Guys
I have a 15 year old Rivera amp that started smelling when I played it. I took it to an amp repair shop and they diagnosed it, told me the power tubes were bad and that I needed them replaced and biased. A day later he called back and said it failed on the bench.
There is ow no power and he wanted more money to diagnose (already payed him to diagnose) and finally said that he wants out and does not want to repair.
Questions maybe you all can help with
It played fine then started smelling, Tubes replaced, now no power at all.
Is this right? How can it work before tubes no no power and nothing lights up?
Could he have messed something up? Makes no sense for it to work, before the tubes and fail after.
I have a 15 year old Rivera amp that started smelling when I played it. I took it to an amp repair shop and they diagnosed it, told me the power tubes were bad and that I needed them replaced and biased. A day later he called back and said it failed on the bench.
There is ow no power and he wanted more money to diagnose (already payed him to diagnose) and finally said that he wants out and does not want to repair.
Questions maybe you all can help with
It played fine then started smelling, Tubes replaced, now no power at all.
Is this right? How can it work before tubes no no power and nothing lights up?
Could he have messed something up? Makes no sense for it to work, before the tubes and fail after.
Could be a defective tech. Or bad OP tranny. Or several other things. Interesting he wants out. Are they a nightmare to work on?
Expect to have this thread moved to the Instrument forum by the internet police.
Expect to have this thread moved to the Instrument forum by the internet police.
not sure. He said he had to order the schematics to troubleshoot. It was a red flag because he said he has worked on many of these amps and that they are all the same.
If he is not going to tell me what's wrong and wont fix it I am going to ask for my diagnostic money back and find another place.
Just really interested in how this could happen or if the tech is the one who caused it
If he is not going to tell me what's wrong and wont fix it I am going to ask for my diagnostic money back and find another place.
Just really interested in how this could happen or if the tech is the one who caused it
Per forum directive this belongs in the Instruments & Amplifier forum so I will move this thread there. (Moved.. 😀 )
Sounds like the problem started before you took it in for service, but I suspect a short in the power transformer as the most likely cause given what followed.
This failure could be due to a quality defect in the transformer, exposure to excessive moisture over a long period of time, incorrectly biased output stage, or a failing supply capacitor. Note that this is by no means an exclusive list. (Impossible to know without actually working on said amp.)
This sort of problem is fairly obvious on the bench so this does not speak too well of the particular tech, right move to ask for your money back and take it elsewhere.
This failure could be due to a quality defect in the transformer, exposure to excessive moisture over a long period of time, incorrectly biased output stage, or a failing supply capacitor. Note that this is by no means an exclusive list. (Impossible to know without actually working on said amp.)
This sort of problem is fairly obvious on the bench so this does not speak too well of the particular tech, right move to ask for your money back and take it elsewhere.
Great advice!
What exactly did it smell like? In my experience a runaway power tube smells different than a transformer frying. If the tubes were original the tech probably just assumed that it was a bad power tube for it being it's age and put new tubes in and then the real problem reared it's ugly head. My advice is that if the tech can't tell you what the problem is you should look for a new tech. I don't bring any of my amps to techs anymore because of issues like this, I was lucky enough to have worked in the field of electrical generation and know a thing or two about electricity so it was a matter of reading some material and having the very nice DIYAUDIO community to lend a helping hand.
I don't think you should even need a schematic to diagnose such problems. Tube amps are actually quite simple and most topologies in the guitar world should be easily recognized without a schematic. If you are good with a digital multimeter it can tell you a lot more than a schematic.
Until you get into some of the switching amps. But even then you should be able to isolate the problem in general terms, power supply, output stage, driver, preamp. To say it is dead and I need more money to find out where the problem lies is bs.
I concur. That is a low form of extortion.
I do not charge for things I haven't done-that take a lot of chutzpah.
I do not charge for things I haven't done-that take a lot of chutzpah.
Smelled like rotten eggs or something weird burning. I did notice when I was dropping off the amp rattling coming from the tube. I am sure he was correct and I may have red plated (think that's what its called) one of the power tubes.
More pissed because the tech (small owner run shop) wanted to wipe his hands of it. The dude does not get business and won't get any of my or my friends referral business. Crazy because it is a tube amp repair place. That's all they do.
Thanks
Whether or not the amp was failing before or whether the shop caused it, it is not acceptable that they will not at very least give you a diagnostic and an estimate to repair it. That is what you paid for, and would have been up to you whether you would have wanted it repaired or not, based on the estimate. If the original tube was physically damaged, it could have in turn damaged or blown out the output transformer, or other components. But, they should be able to explain that to you, and worked out a fair repair price. YOu are absolutely right to be miffed, and should seek another shop. Best way to do that is talk to other musicians in your area, or maybe someone here knows some shop techs in your area with good references. Actually lots of the guys here on DIY are very good shop techs!
All Rivera Amps are worth repairing , and for some clearification anytime you work on any amp you need the schematic. I am sorry that some people that try to run shops are crooks , this guy is , you payed him to diagnose the amp , he ran from it this means he is NO TECH . the smell you discribed sounds to me like a cap possibly a diode . Every Amp Rivera made before starting Rivera Amps the schematic is available and fairly easy to get(for free)
sounds to me like this "tech" needs to repair your amp, as he appears to have blown it up on ya.
i concur, the smell you describe sounds like a power supply filter cap. the guy probably doesn't wanna deal with it cuz 90% of the time on those amps, when they smoke, they take the entire PCB with them in the area of the power supply. it's a big job to repair, you for all intents need to make a new pcb. i'm assuming this is like the red knob fender twins and showmans designed by rivera...i've seen a few where all that was salvageable was the chassis and knobs. irregardless, it was his failure to properly diagnose the amp that led to it's failure,. and any GOOD tech would make that right irregardless of cost...or at least waive their fees and offer to buy the hulk from you. they are really nice sounding amps, but a bear to work on once they fry.
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