kbp810 Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Left the house for a little bit a go to run a few errands... was only gone for about an hour or so, and my dog was in the car with me (no one else at home)... When I came home and opened the door my eyes were instantly drawn to a faint green light reflecting on the wall; where I quickly noticed that my 5E3 was sitting on it's back, on, and abound with the terrible smell of toasted electronics. My first thoughts were that someone must have broken in... but nothing was stolen, and both doors were locked... my only assumption is that the dog must have somehow knocked it over before we left and I hadn't noticed; though that certainly seems like something that would have caught my attention; very strange indeed... To make matters worse... the last time I had played it I had it running through the 4x12, and had not re-connected the internal speaker... otherwise, aside from the mystery of how it ended up in this spot, it would have likely been just fine... unfortunatly that was not the case. Thankfully the cab itself wasn't burned or damaged... not to mention thank goodness their wasn't a fire! But the result of being on, on it's back, without a load on the OT had taken it's toll The back panel of the cab was incredibly hot, and again counting my blessings that it had not caught on fire (I think the shielding tape likely helped)... gave it a while to cool down and took the panel off... the chassis itself was still nearly too hot to touch. Gave it a little while longer to cool off and then started to access the damage. Power tubes were toast, even the glass on them had warped slightly... the OT is also done for, the secondary reads as shorted... The heat was even enough that a couple of the pin connections had de-soldered from the sockets... One of the filter caps is reading open... and got a couple of burnt looking resisors. Once again, still just lucky that there wasn't a fire... but looks like I've got a nearly complete re-build on my hands
mark555 Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Sounds like you had a lucky escape, time to be grateful for small mercies...
bolero Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 wow, lucky there was no fire! could it have fallen off the 4x12? earthquake tremor or a construction crew nearby could be the culprit...or maybe the dog tripping on/pulling the power cord?
FredZepp Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 That is a sad circumstance to come home to... but yeah, it could have been much worse. It certainly is a mystery how it ended up like that. Now you've got to keep your eyes open for ghosts and disenchanted spirits around the house.. Maybe set up a video camera like in the movie " Paranormal Activities" .
Kuz Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Did the dog look guilty when you guys entered the house? (LOL) Really sorry to hear of your misfortune, but it is encouraging that you are looking at the situation as "the glass is half full" and there wasn't a fire.
kbp810 Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 Not the one with the maple cab? Yep... that one Thankfully the cab is okay, minus a few new scuffs on the back. I should have her back up and in good health soon (and this time I'm putting in a saftey resistor off the output jacks...)
High Flying Bird Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 These things happen when you start getting old.
brentrocks Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Thank God your home is intact!!! tubes can be replaced...a lifetime of memories cannot
Steiner Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Glad to hear that nothing devastating occurred (sans the replaceable, -expensive - components). I'm sure you can find an able-bodied tech (or builder extraordinaire) to get her up and running again.
H Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Yep... that one Thankfully the cab is okay, minus a few new scuffs on the back. I should have her back up and in good health soon (and this time I'm putting in a saftey resistor off the output jacks...) Bad news but glad it was limited to the amp and didn't spread to your home. I'd like to see the spec for the safety circuit you mentioned if you're happy to share it.
kbp810 Posted February 28, 2011 Author Posted February 28, 2011 Bad news but glad it was limited to the amp and didn't spread to your home. I'd like to see the spec for the safety circuit you mentioned if you're happy to share it. It's fairly simple, and I've done it with other amps The output jack to speaker is usually a simple two prong, tip (hot) and ground... you just replace that jack with a shorting jack; then connect around a 10 ohm 8-10watt (the higher watt-rated the better!) resistor to the shorting tip (the middle lead of the jack)and the other end to ground. When the speaker cable is plugged in the shorting tip is disconnected and the resistor is taken out of the equation. When the speaker cable is unplugged, the shorting tip connects the resistor and puts it in place of the speaker load.
H Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Very neat and tidy Thanks, I'll add that into my 5E3 as I have a 2x10 cab I may push it through occasionally.
koula901 Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 kbp810 - do you live in Amityville? Just kiddin'. Glad there wasn't a fire, and I would be perplexed as to how it happened. It's just weird.
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 Very strange occult occurrence. Glad you got back in time before things really heated up. So have you narrowed this down to a possible cause?
kbp810 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Posted March 1, 2011 Very strange occult occurrence. Glad you got back in time before things really heated up. So have you narrowed this down to a possible cause? Unfortunately not! My best and only logical guess is that the dog must have knocked it over before heading out the door and I just somehow didn't happen to notice. It's a combo amp thats reasonably well balanced, sitting square on a level floor... and something that would have shook the house enough to have tipped it over, surely would have knocked some pictures off the wall as well. Of course, I haven't contacted the Ghost Hunters for an evaluation yet
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Unfortunately not! My best and only logical guess is that the dog must have knocked it over before heading out the door and I just somehow didn't happen to notice. It's a combo amp thats reasonably well balanced, sitting square on a level floor... and something that would have shook the house enough to have tipped it over, surely would have knocked some pictures off the wall as well. Of course, I haven't contacted the Ghost Hunters for an evaluation yet You must have one large dog for him to knock a heavy combo amp over. What is strange is, dogs usually do not run into things that they are accustomed to being around in a household!
kbp810 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Posted March 2, 2011 He is a big dog (well, he's probably like 75% fur), but he is generally very well behaved and mild mannered... While he is still our number one suspect... no charges have been filed
FredZepp Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 You would have heard it if it had been the dogs fault. There must be another answer...
DetroitBlues Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Good news is you have some parts for another amp on the way to make up the problem. Did your other PT show up yet???
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 He is a big dog (well, he's probably like 75% fur), but he is generally very well behaved and mild mannered... While he is still our number one suspect... no charges have been filed Aww, he is too cute to spank, what breed is he? I love him!
kbp810 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Posted March 2, 2011 Aww, he is too cute to spank, what breed is he? I love him! We had our vet do that DNA test thing (not sure how accurate they are?) - it came back saying he had traits of Lab, Bearded Collie, and Dalmation; most people argue the Dalmation part, but when he gets a close shave you can actually see spots clear as day on his one side (you can't make them out when his hair is grown out)
kbp810 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Posted March 2, 2011 Good news is you have some parts for another amp on the way to make up the problem. Did your other PT show up yet??? Looks like per tracking the ODS PT was finally delivered today! Back to the 5E3... most all of the remaining components still checked within value... but I didn't want to risk re-using a part that could now have a significantly reduced life span (for the caps and resistors) so I decided to gut it completely and re-start from scratch (when I actually find the time to do so that is)... about the only thing to be salvaged is the PT, the jacks, pots, and the sockets.
kbp810 Posted March 2, 2011 Author Posted March 2, 2011 This can be your Trainwreck amp! Dare I admit, that thought has crossed my mind!
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