Two Stroke = Smoke

[bclick]

How close is the power transformer to being maxed out?

How would I check that, Tom?

[soma_hero]

Add up the current requirements for the heaters for all tubes, and compare to the maximum rating for the transformer. Also, measure how much current the power tubes are pulling with full signal and compare that to the maximum rating for the powere transformer HT.

I had an a Liverpool that i built with cloth covered wire 20ga from AES on the heaters, worked great for a couple months. One day when playing I heard a big "WHOOSH" and looked over to see smoke BILLOWING!!! out of the amp. Turned it off, opened it up and all the cloth had ignited. I don't know if something in the heater wiring shorted or what. I'm guessing so and it just heated up the wire to the point of igniting the cloth. It was wild! Smelled so acrid, it burned the lungs literally.

I would imagine some power resistors got burned up a little or something like that. Any resistors with burn marks?

[M Fowler]

A lot of guys have been using that PT for two stroke amps for quite some time without problems. Most order Weber Maggie kit which is a 2 Stroke.

Mark

[sixstringer]

Where you using any pedals? I only know of one 2Stroke where a transformer failed and it was being massively overdriven with a high gain pedal at the time. I have two 2Strokes, both are played dimed all the time with no issues. I've found that they are so dynamic and touch sensitive that no effects are needed and that using digital effects spoils the amazing picking dynamics.

[M Fowler]

I fried a Fender Champ back in the old days running an EH-LPB2 and big muf pi into the little sucker.

Man that was fun even the frying of the amp part.

[bclick]

No pedals. My ES-125 TCD was plugged straight in, turned up to about 3 or 4. The amp was chest level, about 3 feet behind me so feedback was a constant issue - trying to keep it as controlled sustain and not a runaway banshee!

I have pushed it much harder with other solid body guitars.

[tubeswell]

electrolytic caps can suffer from heat related failure. So even tho the filter caps 'look okay' they might act differently when they get hot.

But if you had smoke then something was burning. Have you tried powering it up on the bench (with a dimmer first) and then taking some voltages?

[bclick]

I replaced the Weber W022772 power transformer with an Allen TP25, which is billed as an "Upgrade Power Transformer for BF/SF Champ™, VibroChamp™, Bronco™, and Princeton".

I played 2 sets last weekend without smoke or loss of power and will try again this weekend. It sounds like a might be a tad brighter - or it could have been the Mountain Dew instead of rum n coke!