Anyone repair reverb tanks ?

[Amp Kat]

I'm thinking what goes wrong with these mostly is the input transformers fry. Anyone know where to get the rivoted assymbly for the pans and does anybody repair them ? I'm getting 1 ohm across the black and green on bad ones and 8 to 28 ohms on the good ones. Any thoughts ?

[stokes]

Never heard of anybody repairing them.Trying to solder those fine wire leads looks like it could be a nightmare.Never even seen parts offered by anyone,including Accutronics,maybe try contacting them.Heres a link to their site: http://www.accutronicsreverb.com/

[bluesfreak]

AFAIK Accutronics does repairs on their products so if it is an Accutronic Reverb I would contact them..

[techineer]

I would expect that by the time you pack and ship a tank back to Accutronics (or Belton) and add their repair cost and return shipping, you would have spent more than the cost of a new tank.

If you are into doing it yourself, you could also try to collect bad tanks and use the good transformers (usually only one goes bad) to make a good tank from two bad ones. (The rivets would be a problem, though.)

At one time I had a few dozen tanks here, and talked to Cal at Accutronics about sending to them for repair. After our visit, I scrapped them all.... not worth the hassle.

BTW, I hear that Belton has bought out Accutronics.

[Amp Kat]

yeah Accutronics is now Belton and I've talked to several techs in the retail amp business and they all tell me the same thing. The new rohs trannys for
1.) don't sound as good as the old ones
2.) don't hold up and are very unreliable
3.) just plain suck

This has causes most distributors to quit handeling them and telling everyone they are out when they really don't want to lose money on shipping and replacements.

I redid some springs today and it worked and would have no problem with the rivot part. Was wondering how to get the trannys or extra tanks that are bad. The only problem is the tranny that goes bad is the input one so I'd have a bunch of useless tanks with bad input trannys. Also looks like the trannys are built onto the whole assemble and on to the plastic piece.

Don't know if you guys have been watching but these tanks are starting to get a bit pricey and a tank that used to be $15 is now @45 so it's something to consider.

[drewl]

It's annoying, but I've been able to swap the transformers out, and with a microscope sometimes peel back the tape and fix broken wires.

[Prairie Dawg]

Originally Posted by Amp Kat

yeah Accutronics is now Belton

Right you are.

http://www.reuters.com/article/press...09+PRN20090512

Any bets as to how long it'll be before that building in Cary, Illinois is empty?

[Alex R]

I've tried a few times to fix them by combining parts from dead ones. I find the tricky bit is getting the straight wire at the end of the spring through the little rubber damper to the point at the end of the little copper tube where it's soldered. Well actually it's all tricky bits. I had some success but not enough to stop me ordering new ones from Allparts.

The Belton thing is a bit of a worry. Good news for "Randy,
Scott, and Ken(co-owners)" though I bet.

[Enzo]

When I worked at the music store years ago, we had a pile of transducers, apparently from Fender. God knows how old. I drilled out the rivet,and replaced a couple, but seriously, at $60 an hour labor, how long can I screw around with it?

I remember doing that on a warranty, submitted the claim to Fender, who said, "WHAAA???" We aren;t paying for that, just swap the pan.

I just looked at AES, and the basic 4 series pans were $26.95, with a few still at $19.95. The 9 series were like $2 more. Not as cheap as before, but still cheaper than your $45. And if you deal with their CEDist side, they will be cheaper.

[52 Bill]

Amp Kat: What tanks are you working on? Some tanks will normally have a 1-2 ohm input coil resistance.

Enzo: I think Fender stopped selling the tank transducers in the early '70s. I remember replacing those when the little metal wires with the ferrite beads and spring hooks would break off. I think the toughest part was finding a brass nut and bolt small enough to replace the drilled out rivet.

[Enzo]

Oh the rivet was never an issue, I always have had a selection of pop rivets and a rivet gun about the shop.

[Amp Kat]

Originally Posted by Enzo

When I worked at the music store years ago, we had a pile of transducers, apparently from Fender. God knows how old. I drilled out the rivet,and replaced a couple, but seriously, at $60 an hour labor, how long can I screw around with it?

I remember doing that on a warranty, submitted the claim to Fender, who said, "WHAAA???" We aren;t paying for that, just swap the pan.

I just looked at AES, and the basic 4 series pans were $26.95, with a few still at $19.95. The 9 series were like $2 more. Not as cheap as before, but still cheaper than your $45. And if you deal with their CEDist side, they will be cheaper.

CE,Majic and Mojo are all out of stock because of the inconsistency and frequent returns they have to deal with. They will probably reorder when Belton straightens it all out.

[Amp Kat]

Originally Posted by 52 Bill

Amp Kat: What tanks are you working on? Some tanks will normally have a 1-2 ohm input coil resistance.

Enzo: I think Fender stopped selling the tank transducers in the early '70s. I remember replacing those when the little metal wires with the ferrite beads and spring hooks would break off. I think the toughest part was finding a brass nut and bolt small enough to replace the drilled out rivet.

The 8 / .8 ohm and yes I did find some good trannys that read about 1.2 ohms but anything under 1 ohm was bad. I haven't found a bad output tranny yet on these tanks.

[Amp Kat]

Originally Posted by Alex R

I've tried a few times to fix them by combining parts from dead ones. I find the tricky bit is getting the straight wire at the end of the spring through the little rubber damper to the point at the end of the little copper tube where it's soldered. Well actually it's all tricky bits. I had some success but not enough to stop me ordering new ones from Allparts.

The Belton thing is a bit of a worry. Good news for "Randy,
Scott, and Ken(co-owners)" though I bet.

I went thru all of that as well and you are right sir that it is a big PITA. I'm to the point where I'll swap the transducer plastic part and maybe a transformer but inserting those wires thru the rubber insert and thru that tiny hole is also another PITA I'm not doing anymore.