Orange Bass Terror woe....

[Bassmonkey]

Have had my Bass Terror 500 since 2010. Been used at least weekly since then. 2 gigs ago, I discovered a rattling as I carried it in to the venue. Turned out to be one of the valve heat shields had come off. I took the top off and put it back.
That gig - it cut out mid song. No power light. Thankfully came back on shorty after so got through the gig. Same happened on Friday. Then Saturday too - this time in the first song of the set. Luckily had a spare amp so used that. Went to PMT - now out of warranty (worth a try) then to local amp repairer. He suspects is one of 2 modules which seemingly Orange won't supply.
BUGGER. Waiting to hear but options seem like either back to Orange for repair (presumably not cheap), hope the guys finds its not as bad as he thinks, buy another. At least if I buy another, it's gonna have had the DI output running hot issue fixed but I would rather not spend £500+ right now....

[Subthumper]

From a tech's point of view I would advise Orange fix it too. The type of circuitry these amps use is very complicated and without full technical backup and information on schematics and other circuit data they can be very difficult to fix. Chances are orange will either replace a module or be able to fault diagnose it with the same computer test equipment that would have been used when it was made. plus they have access to all the right bits. All of which is beyond the scope of the average amp tech, it's the sort of thing I would turn away myself, other than when the fault was something like a bad connection or a faulty pot. The other issue of these is the lead free solder which on these densely packed double sided pcb's is an absolute pig to work on. Very time consuming and needs a lot of skill not to wreck the board.
If it were brought to me I would say I'd give it half an hour on the bench to establish if it was something ovoius or not but warn the customer that it may be beyond me to fix it. Sou ds like your tech has done the right thing.
I'm sure Orange will give you an estimated cost and that it may actually be cheaper and a better repair than can be done by the likes of me.
Good luck.

[Bassmonkey]

Thanks Subthumper. Yeah - kinda expecting that's exactly what will happen. My fingers are crossed but not confident. As long as Orange aren't too extortionate I will end up having the repair. Just waiting with bated breath now.....Will update once I hear. Andy

[Billy Apple]

I've heard good things about Oranges after sales service, even when warranties have expired. I'd make them my first stop.

[dannybuoy]

I took my out of warranty OTB to PMT also. They recommended that they send it to a local tech as it would probably be cheaper, but I requested they send it to Orange instead, as I'd read it was a common fault and they were often fixing them for free. Which they did!

Get it sent direct to Orange, they should sort it.

[Raslee]

Orange sorted my out of warranty OTB, mine was also a 2010. It was only a loose large capacitor, however Orange put the newer circuit boards in which also sorted out the hot DI. Top customer service and didn't cost a penny.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Raslee

[Sibob]

I had a very good experience with Orange when I had a repair on my Terror out of warranty. Sounds like a similar issue to mine at the time.
Try calling them direct if you haven't already.

Si

[Bassmonkey]

Thanks guys. Once the tech gets back to me, I will have a better idea. Still hoping it's something easily fixable (based on possibly foolish optimism and the fact that the valve cover had detached) I will go directly to Orange if it's a more complicated fix though.

[Bassmonkey]

The prognosis isn't good. The power module is buggered. Off back to PMT tomorrow to return it to Orange. Lets my Little Bastard have a turn though. Let's hope Orange are gentle with me.

[Bassmonkey]

WOW - Orange came through on this one. I returned the poorly amp to Orange about 3 weeks ago through PMT. They asked for a £50 payment to cover transport and fault diagnosis. Would then let me know via PMT the final repair cost. Well had a call to say completed but with no cost known. Went in today with no idea of potential cost and Orange have repaired it at NO additional cost. HAPPY BUNNY - can't complain at £50

All is well that ends well

Andy

[Jacqueslemac]

There are several threads on Basschat along the same lines, which can't be doing Orange any harm at all.

Orange replaced my first-generation one (well out of warranty) for no charge. The new one has the later DI too, of course, which is a bonus.

[spacey]

There is a very little known if at all bit of legalisation that was quietly sneaked on to our statute books after a veto was over turned.
EU act 1999/44/EC was ten year vetoed here but it expired in 2009 and is now legal statute.
This trumps our very biased sale of goods act in that it gives you two years in which an electrical item must work : PERIOD.
Unlike sale of goods which means you have to prove the fault after six months.

warranties are additional to your rights in any case.
If it is less than two years old, back to the shop with the EU law printed and to the county court if they refuse.

Very well hidden but in your favour bit of law.

Do not buy two year warranties, they are simply selling you your rights under EU directive 1999/44/EC

Edited September 1, 2014 by spacey

[Bassmonkey]

Hey Spacey - good to see another Leeds Basschatter. Good point. In fact I bought it in 2010 and had 3 years warranty. Looks like its always gonna be best to return to Orange rather than risk a local repair (which may not carry any post fix guarantee)
Am happy though. Andy

[spacey]

Its not done bad then for a valve based pre-amp at 4 years.
At one time valves were all you could buy that was over 100 watts and you needed two heads just to gig as one would pack in every other week.
Remember queuing for Trace Elliot AH350 amp head in the 80's, at last an amp with no valves.

These days people are looking to go back to valve amps ?

[Bassmonkey]

I agree - I like it a. cos its tiny. Previously used 8x10" Ampeg cabs and 450 W heads (2 man lift) and b. simple to get the sound out of, basic set of knobs to turn - just sounds like a bass should in my view. and c. Its bloody loud

Yeah - I too suffered through the 80s with enormous rigs. First one from JSG in Bingley - like a wardrobe! ha ha ha - sound like the Monty Python 4 Yorkshiremen ha ha

[Jacqueslemac]

Well, last night my replacement Orange amp started cutting out again. Sometimes the jewel light was on and sometimes it was off, with no apparent correlation.

I packaged it up and took it back to PMT. They told me they'd send it back again, but also remarked that there appears to have been a spate of amps going back to Orange at the minute.

[bassmachine2112]

Just a thought-isn,t the jewel light powered off the heater coil circuit in V1 ?

[Jacqueslemac]

The amp arrived back from Orange today, so I picked it up and will try it at rehearsals again tonight.

Incidentally, when I left PMT a delivery lorry blocked my exit. As I couldn't go anywhere, I helped the lads unload a couple of dozen boxes. When I finished I was presented with a set of strings and a pair of PMT socks. What nice fellas!

[Jacqueslemac]

I'm not sure what Orange did with the amp when it went back to them, but the jewel light didn't work and earlier this week, the amp stopped working altogether. The "active/passive" light came on, but the fan didn't and no noise came out.

So back to PMT I go. To their credit, as soon as they saw it was me again they handed me a new one off the shelf and put my one aside to go back to Orange.

So, I'm now on my third Terror. If this one goes wrong I think I'll be switching brands. Except that I left PMT with a 1x15 Orange cab and an isorbic 2x10 Orange cab, so I'll need an orange coloured amp anyway!

[mazdah]

OB1 500W is the amp you are looking for but I hope that your Terror will live long now

[afterimage]

Keep posting good after sales service guys it helps making a good choices when changing brands