68 Custom Princeton Reverb - 240v mod?

Alex2678

Thanks @ICBM so if I open it up and look for white/black and black and swap them round on the board? And it’s the colours that are relevant rather than the location (p12/p2 etc)? It does hum like it’s meditating so I’d love to be able to reduce that a bit. 
Am I also right in thinking that if it’s unplugged and I’m careful to touch nothing else I don’t need to write my will beforehand? 

fandango

Alex2678 said:

Thanks @ICBM so if I open it up and look for white/black and black and swap them round on the board? And it’s the colours that are relevant rather than the location (p12/p2 etc)? It does hum like it’s meditating so I’d love to be able to reduce that a bit. 
Am I also right in thinking that if it’s unplugged and I’m careful to touch nothing else I don’t need to write my will beforehand? 

If you could just leave your amp and guitars to tFB, just in case. 

ICBM

Alex2678 said:

Thanks @ICBM so if I open it up and look for white/black and black and swap them round on the board? And it’s the colours that are relevant rather than the location (p12/p2 etc)? It does hum like it’s meditating so I’d love to be able to reduce that a bit. 
Am I also right in thinking that if it’s unplugged and I’m careful to touch nothing else I don’t need to write my will beforehand? 

Yes, it's the colours that are important. With this amp it should be fairly easy - there are only three primary wires, violet, white/black and black. With the Hotrods and other amps with more options you need to be careful to check for coloured stripes on the black and white wires, they can be hard to see.

Yes, make certain the amp is unplugged and you'll be fine - the connectors can sometimes be hard to remove by hand though, you may need to pull them with pliers.

Alex2678

fandango said:

Alex2678 said:

Thanks @ICBM so if I open it up and look for white/black and black and swap them round on the board? And it’s the colours that are relevant rather than the location (p12/p2 etc)? It does hum like it’s meditating so I’d love to be able to reduce that a bit. 
Am I also right in thinking that if it’s unplugged and I’m careful to touch nothing else I don’t need to write my will beforehand? 

If you could just leave your amp and guitars to tFB, just in case. 

Done. And the big caps taste the best is that right?

Alex2678

ICBM said:

Yes, it's the colours that are important. With this amp it should be fairly easy - there are only three primary wires, violet, white/black and black. With the Hotrods and other amps with more options you need to be careful to check for coloured stripes on the black and white wires, they can be hard to see.

Yes, make certain the amp is unplugged and you'll be fine - the connectors can sometimes be hard to remove by hand though, you may need to pull them with pliers.

Thanks I’ll give that a go, really appreciate the help. 

Alex2678

Done, easy, slightly quieter, wisdom upon you all. Thanks guys

jacklawtey

Big old bump, is it worth doing this on my 68 DRRI even living in France (and soon Sweden)? Unsure if the voltage differs much between UK and the rest of the EU. 

soma1975

no france is 230v

ICBM

soma1975 said:

no france is 230v

France and the rest of continental Europe is still on 220V. For the same reason as the UK is still on 240... nothing really changed, they just widened the tolerance and called it 230V.

You can actually set the amp for 220V - you would need to use the plain white wire instead of the black - but I wouldn’t since leaving it set for 230 means the amp will run cooler, and if you do happen to be in an area where the voltage is a bit higher (it does vary) it won’t matter.

PonchoGreg

And bumping this thread yet again... Was looking to do this to my 68 custom DRRI but am a bit confused by the "swap white and black/white between P2 and P8"....

If I look at the schematic on the service manual, this would suggest that black (not white) and black/white should be swapped around to go from 230V to 240V??

For anyone who's done the mod, can you confirm if you swapped white rather than black, regardless of the connection name? thanks!

ICBM

The connections differ on different amps. Always check the schematic - or check with someone who has it - with the Deluxe it's white/black and black.

The correct tap for 240V is always the one at the end of the winding.

PonchoGreg

Cheers as ever @ICBM ;

Philtre

Bumping this with a question...

If you're in the US then surely you have the same problem if the connectors are set to 100V on that schematic? Isn't the US on 110V or 120V?

Keefy

Philtre said:

Bumping this with a question...

If you're in the US then surely you have the same problem if the connectors are set to 100V on that schematic? Isn't the US on 110V or 120V?

Yes you would. From the many tech videos I've watched on YouTube, the USA's nominal 110V is typically 117V these days.

ICBM

Philtre said:

If you're in the US then surely you have the same problem if the connectors are set to 100V on that schematic? Isn't the US on 110V or 120V?

The US model is not equipped with the same transformer as the export model, it's a single 120V winding. This is because the US/Canada market is as big as the rest of the world put together, so it saves quite a lot of money by using a cheaper transformer.

Keefy

ICBM said:

Philtre said:

If you're in the US then surely you have the same problem if the connectors are set to 100V on that schematic? Isn't the US on 110V or 120V?

The US model is not equipped with the same transformer as the export model, it's a single 120V winding. This is because the US/Canada market is as big as the rest of the world put together, so it saves quite a lot of money by using a cheaper transformer.

In that case, I change my answer to 'No you wouldn't - see what ICBM said'.

/trigger happy

Philtre

ICBM said:

Philtre said:

If you're in the US then surely you have the same problem if the connectors are set to 100V on that schematic? Isn't the US on 110V or 120V?

The US model is not equipped with the same transformer as the export model, it's a single 120V winding. This is because the US/Canada market is as big as the rest of the world put together, so it saves quite a lot of money by using a cheaper transformer.

Ah, cheers!

jpfamps

ICBM said:

soma1975 said:

no france is 230v

France and the rest of continental Europe is still on 220V. For the same reason as the UK is still on 240... nothing really changed, they just widened the tolerance and called it 230V.

You can actually set the amp for 220V - you would need to use the plain white wire instead of the black - but I wouldn’t since leaving it set for 230 means the amp will run cooler, and if you do happen to be in an area where the voltage is a bit higher (it does vary) it won’t matter.

I think most of continental Europe is actually 230 VAC.

Italy is the only country I'm aware that is 220 VAC (although of course officially 230!!). Apparently it's pretty well-regulated too.

I've seen a couple of Brunetti amps where the 450 VDC main filter cap had kept blowing and on inspection they were wired for 220 VAC. Fortunately there was also a 240 VAC winding (and we have 500 VDC caps.....).

SunDevil

Dusting off an old thread

Ive just picked up a 68 Custom Pro reverb and I’m looking to swap it to 240v

Would anyone be able to point me to the schematic for this one? ..there’s nothing in the manual and I’ve not been able to find one online ..likely the same as for the 68 Deluxe, I guess, but want to be sure

..it’s also a hissy little bigger (I’m running the volume between 6-7) so I’m hoping this might help a tad?

SunDevil

..and Fender won’t share the schematic with me…