[RobxMcCarthy]

I know this is double posting, but its urgent.


Well this morning I woke up to a horrifying smell. I thought it was coming from the street so I closed my window, and yet the smell persisted. So I sprayed down the room with fabreeze and sat down to listen to some music.

No music.. That's odd. So I go over to check if the power switch was on on the unit yes, it was. However none of the four tubes were lit up or even warm. The power supply was the normal temperature though. (generally I turn it off at night, however I forgot) I turned the unit over and got a strong wiff of the smell...ack.

The smell resembled wet burning rubber and hair... Yeah, just about the most disgusting smell you can imagine.

So now I am left without an amplifier. I'm assuming it's the power supply itself that's broken, however I'm not quite sure so I figured I'd ask.

It's a Class A single ended amp. Any idea what could have gone wrong?

 

[RobxMcCarthy]

Well I took it apart and DEFINITELY found the problem..

The transformer blew, that's for sure...

Now before I go out and replace it (assuming nothing else is broken) (the rest seems fine, and the transformer was seperated from the unit in a top cap), what would cause it to go while the unit was idling? I don't want to replace it and find that it was an internal flaw in the unit itself.

 

[CookieFactory]

1. Was there a load present?
2. Do you have surge protection?

 

[RobxMcCarthy]

There was no load present and unfortunately I did not have surge protection. My computer remained on however, so I don't think there was a power issue, althought there very well could have been.

 

[CookieFactory]

Well idling tube amps without a load is a no-no. I'm not going to say that's the cause of your problem, but it's definitely something to remember for the future.
Running no surge protection is also risky business, and could very well be to blame.

 

[RobxMcCarthy]

Yes I know, however sometimes I listen to music before going to bed, in which case I stumble off half asleep and forget to shut it off.

I wouldn't think that this would make it smolder as it did though...

 

[Pars]

I'd definitely check upstream from the transformer... rectifier(s), PSU caps, regulators, etc. I would not think that leaving a commercial product on overnight would (or should) cause the transformer to choke and puke. Something may be drawing more current than it should be.

 

[RobxMcCarthy]

May have to do with the headphones plugged in. The amp output is rated at 300-600 ohms and I had 80 ohm headphones plugged in at the time. I noticed no audible distortion so I assumed it was fine to listen to them. Generally I unplug them after a short duration however I forgot and left them plugged in overnight.

 

[Giant2eviL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieFactory 1. Was there a load present? 2. Do you have surge protection?

hi, may i know what is load present? thank you.

 

[quicksilver96]

Load = Headphones or speakers