Fixing amp off eBay

[MattAnonymous]

I got a Peavey Deuce on eBay and the seller swore that the switch was the only thing wrong with it.  Just got it in today and pulled the head out and notice that the pieces of the switch were all over the place and one looked burnt.  Also, the 50 amp fuse looks blown.  Do you guys think the switch is the only problem?  It's a toggle on/off switch and appears to have been pushed in.  Could this have blown the fuse?

[Lonestarjohnny]

It's possible to push a power switch inward and cause the 117 volts to be shorted to ground which would for sure blow that fuse if it was pushed hard enough to break the switch, but I would replace the switch, then pull the power tubes and replace the fuse before turning it on just to make sure all was well, then take your tube's to a shop that has a mutual-inductance type tube tester and have the power tube's checked, I do this to every amp that's shipped to me and I tell anybody that recieves a amp from me to do the same,
JD

[csj]

A 50 amp fuse?
50 amps?

I'd love to see the size of that transformer. What's left of it.

[downweverything]

50 amp fuse? that seems quite excessive...seeing that plug that plugs that thing into the wall is rated at 15 amps.

[Ge_Whiz]

Probably HAD to use a 50-amp fuse to stop the darned thing blowing (maybe they didn't have any nails to hand. Don't try this at home, kids).  :roll:

[Peter Snowberg]

I would replace the switch and then put a 300 watt lightbulb in series with the power leads for testing. If the amp works as it should, the lamp will glow a dull red. If there is a short somewhere else in there then you'll get full lamp brightness and you won't have to replace more fuses. That works like a charm.

50 amps is "out-there" for sure.

Good luck!
-Peter

[Nasse]

:evil:

We have 230 V voltage in this side of the ocean. Common domestic fuses are 10 and 16 amps. Normal small houses have maybe three 25 amps main fuses protecting whole house. If you have some heavier stuff maybe 63 amps is next size.

Older model fuse is made of porcellain, with a fusible wire inside, like the pic above. Well, I work in Fire dept, and once we found one serious "diy genius" self made "fuse" -it was made of solid copper, the "Edison" had made it with a lathe :x

[MattAnonymous]

I must have been tired last night, the fuse is only 5Amps. 50 is a little excessive and I should have caught it.  Thanks for all the feedback and ideas.  There's nothing better out there than having multiple brains come up with multiple solutions.  These boards are magnificent.  I'll post whether or not it worked soon.

[Paul Marossy]

That thing must have a lot of tubes! My Seymour Duncan has a 5A fuse and it has four power tubes and eight preamp tubes...

Hope you get it fixed.

[MattAnonymous]

It works I just soldered a radio shack switch on tried the new fuse with the pwr tubes out, and presto.  Put tubes back in and got sound.  Thanks for all the feedback guys!!

[Paul Marossy]

Cool!

Are you sure that the RS switch can handle the voltage/amperage? If you got the ones I am thinking of, they might be trouble if you use them on the standby switch. They really don't meet the rating req'd in that application...

Just trying to keep ya safe.  

[MattAnonymous]

It's got the exact specs as the other switch (10A 125VAC, 6A 250VAC).  Little bit different look and size, but that doesn't bother me.

[Paul Marossy]

Okie dokie, just checkin'.  :wink:

[Lonestarjohnny]

Cool Matt,
Glad ya got the Duece goin, I sorta figured you were typin in a hurry and sorta left out the . between the 5.0 fuse,  :oops: ! No way your gonna shove a 50 watter in the back of that lil amp,  :lol: I have the Schematic to your amp if ya ever need it, If you just got that amp I hope you checked all the Chassie screws, tranny bolt's and speaker bolt's just to make sure she stay's together, and if you got any, some Deoxit 5 on the pot's and jacks would give it a lil more tone, i call it " The Tuneup in a Can ", Learn to check your own bias if you don't already know how, when I get my Webb site up I'll be given instruction's on amp safty and repairs/Mods/retubing and biasing your own amp, I don't have a lot to contribute on the pedal building but I've been repairing and restoreing amps for about 35 year's.
JD

[MattAnonymous]

Cool thanks, yeah a schem would be great!!