Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Warwick Tubepath 5.1 ebay dud


Pow_22
 Share

Recommended Posts

I recently bought this amp off ebay. Sold as full working order and came in a substantial flight case.  However the amp was DOA. Wouldnt turn on, no power, no lights, zilch.

i popped the hood and immediately saw the problem.  All three fuse holder on the valve pcb were broken. One fuse was rolling tound in the amp, one was completely missing and the other was holding on for dear life.

Before i send the amp back for a refund does anyone know how difficult a job it is to replace the fuseholders? Im not attempting it myself but i assume you will have to remove the board to work on it which in itself would be laboursome. There are boards that i could see would need to be removed first.

unfortunately my go-to amp tech is strictly an all valve giy so will also need to source someone in Nortg West to take a look. A not so happy NAD ☹️

IMG_6284.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think it is that difficult a job for a decent amp tech. Is your "Go To" guy Dave Lunt by any chance? Although he is strictly a Valve man I know he has worked on S/S amps, and your does have valves in it. 🙂 

Roland Lumby and Gee Electronics seem to get a lot of mentions when people ask about amp repairs in NW/Manchester area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must be blind, cos I can only see one fuse holder there without a fuse in it.  If the springy bits have justmoved apart you may well get away with forcing them back together again with some pliers and then spring the fuse back in.

The fuse holder I can see does seem a bit discoloured though, possibly due to sparking in the past, so you'd want to clean that up as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Count Bassy said:

I must be blind, cos I can only see one fuse holder there without a fuse in it.  If the springy bits have justmoved apart you may well get away with forcing them back together again with some pliers and then spring the fuse back in.

The fuse holder I can see does seem a bit discoloured though, possibly due to sparking in the past, so you'd want to clean that up as well.

I can only see 2. One the fuse is missing and there is another just above it with a plastic cover over it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I saw that as well, but as it didn't appear to be damaged assummed that these were not the ones the OP was talking about.

Note to the OP: If this is the item that needs replacing then it's a pretty easy soldering job - Once you've stripped the amp down to get to it!! . These tend to be through hole mounting, so you'll need to get access to the back of the board.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

So to update:-

I dropped this off at HW Audio in Bolton who quickly declared it a write off!  So I thought id have a tinker with it seeing as I couldn't break it even more.  I bought the correct fuses and resting them on the remains of the holders the amp fired up!!!!

Surely it cant be a write off when the clip fuse holders are 12p online!  I get that removing the board to work on will be 99% of the work but surely for a professional it cant be THAT much of a job?  Anyway, in the meantime and as a stop gap it has been recommended that I buy some 'wire glue' which is effectively glue that conducts electricity and glue the fuses to what is left of the holders.  Just as a stop gap until I can get someone willing to remove the board and fit new holders.  Anyone think this is a bad idea?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎24‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 09:53, BassBunny said:

I don't think it is that difficult a job for a decent amp tech. Is your "Go To" guy Dave Lunt by any chance? Although he is strictly a Valve man I know he has worked on S/S amps, and your does have valves in it. 🙂 

Roland Lumby and Gee Electronics seem to get a lot of mentions when people ask about amp repairs in NW/Manchester area.

My go to tech is Roland, he does all my valve jobbies but doesn't take on SS amps.  Might give Dave a call and see if its something he can do

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/12/2018 at 09:55, Pow_22 said:

So to update:-

I dropped this off at HW Audio in Bolton who quickly declared it a write off!  So I thought id have a tinker with it seeing as I couldn't break it even more.  I bought the correct fuses and resting them on the remains of the holders the amp fired up!!!!

Did HW say it was just the fuses that made it a dud ? If so then I think I'd be in there myself...depends how confident you are with a soldering iron. Removing the board would be most of the job by the looks of things.

No chance of the refund once you do tinker tho...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/12/2018 at 09:55, Pow_22 said:

So to update:-

I dropped this off at HW Audio in Bolton who quickly declared it a write off!  So I thought id have a tinker with it seeing as I couldn't break it even more.  I bought the correct fuses and resting them on the remains of the holders the amp fired up!!!!

Surely it cant be a write off when the clip fuse holders are 12p online!  I get that removing the board to work on will be 99% of the work but surely for a professional it cant be THAT much of a job?  Anyway, in the meantime and as a stop gap it has been recommended that I buy some 'wire glue' which is effectively glue that conducts electricity and glue the fuses to what is left of the holders.  Just as a stop gap until I can get someone willing to remove the board and fit new holders.  Anyone think this is a bad idea?

There's "technical write-off" (eg parts no longer available)  and "financial write-off" (ie cheaper to buy another one).

Your tests would suggest that the damaged fuse holders are the only problem, so it's not a technical write off. I can only think that he thinks it would take too long to strip it down and rebuild it. Depends how much it would cost to buy another one I guess. Possibly he didn't feel up to the job and didn't want to admit that.

If you're handy with a soldering iron you could Solder a new fuse holder onto the stubs of the old one. I do wonder how internal fuse holders like these got broken though.

 

Edited by Count Bassy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/12/2018 at 10:05, Count Bassy said:

There's "technical write-off" (eg parts no longer available)  and "financial write-off" (ie cheaper to buy another one).

Your tests would suggest that the damaged fuse holders are the only problem, so it's not a technical write off. I can only think that he thinks it would take too long to strip it down and rebuild it. Depends how much it would cost to buy another one I guess. Possibly he didn't feel up to the job and didn't want to admit that.

 I do wonder how internal fuse holders like these got broken though.

 

Vibrational stress.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 21/12/2018 at 12:05, Count Bassy said:

 

If you're handy with a soldering iron you could Solder a new fuse holder onto the stubs of the old one. I do wonder how internal fuse holders like these got broken though.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I can't really see what I'm supposed to be looking at from the picture, but rather than removing the board and risking more damage, I would be tempted to solder a couple of bits of wire to what's left of the existing fuse holder (if possible) then just connect the other end to a standalone fuse holder, the type user for car audio, etc. Then just cable tie it on to the chassis or wiring somewhere to stop it rattling around. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 24/11/2018 at 23:31, BassBunny said:

I can only see 2. One the fuse is missing and there is another just above it with a plastic cover over it.

There's a third fuseholder under the two red wires at the top left that should hold a 250mAT fuse, the other two hold 2.5AT fuses.  All are standard 20mm. 

It looks like a simple enough job to replace the broken fuseholders.  The PCB will have to come at least partly out to gain access to the underside but that shouldn't be too difficult.  There's a service manual here that you might find useful...  https://elektrotanya.com/warwick_hdb-electronic_tube-path_5.1_sch.pdf/download.html

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 24/12/2018 at 06:57, Newfoundfreedom said:

I was thinking the same thing. I can't really see what I'm supposed to be looking at from the picture, but rather than removing the board and risking more damage, I would be tempted to solder a couple of bits of wire to what's left of the existing fuse holder (if possible) then just connect the other end to a standalone fuse holder, the type user for car audio, etc. Then just cable tie it on to the chassis or wiring somewhere to stop it rattling around. 

This is exactly what I was thinking, solder some sort of fuse holder directly to the remaining fuse holder. No stripping and minimal expense. 

If you solder, or glue, the fuses directly then if one blows it'll be a pain changing it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...