What's the weirdest fault you ever fixed? - Page 3

Zero Cool · 28th June 2009, 06:10 PM

A very very large Sunn all tube bass amp that a client reported it had a strange ticking noise. sure enough after a bit a very distinctive pop/tick would happen every few seconds. after hours of troubleshooting everything. I discovered that the tube was arcing through the glass and to the hold down clamp that sits on top of the 6550 output tube that has springs on either side that hold the tube in place. I replaced the tube and the problem went away. I didnt have a tube tester at the time. I would like to have found out if the tube had some sort of internal short or???

The tube still had vacuum. so im not sure what the problem was. but if you turned off the lights you could see the tube arc to the spring clamp!

Very strange!

Pano · 28th June 2009, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by thermal runaway
My girlfriend at the time's Mother had a car which would cut out intermittently ....

Good story! It reminds me of my wife's old Jeep Cherokee. It had started to stall out, too. One day it simply refused to start, no fire, leaving us stranded a few miles from home.

But, Oh! the power of the Internet. Didn't take long to see it was a common Jeep problem. Faulty crankshaft position sensor. $35 part, 10 minute repar. Happy! OK, no big deal.

Fast forward a couple of years. Friend of ours is working for a snobby rich lady who's Jeep won't start, had been cutting out. Our friend asks us "didn't you find a simple fix for this?" Yes we did - and explained it. She tells her rich boss-lady. But the boss is unimpressed. "Is your friend (me) an auto mechanic?" "Well no", says our friend "but he knows a lot about electronics and fixes stuff." Boss-lady sniffs and refuses to consider it.

$350 later her Jeep is fixed. They replaced the crankshaft position sensor. We all laughed and laughed. Well, not the snobby rich boss-lady -she didn't laugh.

Pano · 28th June 2009, 06:24 PM

BTW.

Hmmmm........

Zero Cool · 28th June 2009, 08:22 PM

Ok if we are going to talk about cars.....I had an 84 Cougar that was afraid of the dark! and I am not kidding!

The car would start and run all day long everyday. but at night it would crank and but not fire!

took me months to get it figured out. But eventually we learned that there was no fuel pressure and that the car had TWO fuel pumps! one in the tank one one on the frame rail. during the day when it was warm, everything was fine, but at night when it cooled off. the pump on the frame rail would stick! I made a jumper wire for the fuel pump relay as the computer would only let the pump run for 4 seconds then shut off. I would jumper the relay on. lay on the ground and bang on the fuel pump and it would start to run. Get up start the car, take out the jumper wire and everything would be fine. I could drive home, stop at the store etc and as long as the pump didn't cool off it was fine.

THAT was a weird problem to figure out! I just kept thinking to myself what in the world would cause the car not to start ONLY at night?

Pano · 28th June 2009, 09:46 PM

It wasn't a Cougar, it was a Bat!

poynton · 28th June 2009, 09:47 PM

A few years ago, I had a shop selling computers and some second-hand hifi.

I had a cd player, Akai or something similar, that would only play the Eric Clapton disks I had in the shop.

I had around 60 disks in total, mainly original with some cd-rs, 3 by Eric.

I tried adjusting just about everything before giving up.
As a 'joke', I put the player for sale as a special, "CD player with taste !" It sold to a Japanese student. (I even demonstrated the problem)

Andy

nyatt · 28th June 2009, 10:13 PM

I remember working on a Belles preamp with noise in one channel. We stuck it on the bench, and when we pulled the top off, the noise went away. Replaced the top and the noise returned. I tracked it down to a diode that was light sensitive. Or, afraid of the dark.

Circlotron · 29th June 2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by panomaniac
BTW.

Hmmmm........

They both go to the same barber?

GK · 29th June 2009, 02:08 PM

Well I haven’t managed to fix my weird problem yet. I bought a stud finder from the local hardware store and the thing has proved to be rather useless.
It just beeps continuously whenever I get within two feet of it.

jackinnj · 29th June 2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Circlotron

They both go to the same barber?

No, but the one on the left is bootyous Lady MacBeth's dog.

28th June 2009, 06:24 PM	#23
Pano diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: North Carolina Blog Entries: 4	BTW. Hmmmm........ __________________ Take the Speaker Voltage Test!

28th June 2009, 09:46 PM	#25
Pano diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: North Carolina Blog Entries: 4	It wasn't a Cougar, it was a Bat! __________________ Take the Speaker Voltage Test!

28th June 2009, 09:47 PM	#26
poynton Magneto the Gravity Man diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: A life on the ocean waves when I'm not at home in N. Wales (but I'm not Welsh so no sheep jokes!)	I never found out the answer .... A few years ago, I had a shop selling computers and some second-hand hifi. I had a cd player, Akai or something similar, that would only play the Eric Clapton disks I had in the shop. I had around 60 disks in total, mainly original with some cd-rs, 3 by Eric. I tried adjusting just about everything before giving up. As a 'joke', I put the player for sale as a special, "CD player with taste !" It sold to a Japanese student. (I even demonstrated the problem) Andy __________________ If it ain't broke, break it !! Then fix it again. It's called DIY !

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28th June 2009, 06:10 PM	#21
Zero Cool Audio Junkie diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: MN	A very very large Sunn all tube bass amp that a client reported it had a strange ticking noise. sure enough after a bit a very distinctive pop/tick would happen every few seconds. after hours of troubleshooting everything. I discovered that the tube was arcing through the glass and to the hold down clamp that sits on top of the 6550 output tube that has springs on either side that hold the tube in place. I replaced the tube and the problem went away. I didnt have a tube tester at the time. I would like to have found out if the tube had some sort of internal short or??? The tube still had vacuum. so im not sure what the problem was. but if you turned off the lights you could see the tube arc to the spring clamp! Very strange!

28th June 2009, 08:22 PM	#24
Zero Cool Audio Junkie diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: MN	Ok if we are going to talk about cars.....I had an 84 Cougar that was afraid of the dark! and I am not kidding! The car would start and run all day long everyday. but at night it would crank and but not fire! took me months to get it figured out. But eventually we learned that there was no fuel pressure and that the car had TWO fuel pumps! one in the tank one one on the frame rail. during the day when it was warm, everything was fine, but at night when it cooled off. the pump on the frame rail would stick! I made a jumper wire for the fuel pump relay as the computer would only let the pump run for 4 seconds then shut off. I would jumper the relay on. lay on the ground and bang on the fuel pump and it would start to run. Get up start the car, take out the jumper wire and everything would be fine. I could drive home, stop at the store etc and as long as the pump didn't cool off it was fine. THAT was a weird problem to figure out! I just kept thinking to myself what in the world would cause the car not to start ONLY at night?

28th June 2009, 10:13 PM	#27
nyatt diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: California	I remember working on a Belles preamp with noise in one channel. We stuck it on the bench, and when we pulled the top off, the noise went away. Replaced the top and the noise returned. I tracked it down to a diode that was light sensitive. Or, afraid of the dark.

29th June 2009, 02:08 PM	#29
GK Account disabled at member's request Join Date: Jan 2006	Well I haven’t managed to fix my weird problem yet. I bought a stud finder from the local hardware store and the thing has proved to be rather useless. It just beeps continuously whenever I get within two feet of it.

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