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Post by telejas on Aug 23, 2019 21:18:41 GMT -7
Playing an outdoor show tonight and had a pop-up shower hit us! Of course, we "finished" our song pretty quick (but didn't just stop it dead).
I covered the vents on top of my Maz 18 Mk.II head while I ran and grabbed the road-case out of my car.
The shower lasted about 30 minutes, then we went back on.
After the 3rd song, my amp lost about half it's volume and had no low end??? I thought I stepped on my way by mistake, but then plugged straight in, and it sounded the same. We played one more song, and quit early due to a storm about to hit us.
After I got home, I plugged everything back in and it sounded good for about 20 seconds, make a couple popping sounds and lost the volume and low end. I replaced a preamp tube, and tried it again with the same results. Sounded good for about 20 or 30 seconds, then it popped a couple times and sounded really bad.
I then swapped out the 6n14n tubes with some EL84 tubes I had.... I played it for 40 minutes and it sounded really good, had no issues!
So, my conclusion is that one of the tubes went bad tonight......But, I've never heard of them just dropping off like that?
Could the rain or moisture have caused this? Or is it just a coincidence and that tube was going to die tonight anyways?
On a side note: I have a tube tester, so I tested both of the 6n14n tubes....Both checked out fine, around 80% good.....So now I'm a little concerned as to what is going on now?
Any thoughts or comments?
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Post by perryr on Aug 23, 2019 22:59:55 GMT -7
Bummer, I would pull the chassis out and let dry, maybe put a fan on it. If water landed on an EL84, gravity would take it to the socket and there is no base in the way (like a 6L6), I suppose it could short if moisture accumulated between tube pins, removing the tube maybe fixed it? I would make sure it’s perfectly dry and try the 6n14n again.
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Post by DRZ on Aug 24, 2019 4:27:54 GMT -7
Well water and electronics do not mix, not sure what actually is wrong, but Perry gives great advice. Let the chassis completely dry , and try the 6n14n's again if they did test good.
Z
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Post by Rockerfeller on Aug 24, 2019 5:27:43 GMT -7
Ouch!
This is the exact reason we demand that any outdoor event has proper covering for the band. You never know how the weather will change here in Colorado. If we're playing outside, we always have tarps ready just in case. But I have some of those big Hefty style trash bags in by gig box for my amp and pedal board. If it starts raining and we have to stop playing, I just turn the amp off and throw the trash bag over the amp. It covers the head and my 1x12 cabinet easily and perfectly.
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Post by telejas on Aug 24, 2019 10:35:24 GMT -7
Well water and electronics do not mix, not sure what actually is wrong, but Perry gives great advice. Let the chassis completely dry , and try the 6n14n's again if they did test good. Z So, I actually did that last night....Pulled the chassis, put a fan on it and had the 6n14n's sitting in front of the fan as well. Put it all back together, just a few minutes ago ( about 11 hours in front of the fan) and tried it again. It sounded GREAT for about 30-45 seconds...... Then there were some popping noises and my volume dropped and my low-end was gone. I turned it off, put the EL84's back in there and played it for about 10 minutes with no problems. So, I'd say when one of the tubes reaches a certain temperature, something in it fails. My tester doesn't heat the tubes up as hot as an amp would, so this is why my tester doesn't catch it. I have another outdoor show tonight.... I'll be using the Maz, which will be a good test to see if it's actually the tubes, but I'll be taking my Stingray as a backup (also taking a canopy)! Looks like I'll be ordering a new pair of 6n14n tubes soon
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Aug 24, 2019 14:40:08 GMT -7
Yep, probably a coincidence that a tube failed. Glad that’s all!
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Post by telejas on Aug 26, 2019 5:58:32 GMT -7
It was definitely a tube, played a four-hour show (no breaks) Saturday night...and it performed flawlessly with the el84 tubes.
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