 11, 2006 4:52:03 GMT -7
I've sent off an email to the good Dr. Thanks guys for your input.
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Post by Teleman on May 11, 2006 5:54:53 GMT -7
Brent from Dr. Z got back to me this morning and it turned out to be a bad 1/2 amp fuse. Since the amp powered up I never thought to check the fuses. Great prompt service and I'm up and running!
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Post by anacephalic on May 11, 2006 11:04:55 GMT -7
tiptone posted a link to aiken amps on another site and truely fitting to this discussion looky what i found.
Q: Is it normal for a blown fuse to shut the amp down completely? A. An amp typically has two fuses - one for the "mains" or AC supply, and a second one for the "HT" or high-voltage section of the amplifier. Some amps use only the mains fuse, and others have several fuses, including some that fuse the output tubes individually, etc. It is perfectly normal for a blown mains fuse to shut the entire amp down. That's what it's job is - to shut the amp off to protect it in the event of a short circuit. Sometimes a fuse will blow for no apparent reason (called "nuisance" fuse blowing). An amplifier typically has large filter capacitors that can draw quite a bit of inrush current when the amp is first turned on and they are fully discharged, and this can occasionally cause a fuse to blow, particularly if the fuse is old. If your amp blows a fuse, you should replace it with one of the same type and rating. If it still blows the fuse, the amp needs further servicing.
What I typically tell customers to do first is to pull out all the power tubes and rectifier tube (if there is one), and put in a new fuse. Turn the amp on, and if the pilot light comes on, the power transformer and wiring are fine. If the fuse blows, you probably have blown rectifier diodes (if there is no tube rectifier in the amp). If the amp had a tube rectifier, put it back in and turn the amp on again. If the fuse blows, it was a bad rectifier tube. If not, the rectifier tube is probably okay. Then install the power tubes. If the fuse blows, one of the output tubes is bad, and the entire set should be replaced. If the fuse doesn't blow, and the amp works fine, it was likely just a nuisance fuse blowing, and the amp should be monitored carefully for the first hour or so of playing just to make sure everything is okay. Never keep feeding fuses to an amp that is blowing them, you'll likely cause permanent damage. Stop after the second one blows, unless you've isolated the cause as I've described it above.
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on May 11, 2006 13:02:36 GMT -7
Brent from Dr. Z got back to me this morning and it turned out to be a bad 1/2 amp fuse. Since the amp powered up I never thought to check the fuses. Great prompt service and I'm up and running! Cool teleman.... glad that was all it was... AND Anacephalic.... great info... thats a keeper, thanks for that post.... it's really just trouble shooting and usually it's just common sense, but when it's YOUR amp.... you kinda start worrying.... I know I do... but when you break it down like he did, and put it in terms like that it just makes sense... you can take your emotion out of it and just follow the steps and figure out whats wrong.... and fix it! Jason
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Post by billyguitar on May 11, 2006 13:37:22 GMT -7
I can only remember having one blown fuse in 35 years of using tube amps. Are they just not as good anymore?
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Post by Lefty on May 11, 2006 14:10:32 GMT -7
FYI an EF86 is only swappable with another EF86...NOTHING ELSE!! You've been warned.
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