Bugera 333xl-212 big problem

[j@c3k]

Hello to all members. My first post on this nice forum.

My amp Bugera 333xl-212 stopped working couple of days ago. I found an issue with a power connector so I'd like yous all know about Bugera quality.

only one question I have: What's causing that problem?

Hope you'll find it helpful.

[Enzo]

That's a burnt up Molex pin, can happen to anyone, not just Bugera. I Bet that pin carries heater supply. I might polish the male pin and remove and replace the female pin. I would use a trifurcon pin instead of the one-side pin in there now. Alternatively, one could snip off the connector and hard wire the wires to the male pins.

If it was still under warranty, that would be covered. Is it?

[j@c3k]

Still under warranty, but the hassle with online shops ( takes about 3 weeks to get that sorted). Thanks for your post!

[oc disorder]

So the Bugera's buggered ?
Always wanted to say that !
S'pose Behringer would be similar to Hyacinth Bucket in the old English comedy
"Keeping Up Appearances" where she insists her name is pronounced "Bouquet"
I s'pose they pronounce that Boogerea
Had 2 Mesa's (with their valves fitted) do that.
Was the heater supply.
Just hard wired the heater supply to the board.

[jrfrond]

Between a rock and a hard place. If your amp is under warranty, you will void it by hardwiring the connector.

As Enzo said, Bugera amps have no corner on burnt Molex connectors. We replace them in so many pieces of gear that we purchased the crimp tools and GOLD-PLATED Molex replacement connectors for the shop a long time ago. Why gold-plated??? Because the cheap tin-plated connectors tend to build up resistance and then burn under high-current loads. Gold is much more reliable, but you will not see it at the manufacturer's level in most gear.

[Enzo]

If you are not already, John, look up the Molex trifurcon pins for the 156 size connectors. Grips the male on three sides. Much more reliable for high current. I would assume they sell them in gold finish as well.


And I don;t know where you are, but my Bugeras authorized shop in Lansing Michigan won;t take 3 weeks.

[j@c3k]

Thanks again for all your help guys. I live in Ireland and got Bugera online from Germany so that's why it will take about 3 weeks. I better look for the parts you guys describe on this thread. I'll keep you posted with my work results.

[oc disorder]

I suggest you check the Behringer website.
They have an exchange program in Europe.

Should your BEHRINGER product develop a defect that falls under the BEHRINGER warranty and occurs during the warranty period, we will replace your defective product with a brand new unit!
Many BEHRINGER Retailers are participating in this one-for-one Exchange Program. Even our Retailers who do not participate can help you benefit from our exchange service

http://www.behringer.com/05_support/...e.cfm?lang=eng

1. Take your defective unit to a BEHRINGER Retailer that participates in our new Exchange Program.
2. To show that the unit is covered under the warranty, remember to bring your invoice.
3. If the BEHRINGER warranty applies, you can replace the defective unit with a new one.
It is that easy! Click here to find a BEHRINGER Retailer that participates in our new Exchange Program.
If it is inconvenient to organise warranty service through a retailer, you may also contact our support staff.
In this case, please use our Online Support or give us a call and ask for warranty service. Please provide the following data:
1. Product name
2. Serial number & data code
3. Date of purchase
4. Retailer name
5. Detailed description of the problem

BEHRINGER Great Britain / Ireland
Phone: +49 2154 9206 4144 Fax: +49 2154 9206 4199

Otherwise give ProLine Audio a call or an e-mail.

Pro Line Audio Limited
Thornwick Barns
Cuddington
Malpas
SY14 7EL
(+44) 01948 860360
service(@)prolineaudio.co.uk

They are listed as Bugura/Behringer UK/Ireland agents.

I'm sure seeing there will be 2 way freight charges to Germany it can be sorted more efficently.
If you void the warranty as Enzo and jrfrond quite rightly say and there are further problems those 3 weeks may seem insignificant.

Let us know how you go.

After all there's the "Luck of the Irish"

[Gregg]

Hi,

Some more pictures of the inside would be appreciated.

[j@c3k]

Hello again.
I've got my amp back from Germany after 4 weeks waiting and I'm quite happy. Online shop organized UPS collecion and delivery back to Ireland for free. They got it fixed with authorized repair shop. Didn't have a look inside yet but sounds and plays good.

[oc disorder]

Ahh all that ends well....Good ole' German efficiency, glad it worked out.

[beitzey]

hi i,m new to this site and it sound like somebody might be able to help me.Haven,t long had this amp cause i normally use a Sans Amp psa-1.Thought it would be nice to play threw some valves again and it was for a week or two. Tried to turn it on one day and lights come on but no sound.Check the fuse at the back its fine but haven,t yet pulled it apart to inspect.Any body got any ideas Cheers

[Enzo]

Hi beitzey, welcome to the forum.

May I suggest starting a new thread for your amp. Adding it onto the end of another will get you less notice.

Very likely an internal fuse ha blown.

[jt733]

My amp died today, and I found this link about the power lead burning thru the clip... Sure enough- I can take the exact picture- the lead melted thru the plastic, and I'm not getting any power to the male end- Now what !! Has anyone found any other damage from this- do I need to pull the whole board, or can I just hard wire the lead to the post?? 18 months old- and probably less than 200 hours on it- No gig- No smoke, No pets- just a few and far between hours of playing Petrucci

[bluesfreak]

Solder/hardwire it to the terminal post, the molex connector is plainly underrated...

[Enzo]

Standard service procedure on any BUgera amps that have not been direct soldered at the factory is to clip off the Molex connector and solder the wires on the pins direct. The Molex connector is underrated for the heater current on the transformer connector. Factory service bulletin to that effect.

[iamomega]

Hi everybody,
mine died too (6262) - the same problem. I had an amptech solder it and the amp stage works again, but now the sound is a different one: it is very microphonic with very strong feedback. The amp is useless. What could be problem and what do I have to do? Could the tubes have been damaged? Do I have to retube the whole amp or just the preamp tubes or the 6l6s? Retubing would cost me something around 120 euro . But it would be the better case if it´d solve my problem. I hope it is not something more serious. I don´t know what to do, please help.
Greetz
Rado

[chipprogr]

Simple problem - and fix. you have a preamp tube that simply doesnt "behave" well in a high gain stage. You can isolate the tube by turning on the amp with access to the tubes and turn up the volume to a point just before it starts to squeal. thump the tubes gently with your fingernail and the microphonic one will stand out like a sore thumb. You can either change out just the 1 tube, or rotate it to a non critical other tube socket.

Good Luck- Eric

[Sloan]

This is common anywhere your sending high voltage/current through a molex, it's just not a good idea. Your best bet is to cut off the connector, unsolder the pins from the board and solder the wires in their respective places on the board. Be careful, all the heat generated when the molex failed can cause the tracings on the board to lift up a bit.

Here's a pic of a Bugera 333xl I just did this too, looks sloppier than it is.

[pittsville]

It's on the little board that the power cord plugs into.

The amp died. I went to check the molex connector and it had already been bypassed by the factory.

I took the little circuit board off that the power cord plugs into, and noticed that a component appeared to be missing. I shook the chassis and the part fell out from under the main board. It's a round green thing. There are a few of them on that board. This one was R3.

How they managed to make two bad solder joints on one component is beyond me. I soldered it back and and it started working again.

[Enzo]

The part got hot and weakened the solder.

[pittsville]

I believe it did. I read up on that part, and it's supposed to heat up as part of it's function.

There wasn't a whole lot of solder on either side of it, for something with leads as big as the part had.

The soldered side of the board faces up, so maybe it might be a good idea for anyone working on the molex connector to take a look at the little board and see if any of the solder joints look suspicious while they have the chassis out of the cabinet.

This amp is only a little over a month old, and I was disappointed at first to see that the factory had already bypassed the molex connector, by soldering the wires directly to the pin and heatshrinking the joint, so I knew I probably had another problem.

I didn't see the thermistor at first because it had slid under the main circuit board. I sure didn't expect to find anything like that but I'm glad I did.

[Enzo]

They are not the only people who have thermistors fall off.

We are instructed to hard wire those Molex connectors on any Bugera amp we see. They hard wire them at the factory. The early ones used the connector and ther were too many failures. Don;t be disappointed, that direct wiring is a good sign. it is an engineering change, not a repair.

[pittsville]

I was only disappointed about the direct wiring because I was hoping that the problem with the dead amp would be the molex connector!

And I was glad that the thermistor fell completely out, because otherwise it could have been an intermittent problem that came and went at the worst times, and I might never have found it.

I'm not complaining. We love the Bugera 333XL. I posted this so other guys who have problems would have something to look for if their molex wasn't burned, or was already bypassed, and the amp still didn't work.

[Enzo]

Actually of you had posted that your amp completely lost electrical power intermittantly, that thermistor is the first thing I would have suggested. I look at those on any amp that uses them. And that is the most common warranty repair I do to those amps.