Heavy Iron Amps - Servicing Intervals??

[JottoSW1]

A beloved Amp has a check sticker by a reputable tech co. This is dated 2017.

Other than a bit of dust removal being required (have a miniature plastic battery powered tech hoover so will cautiously do this myself) there's nothing wrong but High Volume Usage is infrequent. There is no immediate likelihood of this being used for gigs.

How long is appropriate/prudent for a currently lightly used solid state head like a Trace, Laney, Peavey etc after a certification before you check it in ?

Or do you wait till it starts to sound funny?

JdeV

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by JottoSW1
Hoovery Bits

[Downunderwonder]

Number of amps taken in for routine service : 0

Number of breakdowns not caused by user error : 0

Conclusion: wait until it sounds off.

[nilebodgers]

Never, unless there is something wrong with it.

[skidder652003]

hmmm. I tend to get mine serviced every 12 to 18 months.

I don't gig it very much these days but when I do I'm pretty terrified of it and I don't want it blowing up on me. A re valve is horrendously expensive.

Even if the tec takes a looks, gives it a basic service and says yep it's fine, that's worth £50 quid a year to me.

Edited June 6, 2021 by skidder652003

[Phil Starr]

 There's another thread on this where it was answered in some detail. A service is something you do to a car and involves changing the oil, topping up fluids checking moving parts and brake pads. Your amp has no fluids or moving parts so there just isn't anything to service. Save your money or spend it on a bass set up.

[EBS_freak]

How to service an amp:

• Unscrew covers.
• If there's open slots in the pots, squirt some servisol into them... give them a good rotate. (This step is completely optional)
• Give the amp a good vacuum and make sure any fans are free of dust.
• Reassemble.

Done. Collect £50.

EDIT: if you are servicing a combo, you may want to tighten everything to ensure no rattles.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by EBS_freak

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Power supply caps have a shelf life of 25 odd years, so it your amp is that old or older they could probably stand replacing. With vintage amps you might be able to upgrade the caps while replacing them, as capacity for a given physical size has gotten better over the last half century. Otherwise a periodic vacuuming of dust, lubrication of the pots and cleaning of the jacks is all you need be concerned with.

[BassmanPaul]

8 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

How to service an amp:

• Unscrew covers.
• If there's open slots in the pots, squirt some servisol into them... give them a good rotate. (This step is completely optional)
• Give the amp a good vacuum and make sure any fans are free of dust.
• Reassemble.

Done. Collect £50.

EDIT: if you are servicing a combo, you may want to tighten everything to ensure no rattles.

 

Please do not follow this advice. More pots are ruined by the indiscriminate spraying of 'magic' spray than any other.

[Waddo Soqable]

I've got an old Peavey combo which is totally unusable as all the pots crackle like a bastard...  A good "seeing to" with servisol is about the only option here....it's simply not worth paying someone else to fiddle with it, and the above method may well make it usable again, so in this case there's not much to lose !

[EBS_freak]

25 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said:

Please do not follow this advice. More pots are ruined by the indiscriminate spraying of 'magic' spray than any other.

There’s nothing wrong with servisol cleaner. WD40 on the other hand...

[EBS_freak]

16 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I've got an old Peavey combo which is totally unusable as all the pots crackle like a bastard...  A good "seeing to" with servisol is about the only option here....it's simply not worth paying someone else to fiddle with it, and the above method may well make it usable again, so in this case there's not much to lose !

And it’s a completely valid, safe solution. And easier than changing pots.

[The fasting showman]

47 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

There’s nothing wrong with servisol cleaner. WD40 on the other hand...

Yep, spot on; Water Displacer 40 is great for locks, bike chains etc but best kept away from amps as you say.  Can't go too far wrong with Servisol contact cleaner. 

[Waddo Soqable]

Indeed...i bought a tin for the purpose of doing the amp, I've known of Servisol for many years and it has always had a good rep. I actually used some on a dodgy old Lucas car indicator switch and it sorted that out no probs !

 

 

[agedhorse]

Switches are different than pots. The less you screw with pots, the longer they typically last. I don’t have much experience with Servisol, but it must contain a small amount of sliding contact lube.

On solid state amps built within the last 40 years, the life expectancy of caps is at least 40 years. 

My experience is if the amp is working properly and the fan is working as designed, you are probably better off leaving things alone. I see a fair number of amps “made broken” by well intentioned service attempts.
 

 

[Chienmortbb]

12 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Please do not follow this advice. More pots are ruined by the indiscriminate spraying of 'magic' spray than any other.

Servisol has been used for years in the UK electronics industry and in my 50 years in the industry has been useful for cleaning switches and pots. Never use WD40 or other spray lubricants. I have hear good things about deoxit but I cannot comment as I have never used it. However as with anything, less is more. A short spray usually suffices and again, in my own experience, cleaning can only be effective once.

As for capacitors, I replaced all the electrolytics on my 50 year old HH amp about 3 years ago but kept all the caps. I recently decided to check them and all of them were within the =/-20% tolerance quoted. So if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[BassmanPaul]

Over here DeOxit is the standard. I use their 'Fader Lube' and it works well but you only need the smallest amount! If you have 50+ years in the business you have no doubt seen some of the ramifications of over use of contact cleaner of one sort or another.  I've seen the amps of folk who have cleaned their pots by spraying down the shaft. What a mess that makes.

[Chienmortbb]

22 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said:

Over here DeOxit is the standard. I use their 'Fader Lube' and it works well but you only need the smallest amount! If you have 50+ years in the business you have no doubt seen some of the ramifications of over use of contact cleaner of one sort or another.  I've seen the amps of folk who have cleaned their pots by spraying down the shaft. What a mess that makes.

Sometimes the best bet is to take the pot apart.

[Phil Starr]

19 hours ago, agedhorse said:

Switches are different than pots. The less you screw with pots, the longer they typically last. I don’t have much experience with Servisol, but it must contain a small amount of sliding contact lube.

On solid state amps built within the last 40 years, the life expectancy of caps is at least 40 years. 

My experience is if the amp is working properly and the fan is working as designed, you are probably better off leaving things alone. I see a fair number of amps “made broken” by well intentioned service attempts.
 

 

This is right IMO. I've used Servisol since the 70's. It is a great product for broken pots and it will often shift dirt and stop crackling. It's a gentle solvent and rarely does damage but all it does is shift dirt around and sometimes makes things worse, it also leaves a residue so doing this once a year to a pot that is previously faultless isn't a good idea. It's a get you out of trouble thing with long term risks not something to do for no good reason. You wouldn't take a morning after pill or a laxative if you didn't need to