Peavey Triple X- intermittent Crunch and Ultra problem

[Cody]

Hey Guys I'm new to the forum and I hope maybe someone can help me troubleshoot this problem

My Peavey Triple X sounds muffled and distorted only on the Crunch and Ultra channels. There's a serious lack of volume and "disconnected dirty contact type sound" I have talked to the guys at Peavey and we have ruled out the effects loop, dirty contacts on input jacks and tube sockets. I talked to Gene at Peavey two days ago and he suggested it may be the k3 relay, but I'm not totally sure how to test that relay. I almost forgot to mention that the problem went away on its own twice but only briefly.

I have some basic electronics experience but I'm no expert, I would really appreciate any advice you guys could give me.

Thanks- Cody

[soundguruman]

Hey Guys I'm new to the forum and I hope maybe someone can help me troubleshoot this problem

My Peavey Triple X sounds muffled and distorted only on the Crunch and Ultra channels. There's a serious lack of volume and "disconnected dirty contact type sound" I have talked to the guys at Peavey and we have ruled out the effects loop, dirty contacts on input jacks and tube sockets. I talked to Gene at Peavey two days ago and he suggested it may be the k3 relay, but I'm not totally sure how to test that relay. I almost forgot to mention that the problem went away on its own twice but only briefly.

I have some basic electronics experience but I'm no expert, I would really appreciate any advice you guys could give me.

Thanks- Cody

The thing to do is to put a socket on the board so you can pull the relay and swap it with a good one.
(Enzo hates sockets)
The thing about relay intermittent is that you really never know if it's the relay contacts or bad solder connections, so you kinda attack both at once.
It's hard to "test" an intermittent relay, cause even a good relay will drop out if its banged on hard enough. Mechanical relays are famous for lack of resistance to vibrations, etc...
So, what I would do personally, is socket the relay pull it and swap it with a new one...
also at the same time, re-solder the circuit board.
Then put it back together.
I would hate to do this over and over so I would do both at once.
And...of course with a socket on the board, if the relay goes bad again, it's much easier to swap it out. (Enzo hates this idea.)
(maybe he hates sockets because it enables a totally inexperienced person to fix their own amplifier relay, etc...without paying a tech to unsolder it) we will never know.
However, the first time a tech will have to install the socket...that is something I do not recommend you try yourself.

[Cody]

@Soundguruman, thanks for your help, that makes alot of sense. I'll give it a try and let ya know if it worked.

[soundguruman]

That's just how I do it-- cause everybody has a different way, but it works...

[Jazz P Bass]

Or jumper the contacts.(as a test)

[Enzo]

(maybe he hates sockets because it enables a totally inexperienced person to fix their own amplifier relay, etc...without paying a tech to unsolder it) we will never know.

No, dickhead, I don't like sockets because they reduce the reliability of the amp. If the inexperienced tech can solder in a socket, he can solder in a relay. If he has to hire a tech to do it then he is paying. The likelihood of repeated failures in the same relay is remarkably low. If I were concerned for techs not getting paid, I sure wouldn;t be donating thousands of dollars worth of free assistance on this board each year. Nor would I spend the time to correct your mistaken suggestions, I'd let them result in even more work for local techs.

[Enzo]

(maybe he hates sockets because it enables a totally inexperienced person to fix their own amplifier relay, etc...without paying a tech to unsolder it) we will never know.

No, dickhead, I don't like sockets because they reduce the reliability of the amp. If the inexperienced tech can solder in a socket, he can solder in a relay. If he has to hire a tech to do it then he is paying. The likelihood of repeated failures in the same relay is remarkably low. If I were concerned for techs not getting paid, I sure wouldn;t be donating thousands of dollars worth of free assistance on this board each year. Nor would I spend the time to correct your mistaken suggestions, I'd let them result in even more work for local techs.

[Cody]

Success!! I figured before I changed out the relay I might as well test the solder joints by re-doing them, and that was it! I should have thought to do that first, thank you guys for responding I really appreciate it. I'm rockin again

[soundguruman]

Success!! I figured before I changed out the relay I might as well test the solder joints by re-doing them, and that was it! I should have thought to do that first, thank you guys for responding I really appreciate it. I'm rockin again

Yeah, it figures, if you re-solder it and it still crackles, it's the relays...
but until you do it's really hard to tell which one it is.