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Hammond Transformer Warranty

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#21
Hammond

I understand your question and it has merit. I have been at this as a hobby for over 50 years having built my first Valve Amp (a Mullard 3-3) when I was 13 years old. So I consider that I have just a little experience on which to draw. There is no question that the Transformer was faulty and had shorted turns on the HT winding. As I side note I would be interested to learn if the Hammond Transformers are actually made in Canada or elsewhere (maybe the Far East ???), I am not saying they are but on close examination they are not the best put together unit. That said in life you get what you pay for !!!! Right now I am running them in a SE amp and am reasonably happy with the result albeit that the Output transformer has not got the greatest bandwidth, so maybe I will replace that with one from Sowter later


M Gregg said:
Well,

If you remove end bells and put them back..how many people know about shorted turns?..OK people that build amps...from hammonds point of view how do they know there was not a shorted turn..via the mounting screws..nothing to do with the windings..its easy to do. Perhaps Hammond should look at this issue, if there were no mounting problems then the transformer is faulty..then again how do they know the transformer was connected correctly..

Its a bag of worms..

Regards
M. Gregg
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#22
I agree,

However from hammonds point of view they don't know who you are..you could be a 15 year old building your first tube amp...

That is the problem with products these days...most of the time they are made as cheap as possible and I don't agree you get what you pay for..you pay as much as they can get out of you for as little production cost as possible..

Its very difficult these days to get any quality in anything..

Hammond should as least have a look...its probably not worth their time to do it...of course years ago it would have been important..even if they just replaced it and used the core again..

Regards
M. Gregg
 
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#23
If it was me,

I would tell them it was not fit for purpose..then its up to them to prove it was / is fit for purpose..nothing to lose..
I might even refer them to this thread and how many people have viewed it see if they think its worth their time to take a look...

Regards
M. Gregg
 
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#24
I did have one Hammond power transformer fail on me - it was a preamplifier that I built for someone. User modified the circuit... different tubes which caused more filament current draw. The transformer ended up going south. Not the fault of the manufacturer.

I've made several budget amplifiers using Hammond iron - and I've been surprised by the results using the 1627SEA. However, as of late, their products aren't delivering the performance/price ratio. I've since switched to Edcor - cheaper, but the multi week waiting can drive a builder crazy.
 
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