My Fender PRRI has died...

Gagaryn

My PRRI stopped working earlier today, no power light and no sound - completely dead. I've tried changing the fuse and changing the power lead, even changed the bulb all without joy. All valves are seated correctly. Any ideas what I can try - I can't imagine it's a valve problem as their is no power to the bulb?? Grateful for your wisdom. :-)

SunDevil

I'm no expert, but it sounds very power supply related and there will be more than one fuse in the chain - plug and amp will both be fused for example.

Over and above that, I'd be using a DMM with care to check for continuity and following the signal path

Gagaryn

I think your right about the power supply relatedness. Both fuses have been checked - all fine. Not sure I'm confident enough to check the continuity through the signal path on a notionally live amp though, I'll probably kill myself!

Sassafras

If my Princeton didn't work I'd probably kill myself too!

thecolourbox

SunDevil;980331" said:

I'm no expert, but it sounds very power supply related and there will be more than one fuse in the chain - plug and amp will both be fused for example.

Over and above that, I'd be using a DMM with care to check for continuity and following the signal path

I'm not sure a modulated delay pedal would help here

Danny1969

Not familiar with that amp but I've seen the switch go faulty on some similar models

Gagaryn

Thing is it was working fine - then I answered the phone, when I hung up it was no longer working. Very strange.

richardhomer

Gagaryn;980526" said:

Thing is it was working fine - then I answered the phone, when I hung up it was no longer working. Very strange.

Have you tried ringing the person back?

Could be worth a try....

Gagaryn

Have a lol! I could ring him back and steel his PRRI!

Gagaryn

Steel?? Steal even!

RiftAmps

Could be a number of things but if a) the fuses are definitely OK and b) the power cord is good then it's time for a trip to a tech. I've had to replace many PTs on these with open primary windings.

ICBM

Is it under warranty? If so, contact @MattFGBI.

If not, PM me.

Gagaryn

Presuming warranty is a year? If so its out of warranty, I've had it 2 or 3 years.

ICBM

RiftAmps said:

I've had to replace many PTs on these with open primarily windings.

Could it be a thermal fuse problem? The schematic shows one.

Of course getting to it may not be easy even if that's the cause...

MattFGBI

2 year warranty. Check your receipt and let me know. 

Gagaryn

Definitely more than 2 years old unfortunately. I guess it might be about three years old now.

Despite never having left my living room, never mind being gigged, this hasn't been a particularly reliable amp -

• initially random volume drops that valve swaps didn't help (Guitarguitar eventually swapped the amp for another),
• then the usual rattling and farting that these are known for (not a big problem when playing at home, improved with some fiddling and draft excluder),
• then a dead reverb tank (replaced with a TAD tank)
• and now a completely dead amp and the possibility of it being PT related! 

Not a particularly happy tale to tell and definitely not the best £1000ish I've ever spent.

jpfamps

Most likely to be the fuse in the filament supply.

The jewel light runs of the filament supply so if this is blown the amp light won't come on either.

Of course having the amp wired to 230 rather than 240 VAC doesn't help.......

ICBM

jpfamps said:

Most likely to be the fuse in the filament supply.

Hopefully. I'll be having a look at it later this week and will update.

Gagaryn

jpfamps said:

Most likely to be the fuse in the filament supply.

The jewel light runs of the filament supply so if this is blown the amp light won't come on either.

Of course having the amp wired to 230 rather than 240 VAC doesn't help.......

I rewired to 240v as soon as I got it, in the vain hop of avoiding this kind of issue. Fingers crossed it's an easy fix. Thanks to John et al for all your help with this.

keir

How would you go about changing the voltage to 240v? Is it a noticeable difference sound wise or is it a reliability thing?

ICBM

You need to swap two wires inside - they're attached with push-connectors so it's quite easy. It's for reliability, and doesn't affect the sound much.