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Post subject: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:07 pm
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I got this amp about a year ago. I love it, I really do. My first tube amp. I'm still clueless about tube amps and tubes, though.

It's been acting up a lot lately. Could you guys help me diagnose it and suggest what further steps I should take? The furthest I'd go myself before seeing a tech is up to where I'd have to touch any of the circuitry.

I'll try to keep it succinct and easily readable:
  • For the past half year until this week, the amp occasionally produced a constant high-pitched squeal when it was on and not on standby, independent of any knob or input.
  • This week, the amp started producing constant static noise, also when the amp was fully on, also independent of any knob or input.
  • Today I took out all five of the tubes, swabbed the pins with alcohol pads, and put them back in. I didn't pay attention to the arrangement so it's possible they were switched around. (Is this what is called "cycling?")
  • The static noise went away. A few minutes into playing, the amp occasionally made low-pitched, booming pop noises. It seemed to happen whenever I struck a loud chord, but it might just be coincidence or false observation. Perhaps also by false observation, playing on the drive channels did not cause this to happen. It eventually calmed down but would start up again, happening maybe eight times in my 20-minute playing session.
  • After a while more of playing, it started making a growling sound, some pitch that dropped to a lower pitch, then the pitch sputtered for a few seconds. Sounded exactly like playing a low string then diving on a tremolo. This happened two times in that 20 minutes. When this happened, the tubes were glowing blue, maybe almost purple, but it's hard to tell because I don't have first-hand experience.
  • The power tube area seems very hot. Looks like one of them got so hot that the sticker started burning--it's dark brown now.

So... what do you think? I have any set of power and preamp tubes ready to replace them if necessary, but I'm worried the amp's at fault and overheating that tube amp. Don't want to do that to the new ones.

I'll keep an eye on this plus the other various Hot Rod Deluxe III problem threads around here just in case :)


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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:44 pm
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uyotg wrote:
I got this amp about a year ago.

I love it, I really do.

It's been acting up a lot lately.

So... what do you think?


Simple.

The honeymoon is over.

:mrgreen:

This entire series of amps has been problem-prone since they first appeared in the late '90s. Some last longer than others before developing issues while some (as was mine) are "hangar queens" right out of the carton.

On the bright side, you have a substantial term of the 5-year warranty remaining -- I suggest you avail yourself of it and take the amp to an authorized Fender service center and let a qualified amp tech sort out the problem(s).

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:52 pm
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:shock: not the best thing I want to hear :lol:

Let me see about the store's return policy before any repairs. It was no small amount of money. Still open to other suggestions, though!

Retroverbial wrote:
Simple.

The honeymoon is over.

:mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:13 pm
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uyotg wrote:
:shock: not the best thing I want to hear :lol:


Image

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:09 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
uyotg wrote:
I got this amp about a year ago.

I love it, I really do.

It's been acting up a lot lately.

So... what do you think?


Simple.

The honeymoon is over.

:mrgreen:


This entire series of amps has been problem-prone since they first appeared in the late '90s. Some last longer than others before developing issues while some (as was mine) are "hangar queens" right out of the carton.

On the bright side, you have a substantial term of the 5-year warranty remaining -- I suggest you avail yourself of it and take the amp to an authorized Fender service center and let a qualified amp tech sort out the problem(s).

Arjay


+1 Mine was the same way. It spent more time in the shop than it did at my home. Mine lasted 3 months before all its problems surfaced. I finally sold it after disclosing all its defects as well as signing over the balance of the warranty. Your problem sounds like a microphonic preamp tube. I went with Egnater and never looked back.

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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:36 pm
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Take the amp in and get it checked under warranty. Sounds to me like you've reached the limit of you amp skills and diagnosing all the potential causes for what you are experiencing is not really possible on-ine.

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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:27 pm
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OK, well I guess that settles it.

I'll see what an amp repair tech thinks. Is there any repair charge even within warranty?

After that, let me see what I can do first about replacing the amp with some credit or on warranty something. I don't know how much weight popular opinion and anecdotes will hold in this judgement, but it sure what good is an amp that keeps malfunctioning.

The nearest milestone is August 4th-ish... one year from when I purchased it. I think my credit card has some sort of extended warranty for goods bought with it.

Thanks for your help, everyone. I was afraid this might happen, but it's happened.


Last edited by uyotg on Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:29 pm
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63supro wrote:
... as well as signing over the balance of the warranty. Your problem sounds like a microphonic preamp tube. I went with Egnater and never looked back.


By the way, is there some authorized form for this? Or is it just a casual, written contract?


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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:43 pm
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Factory-authorized warranty service requires the amp's owner to present the original sales receipt whenever the amp is brought in for repair. It must clearly show that the amp was sold by an authorized FMIC dealer, with the date of sale and the amp's serial number.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 5:19 am
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uyotg wrote:
OK, well I guess that settles it.

I'll see what an amp repair tech thinks. Is there any repair charge even within warranty?

After that, let me see what I can do first about replacing the amp with some credit or on warranty something. I don't know how much weight popular opinion and anecdotes will hold in this judgement, but it sure what good is an amp that keeps malfunctioning.

The nearest milestone is August 4th-ish... one year from when I purchased it. I think my credit card has some sort of extended warranty for goods bought with it.

Thanks for your help, everyone. I was afraid this might happen, but it's happened.


Warranty is five years. No charge. However, it is Fender's decision to repair or replace, not yours. As Arjay said, you need your original sales receipt for warranty work.

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Post subject: Re: Help diagnose my Hot Rod Deluxe III problems?
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:05 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
Factory-authorized warranty service requires the amp's owner to present the original sales receipt whenever the amp is brought in for repair. It must clearly show that the amp was sold by an authorized FMIC dealer, with the date of sale and the amp's serial number.

Arjay


+1 when I sold the amp, Fender advised me to sign the receipt and put sold to on it. But I think as long as you have the receipt with the serial # you're good to go for warranty work.

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