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Post subject: Picked up an older DOA BDRI
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:40 am
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mentioned in another thread that:
I must be a glutton for punishment as I just picked up yet another BDRI (not working) off kijji for 200$.
Am suspecting it will be a simple resoldering fix.
This will be my third attempt with one of the hotrod amps.

[story I was told when I picked it up]
The original owner was hoping to get around 400$ for it but the local music stores would not give him squat for it in not working condition.
When he took it to a repair shop they told him 75$ just to open it and gave an estimate of most likely around 200$ to get it working again so he put it up on kijji let it go for a lot less that he originaly wanted :)
[/story I was told when I picked it up]

I am guessing it will be a relatively simple resoldering fix because it powers up, but makes no musical sounds.
And the phase inverter is dark (heater is not glowing) .

Figuring at 200$ I really don't have much to lose if I can't get it up and squaking.

I'll try to post some pics of what I find!

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Post subject: Re: Picked up an older DOA BDRI
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:04 am
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peterp wrote:
And the phase inverter is dark (heater is not glowing).

Figuring at 200$ I really don't have much to lose if I can't get it up and squaking.


+1

Since the pilot lamp and the remaining bottles light up, a safe assumption is that the tranny's 6.3 VAC tap is fine and that somewhere there's an open in the heater line that affects V3 only. I'd take a close look at the solder joints at that socket.

Up and running, you should be able to flip this amp for $400 at least.

Best of luck, let us know how you make out.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Picked up an older DOA BDRI
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:34 pm
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Seems I am not the first to be fooling inside this amp.
One lead on r103 is cut and waving loose in the air :)

Swapping in a known good 12ax7 into the v3 does nothing, but I can see movement at the socket bottom where there should be none.
So I'm now serarching for the last spool I still have of my good solder from the 60's, don't much like the stuff being sold now.,
See if a little touch up dosen't get things cooking again.

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Post subject: Re: Picked up an older DOA BDRI
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 6:39 pm
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Not sure about the "great white north" but here in the US, Ace Hardware and other stores still offer conventional 60/40 rosin-core tin/lead solder.

Let us know the outcome of your efforts.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Picked up an older DOA BDRI
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:29 am
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Well heating up and adding additional solder to the v3 socket (did all the pins) seems to have worked.
The amp speaks again, but it does seem to have a loud hiss to it on the drive channel with volume & presence turned up, much louder than normal (or at least what I remember as normal),
Going to have to poke around at a few more things.

Bias was a bit frightning, when I checked it was showing 87mv, and the tubes look like the groove tubes that would have come stock with the amp. A tad warm for them I think.
Reduced it to 65mv,

Actually it showed 67mv when I first checked it after about 20mins of warming, it climbed to 87mv after playing with it for about 2 hours.
So it drifted up quite a bit over the time it was powered up, not sure that should be happening.

Guess it is going to be a bit more of an on-going project amp than I was planning it to be.

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Post subject: Re: Picked up an older DOA BDRI
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:37 am
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Hiss issue 90% gone, that was easy but slight cost to fix.

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