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Post subject: Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12 popping/solder joint issue
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:02 pm
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so I've got this Deville, and it's given me so many problems since I bought it last August. It's a 2002 model, I bought it off eBay for a little less than $700 total, inc flight case. The original owner must've been a serious musician, the case is pretty roadworn, it's got custom purple tolex, oxblood grille, tons of mods etc (he didn't replace the tubes from the originals though, from what I could tell. I since have with JJs). anywho I digress...


The amp 'sounds' fine. I love the hell out of the tone. I last got it serviced in December, but shortly after a new issue arose, after I've been playing for a while, the amp will start "popping". It's an intermittent channel switch from what I can tell (if I pay attention I can see the channel LED flash). I usually use the clean channel and rely on pedals for distortion, but what channel I'm on doesn't matter. The internet seems to tell me that this is a problem with a cold solder joint on the 5w resistors. I've gone ahead and ordered some new ones following Justin Holton's unofficial repair guide, and a friend's father and I (he's an electrician) are going to go spelunking and see if we can't fix this.



I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this specific repair, or could speak to what else the problem might be? I don't really want to replace the resistors, but if just repairing the solder joint isn't going to solve the problem I don't know what else to do. It's a bummer because I'm starting to consider selling this amp and scouring craigslist/ebay for used (smaller) Fenders, it's too big of a pain to lug around to practices considering I need to spend this much money and time just to keep it in working condition. I treat it gently and play through it rarely (apartment life) but with all the problems I've had (had it worked on twice since August) you'd think I use it as a coffee table.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12 popping/solder joint issue
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:30 pm
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Hi mswojnow6249,

Good call. The most likely cause is the solder joints around the 5 watt resistors and zeners (+/- 16 volt supplies), that would be the first thing to check.

One reason for changing the resistors is merely so that the longer leads on the new resistors can be bent over to bridge any breaks in the circuit traces, and to be able to raise the resistors off of the circuit board if necessary. Raising the resistors off the circuit board means that they have to be secured to prevent stress on the traces and joints, and IMO it is not necessary to raise the resistors on the Deville.

Quite possibly, you can repair the broken solder joints and/or traces without having to get new resistors. Use cutoff components leads or similar to bridge a broken trace. The HRDvl doesn't have as much heat coming from those resistors as the HRDlx has, so don't confuse the two, they are different. If the board shows no signs of excess heat, ie charred or burned looking, then no need for the resistors to be raised off of the board, but they should be secure.

Here's a good tutorial on fixing traces.
http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=204

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Post subject: Re: Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12 popping/solder joint issue
Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:38 pm
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Electrician or electronics specialist ?
EIther case, make sure he or anyone else heading for the circuit boards is aware of, and knows how to go about working with high voltage capacitors.
A slip up inside these tube amps can cause serious injury or death.

Good luck with the repairs!

mswojnow6249 wrote:
and a friend's father and I (he's an electrician) are going to go spelunking and see if we can't fix this.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12 popping/solder joint issue
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:06 pm
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+1 and also be aware that the boards on the HRD series especially the older ones are thin and cheaply manufactured and the traces lift easily. My HRDlx had tons of issues and I just got fed up and sold. Everything I had done to it amounted to nothing more than turd polish. Most of my issues were either heat or cheap component related. The 5 watt resistors were a big problem. Justin's site is great. Just be sure to follow all the safety precautions. If you install new 5 watt resistors, I would leave some space between the resistor and the board for air flow.

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