HUGE rookie mistake 18-watt heaters

[skip62]

I did know better and thought I had but didn't double check. I was redoing heater wires for a friend and had the amp plugged in. I was pulling the last of the wire out and it hit the power, popped the house circuit breaker. I redid the heater wiring, turned it on for 5 seconds and heard a crackling noise from the PT. Decided I better ask someone with more experience what to next. I need to order a new PT don't I?

Thanks for any help. I will always double check in the future.

[Mars Amp Repair]

OUCH!..yeah, if the xformer sounds like it's got liguid bubbling in it or crackling...yeah, shot.
It also would probably be drawing more current than is should, but apparently not enough to blow the fuse... shorting the 6v secondary to the ac primary...Yeah...very bahhhd.

Hopefully the fil secondary was not also connected to the tubes at the same time, or all their filiaments are probably cooked, too. glen

[skip62]

Yup, that's what I thought. I already ordered another one. I wanted experience, just not this much this fast...lol Oh well, I'm unharmed and won't make that mistake again.

Thanks,

[Mars Amp Repair]

It's these moments over time that ultimately make us the 'experienced ones'...glen

[Enzo]

We've all made these mistakes. But it points out why safety is not some cornball thing teachers yammer about. Always unplug an amp when you are working in it.

[skip62]

You bet, safety is no joke. I was lucky, could have been much worse. That's what I get after trying to this in an extremely tired state, just got anxious. I'll be triple checking from now on. Others, please learn from my mistake.

[Enzo]

We even have a rule here: if you are taking cold medication, you don't work on tube amps.

[skip62]

Good rule, I'll make sure to abide by. It makes perfect sense. Thanks.

[Don Symes]

Two more rules to keep your new hobby from stopping your heart:

2) When working in a running tube amp, always keep at least one hand in a pocket.

3) When working on a running tube amp, keep the guitar far enough away from the amp that you cannot possibly touch both at once.

[Jag]

Add this personal check list to the rules.

I'm Safe!

[skip62]

Great stuff, thank you very much, I'm too old to die now...lol. I knew about keeping 1 hand in the pocket, and to add it's better to keep the left hand in the pocket. Left hand to through feet = through heart as well.

Ok, I've done more reading thinking(never good). I realized that the the noise could have been coming from the cooper cap rectifier. So I put in a tube, turned it on, no crackling. Put the rest of the tubes in powered it up, no crackling. It appears no damage. I plugged the guitar in and it makes noise. I still have all the original problems, but I'll start another post. The only thing that might be different is a weird high oscillation. It's fine on the low notes, but the higher the note the more oscillation. Could this still be PT related from the short? It may have been there before, but I'm not sure.

Thanks again for all the help.

[Mars Amp Repair]

Frankly if your power transformer had any damage, chances are it would at the very least get hot rather quickly. Problems sound more like occurring for some other reason...glen

[skip62]

Thanks Glen. The transformer doesn't get hot the 5 watt resistor sitting on top of the filter cap does though. I started another thread with problems the amp has.

Thanks again for your help guys.