Fender BJ Warranty

monabri

I see Fender introduced a 2 year warranty on their amps from 2017. 

I bought my amp in 2016 and am struggling to find out if the warranty was for 5 years like in the US and Canada. 

grungebob

Best ask fender. 

I take it you need to call on the warranty?

sev112

I thought it was only 1 year in Uk.  

monabri

Yeah, I bought in in 2016 and....didn't use it..well, perhaps  no more than 5 hrs total (probably less). recently I thought I'd use it. It crapped out on me - one day it was fine, the next it sounded raspy and the volume was "low". I swapped out all valves (matched EL84s - new) and 12AX7s  (from a bassbreaker 45) to no avail.  Not very impressed with Fenders BJ amp to be honest. 

RiftAmps

IIRC Fender UK warranty has been 2 years for a long time now. Calling @MattFGBI ?

monabri said:

Yeah, I bought in in 2016 and....didn't use it..well, perhaps  no more than 5 hrs total (probably less). recently I thought I'd use it. It crapped out on me - one day it was fine, the next it sounded raspy and the volume was "low". I swapped out all valves (matched EL84s - new) and 12AX7s  (from a bassbreaker 45) to no avail.  Not very impressed with Fenders BJ amp to be honest. 

I bet R47 (2k2 2w) has blown. Will need replacing to get the amp working again.

I'm only 1 hour south of Birminhgam if you want me to repair it.

MattFGBI

Yes it’s been a 2 year warranty for some time now. Excluding the valves which are generally 90 days.  

If you’d like it inspected send me a message and I’ll see what can be arranged. Just bear in mind everything is taking a bit longer than usual due to the current situation. 

monabri

Both the R35 and R36 ( each 100 ohm, flameproof, 0.5W) had blown. Having checked the caps had discharged I tested all the resistors and found that these two were blown. I replaced them and all is fine. 

( first time I've repaired an amp so pretty pleased with myself). 

ICBM

monabri said:

Both the R35 and R36 ( each 100 ohm, flameproof, 0.5W) had blown. Having checked the caps had discharged I tested all the resistors and found that these two were blown. I replaced them and all is fine. 

( first time I've repaired an amp so pretty pleased with myself). 

Those resistors being blown won't be the cause of the fault - they're the 'virtual centre tap' for the filament supply and if they're not present you just get more noise, not low volume - they are just the symptom.

If they have burned out that indicates a high-voltage short to the filament supply. It's most likely one of the power valves - if you've replaced them, that's good - this sort of fault can be intermittent, and if you haven't replaced them and it comes back it will blow the two new resistors.

Also have a good look at the valve PCB for arc spots like this...



... although I don't think that will be the cause here, they normally cause a short to the cathode trace (as here) and can then set the board on fire!