kevin gilmore Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Very sweet that it is working again. Would like to know which parts he swapped out, so that you can stock up for next time. And i did not have to touch it. The best part of all. The ES1's are repairable too, just a fuckload of work.
Voltron Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Posted July 18, 2009 thanks Mike. Very sweet that it is working again. Would like to know which parts he swapped out, so that you can stock up for next time. And i did not have to touch it. The best part of all. The ES1's are repairable too, just a fuckload of work. Either Steve can post or I will get the info and do it. It was small stuff -- resistor, maybe that diode, and a bad solder joint -- and nothing in the amp. He bought another one of the transformer that looked cooked and the new looked exactly the same! thanks again Kevin.
Hugo Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Warranty: the Supra comes with a 7 year warranty covering parts and labor.
kevin gilmore Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Thats only if it dies 7 times and is resold to 6 more different people. And i do expect that it was just a few parts that were the cause of the problem. Cold solder joints, probably all over the place... Wasn't worth the shipping charges both ways... And i did not expect that there was going to be anything wrong in the amp chassis except for a few bad solder joints and shit sockets.
morphsci Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Excellent news Al. Hope springs eternal for all us SP owners.
agile_one Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Great news, Al - really happy the beast is back. Major props to Steve for for his witchcraft and devil dealing.
Torpedo Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Congratulations Al, I was concerned you weren't going to enjoy that amp anymore Enjoy it while it lasts No, seriously, enjoy it, hopefully it lasts working eons
Voltron Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Posted July 18, 2009 Warranty: the Supra comes with a 7 year warranty covering parts and labor. Ha Ha Ha Ha! I am lol'ing about that one!
dBel84 Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Truly fantastic news, been following Birgir's "expose' " too. Hopefully there will be enough accumulated information to set up an SP tech support for future repairs / rebuilds. congrats again..dB
Aimless1 Posted July 18, 2009 Report Posted July 18, 2009 Congrats! Glad to hear it was nothing major.
neilvg Posted July 19, 2009 Report Posted July 19, 2009 That is just awesome news Al. Any word on how Neil is faring? Steve has agreed to pick my amp when he drops yours off in the next few days. The awesomeness that is Ironbut cannot be stated enough. Hopefully some sort of secondary deal with the devil can be had... electrostatic style... Neil
kevin gilmore Posted July 19, 2009 Report Posted July 19, 2009 Ironbut == Singlepower Service and Repair West Coast Division! Someone has to do it.
kevin gilmore Posted July 19, 2009 Report Posted July 19, 2009 He's a braver man than I, that's for sure. you gave up too soon
Dusty Chalk Posted July 19, 2009 Report Posted July 19, 2009 He has a kid; he has his priorities. (The implication that he can't bargain away his soul like you or I.)
kevin gilmore Posted July 19, 2009 Report Posted July 19, 2009 I was kidding. I realize how much work some of these things are. I thought it was going to be an easy fix. Boy was i wrong. Then again the ES1 repair thing went thru 3 rev's to get it perfect. And each rev was more work. Nate only got half of the singlepower experience. Years later he will be left wanting more...
ironbut Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 Hey you guys. I haven't visited the boards lately so here's the lowdown on the repair. The problem(s) with Al's amp were pretty pedestrian. I kinda figured it would be seeing that it rocked and rolled 400 miles and then suddenly died. The filament transformer is on isolation mounts so it's free to move a tiny bit. The thousands of tiny movements loosened a couple of wires that crossed it which in turn moved some others. A ground from the high voltage board was totally loose and the wire from the regulator selector to the first regulator tube was just hanging on by a thread (it may have even been just the insulation since it broke 1/4" away from the solder joint). A 50 ohm wirewound was fried and during the testing I managed to cook the MosFet and diode twice! (I did try and find the MosFet that Kevin suggested but didn't find any in stock right off hand). There were a few other iffy connections/cold solder joints that I fixed both in the PS and the amp section. I can't really remember which ones I actually "touched" with the soldering iron since that was during the first round 2 weeks ago. Overall, nothing very exciting but man, hooking those sockets back into the lid with just 2 inches of clearance without dropping a single nut back into the chassis was a challenge (just another good reason to find a girlfriend with tiny hands!).
Voltron Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Posted July 22, 2009 You're my hero, Steve, and you, KG, Nate, Marc, Spritzer and others are making a real contribution to the community by offering support and even servive (!!!) while Mikhail circles the drain. Very much looking forward to hearing the amp again tomorrow.
spritzer Posted July 22, 2009 Report Posted July 22, 2009 It's great to hear that the amp is up and running again. Working on SP amps does give clusterfuck a whole new meaning...
Voltron Posted July 23, 2009 Author Report Posted July 23, 2009 I just listened to the SDS-XLR for the first time since the blowup, and it sings again! I didn't have any extra tubes with me because I forgot they were in Mayberry, so I had to use one of the 6SN7s that looks fried to me (ironbut had told me he thought at least one of them was shot). I am pretty sure that I need to check/replace everything to be really sure about the amp, but it does make music and I am hopeful that it will be in good form when I have proper tubes. For those in the know, with the PS using two OA3s for 75 volts, it sounds fine without stressing the volume too much. I then tried with four OA3s and after a minute there was crackles in the left channel and it cut in and out. I turned everything off and let it sit. I then tried again with two OA3s, and the music was back and sounding good again although the left channel wasn't really stable and dropped off occasionally. I think that the bad driver can explain these things -- can't handle higher voltage, cuts on/off, etc -- but tell me if I am nuts. All of this is consistent with Steve's experience, so it wasn't unexpected. I will get another pair of gain tubes asap so that I can try it out again, but I will probably put in all new/tested tubes so that I am sure none of them is compromised. Nothing is easy, but I am hopefully making progress.
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