Search found 2987 matches

by Mark
Sun May 05, 2024 1:38 pm
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Re: Conductive boards again.

You have a nice collection of carbon comp resistors there and though it looks like the boards are the real problem here was an interesting commentary on reconditioning the carbon resistors from Hi Fi Collective: Being made of organic material, they do have the tendency to absorb water from the atmo...
by Mark
Sun May 05, 2024 1:32 pm
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Re: Conductive boards again.

Perhaps you have seen what Psionic (Lyle) goes through with this issue. An alcohol lavage and meticulous removal of the residue that builds up on the wax boards can be quite effective. Then there is the under board that gets polluted. I have pulled that board out on my silver face champ and done th...
by Mark
Sun May 05, 2024 1:26 pm
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Re: Conductive boards again.

Mark, with 20-30VDC on the board, I can tell you that there is no saving this board. Its something i have tried several times....take board out, take all parts off, remove paraffin with heat gun/paper towels, acetone/brake cleaner clean off the residual mess, rebuild.... Then the same thing happene...
by Mark
Fri May 03, 2024 4:26 pm
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Re: Conductive boards again.

I admit I am curious... Are you even going to try to resurrect this beast? How do you even begin to evaluate whether an amp like this is worth saving? And to what lengths you might go to preserve the legacy value of the original? Yes, I want to save the amp, I don’t know what it will take to get it...
by Mark
Fri May 03, 2024 4:22 pm
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Re: Conductive boards again.

I never seen a Fender with these lugs before either but it is what it is. The lugs are original as the resistor attached to the lugs is the very same type as is used on the other side of the P.I. grid. There are no signs of the resistor being removed and resoldered. The solder joints are untouched a...
by Mark
Fri May 03, 2024 3:19 am
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Re: Conductive boards again.

Purely for interest sake here is a picture of tagstrip being used to eliminate problems with a conductive board at the Fender factory.

They knew about the problem in the silver face amp days.
IMG_0160.jpeg
by Mark
Fri May 03, 2024 2:35 am
Forum: Fender Discussion
Topic: Conductive boards again.
Replies: 13
Views: 362

Conductive boards again.

I have a silver face Twin on the bench and I have never seen a board like it. The board is stuffed.

When I got the amp the power transformer was stuffed, I noticed that the tone control caps are soldered on one side
IMG_0158.jpeg
IMG_0156.jpeg
IMG_0144.jpeg
IMG_0145.jpeg
by Mark
Sun Apr 28, 2024 6:13 am
Forum: Technical Discussion
Topic: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?
Replies: 12
Views: 523

Re: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?

Oddly enough I had a friend get a Fender Blues Junior come in. It was built in 2019 and is a Mark 2 amp which uses cathode bias. The filter caps were the blues IC and they looked fine, no signs of spilling their guts.
by Mark
Sun Apr 21, 2024 3:26 am
Forum: Technical Discussion
Topic: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?
Replies: 12
Views: 523

Re: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?

What makes you think the problem is exclusive to the Hot Rod series Fender amps? Something I recall reading about some time ago. May be just internet lore, but maybe Fender did end up with the bulk of the bad product from that era. Yeah, it’s hard know if they are still bad. I would rather have mor...
by Mark
Sat Apr 20, 2024 1:39 pm
Forum: Trainwreck Discussion
Topic: Help me Rocket Men
Replies: 7
Views: 585

Re: Help me Rocket Men

The output transformer is quite an old version. It has a 5.5K primary from memory and it is quite loud. I remember RJ’s was quite full on. I thought it was in the vein of Richie Hall’s amp. https://youtu.be/HHiJrufUbF0?feature=shared https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30033 https://cdn.shop...
by Mark
Sat Apr 20, 2024 1:11 pm
Forum: Technical Discussion
Topic: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?
Replies: 12
Views: 523

Re: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?

Stevem wrote: Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:01 am Yes they are not at the bottom of the ladder any more.
What makes you believe they are a good brand to use again?

What is on the bottom of the ladder these days?

I think F&T is my cap of preference, though if Nichicon had a product I would use that.
by Mark
Sat Apr 20, 2024 1:09 pm
Forum: Technical Discussion
Topic: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?
Replies: 12
Views: 523

Re: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?

This problem was specific to Fender amps manufactured over some range of dates, and limited to IC electrolytics sold to Fender, IIRC. Great to hear from you as always Martin. I appreciate your input. I must admit that I don’t know if the bad IC brand caps were limited to Fender. Perhaps if there wa...
by Mark
Fri Apr 19, 2024 8:59 am
Forum: Trainwreck Discussion
Topic: Help me Rocket Men
Replies: 7
Views: 585

Re: Help me Rocket Men

I think that will be your biggest challenge finding the right parts. The parts of greatest concern are the transformers. I would build it on a Garolite board, phenolic boards can be conductive and you don’t need that. https://modulusamplification.com/wrocket-top-boost-30watt---4-x-el84-head-kit-3229...
by Mark
Fri Apr 19, 2024 6:09 am
Forum: Technical Discussion
Topic: Illinois brand capacitors still bad?
Replies: 12
Views: 523

Illinois brand capacitors still bad?

In the past I’ve seen quite a few fender amps with IC branded capacitors which are leaking, I dare say quite a techs made a good living replacing capacitors from Fender amps.

Have IC caps turned a corner and become reliable or do they still leak?