Guess the tube head "Brand" of my defective power transformer? Bought NEW August 2013

[TubeAmpStudent]

Perhaps I might be able to turn my problem into an entertaining thread: can anyone guess the company/brand that has not honored the warranty on their 100 watt tube amp with the power transformer in the attached picture?

Here is a hint: their entire "customer service department" appears to be one overworked person who is not familiar with tube amps. I actually feel sorry for him that he works for a company that sells defective products and makes him deny warranty service requests.

The issue looks fairly obvious to me, but the amp still does not work and the company does not care that they sold me a defective product that is clearly under warranty (I followed all of the steps in the owner's manual in an attempt to solve the problem).

I'm not an expert and I would certainly appreciate any suggestions on what to do next (if you think the answer is "throw the whole amp in the trash", please don't hesitate to express your opinion)

Thank you!

[The Dude]

I see a wire sticking out of the transformer. Doesn't mean it's bad. Have you actually tested the transformer? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see a problem a little heat shrink or electrical tape couldn't cure here. What exactly are your symptoms and why do you think the transformer is bad?

[nosaj]

Gotta say I love the solder job on that wire

[Enzo]

There is an untold story here.

Some thoughts:

What warranty guide tells you to open up the amp and inspect the transformer? Most warranties are pretty specific that you don;t go inside the amp unless you are "qualified service personnel."

Expectations. Was it you who diagnosed the bad transformer and are expecting them to send you a new transformer? I am an authorized service center for many brands, and all the companies I know will direct you to get your defective product to an authorized service center of some sort. it is the service center's job to do the repair. No one I know will send out "warranty" parts for the consumer to install, especially ones that run on 500 volts. It would be two very different things if you decided it needed some part intending to repair it versus a warranty center inspecting the amp and deciding the warranty did not apply.

Someone has to decide the warranty does not cover something, and that someone has to be either the company itself or a service station. Most warranties tell you that working on it yourself will or "may" void the warranty. As a service center, over the last 28 years, I can think of only maybe a couple times I denied warranty to someone, and those were egregious cases. As a service center I am the one who makes the call in the company's name. Very few times have I ever been overturned, and every one of those times it was a mistake I made

The factories want you happy with their product. I now and then have to call the factories and ask for flexibility. Like the warranty expired a week ago, can I go ahead and cover it. They always do. Three months later, no, but a few days, of course they cover it. For that matter I recall a time I called Peavey with an amp a year out of warranty. The welded on mounting plate for the power transformer had broken off. I told them there was no sign of abuse, and I didn;t feel this failure should have happened. Peavey agreed with me and sent a replacement transformer which we installed under warrranty anyway.

Don't be coy, just tell us the make and model of amp. Those of us in the business are all aware of the internal workings of all this.

The job of the customer service guy is to get your product serviced. he himself will not be doing that, and he will not usually waste his time and yours speculating what might have caused the failure. His job is to get you or your amp to the nearest service center or tell you where to ship it. He doesn't need to know how the amp works inside, any more than the receptionist at the dentist office needs to know how to do root canals, she just schedules them.

As a service center, I can tell that someone has been in an amp, and I don't care. It could have been some other authorized agent or it could be the amp owner, but as long as it isn;t involved in the failure, I ignore it. I also do recignize hack work, and if I see damaged circuit boards, parts hanging from their leads, etc, I then have cause to void the warranty. The way to do it is to take the amp to a warranty station and tell them the complaint. and STOP. Don;t tell them all the glorious technical work you did, don;t tell them you were inside it at all. We almost always give benefit of the doubt.

[TubeAmpStudent]

I see a wire sticking out of the transformer. Doesn't mean it's bad. Have you actually tested the transformer? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see a problem a little heat shrink or electrical tape couldn't cure here. What exactly are your symptoms and why do you think the transformer is bad?

It blew the 5 amp fuse in the power cord connector when we turned it on, and hasn't worked since. I went through the steps outlined in the warranty repair text of the owner's manual and after a few weeks finally got to the point of using heat shrink and electrical tape myself. No go. The transformer is blown. It blows the 5 amp slow blow ever time it is switched on, even with all outputs disconnected.

[TubeAmpStudent]

B-52 would not give me information for a local warranty service center and they did not want me to ship the head back to them, due to the cost of shipping.
It's a long loooong story of trying to deal with them that includes their customer service department being "closed" for days at a time and them claiming they didn't get my email, etc.

There is an untold story here.

Some thoughts:

What warranty guide tells you to open up the amp and inspect the transformer? Most warranties are pretty specific that you don;t go inside the amp unless you are "qualified service personnel."

Expectations. Was it you who diagnosed the bad transformer and are expecting them to send you a new transformer? I am an authorized service center for many brands, and all the companies I know will direct you to get your defective product to an authorized service center of some sort. it is the service center's job to do the repair. No one I know will send out "warranty" parts for the consumer to install, especially ones that run on 500 volts. It would be two very different things if you decided it needed some part intending to repair it versus a warranty center inspecting the amp and deciding the warranty did not apply.

Someone has to decide the warranty does not cover something, and that someone has to be either the company itself or a service station. Most warranties tell you that working on it yourself will or "may" void the warranty. As a service center, over the last 28 years, I can think of only maybe a couple times I denied warranty to someone, and those were egregious cases. As a service center I am the one who makes the call in the company's name. Very few times have I ever been overturned, and every one of those times it was a mistake I made

The factories want you happy with their product. I now and then have to call the factories and ask for flexibility. Like the warranty expired a week ago, can I go ahead and cover it. They always do. Three months later, no, but a few days, of course they cover it. For that matter I recall a time I called Peavey with an amp a year out of warranty. The welded on mounting plate for the power transformer had broken off. I told them there was no sign of abuse, and I didn;t feel this failure should have happened. Peavey agreed with me and sent a replacement transformer which we installed under warrranty anyway.

Don't be coy, just tell us the make and model of amp. Those of us in the business are all aware of the internal workings of all this.

The job of the customer service guy is to get your product serviced. he himself will not be doing that, and he will not usually waste his time and yours speculating what might have caused the failure. His job is to get you or your amp to the nearest service center or tell you where to ship it. He doesn't need to know how the amp works inside, any more than the receptionist at the dentist office needs to know how to do root canals, she just schedules them.

As a service center, I can tell that someone has been in an amp, and I don't care. It could have been some other authorized agent or it could be the amp owner, but as long as it isn;t involved in the failure, I ignore it. I also do recignize hack work, and if I see damaged circuit boards, parts hanging from their leads, etc, I then have cause to void the warranty. The way to do it is to take the amp to a warranty station and tell them the complaint. and STOP. Don;t tell them all the glorious technical work you did, don;t tell them you were inside it at all. We almost always give benefit of the doubt.

[The Dude]

It blew the 5 amp fuse in the power cord connector when we turned it on, and hasn't worked since. I went through the steps outlined in the warranty repair text of the owner's manual and after a few weeks finally got to the point of using heat shrink and electrical tape myself. No go. The transformer is blown. It blows the 5 amp slow blow ever time it is switched on, even with all outputs disconnected.

When you say it blows the fuse "with all outputs disconnected", are you referring to the transformer secondary?

If it is toast, you can find your nearest authorized service center here:

http://www.b-52pro.com/Service.html

[TubeAmpStudent]

When you say it blows the fuse "with all outputs disconnected", are you referring to the transformer secondary?

If it is toast, you can find your nearest authorized service center here:

B-52 Professional Authorized Service Centers

Sorry about giving cryptic information and not using all of the correct terminology. I guess trying to play a game of "guess that power transformer" was not entertaining.
To answer your question: yes, I believe I am referring to the transformer secondary. I followed directions regarding how to check a power transformer and I made sure to leave the connections to the power switch, voltage selector, and common ground connected. I had wires powering the circuit boards unplugged/disconnected and shielded from everything else.

I tried your link just now and the closest service center in my state would be several hours to drive and drop off. B-52 customer service in Huntington Park, California (the one person at their headquarters) sounded like he knew very little about tube amps: he initially said he would find information for a local service center for me, requested photos of my issue, did not return my calls for a week, then had the operator tell me he lost or did not receive my email with the photos, did not call me back again for a few days, and then said that I voided my warranty by sending him the picture of the power transformer that he requested. In addition, there were several times when I was put on hold for long extended periods of time because he is the only customer service person there. Also they not only had their phones off many times during "business hours", they were "closed" multiple days with recorded voice saying "the customer service department is closed today, April 16th, and tomorrow, April 17th. It will reopen during normal business hours on the 18th at 8am Pacific time. Our normal business hours are 8am to 4pm Pacific time." So I call at 8am Pacific time the next day and get this message "Our hours today are 8:30am to 4pm Pacific time. Please call back during that time." I then call at 8:30 am Pacific time." So I call at 8:30am Pacific time and I get the message "Our normal business hours are 9am to 4pm Pacific time, please call back during those hours." At this point, I'm wondering if I've lost my mind. I then call at 9am and I am put on hold. I could go on and on, but hopefully that is enough detail.

It's had to believe this is the same customer service department for Egnator, but that does appear to be true.

I should not have bought a new B-52 ATX-100 from Musicians Friend. Instead, I should have waited and purchased a higher quality tube head from a company that provides good service.

[The Dude]

I speak only for myself when saying this. I personally would not void your warranty if you simply opened up the amp and had a peek. For me it's common sense for someone to attempt to see if there's something simple wrong with the amp before paying outrageous shipping charges to send in a piece of gear. Maybe there's just a loose connector, blown fuse, etc. If, however, a customer opens up a warranty piece and poorly attempts a repair and, for instance, rips up some circuit board traces or does some poor soldering, etc., that is a different story. Your experience with this particular service center tells me that they are not quite "up to snuff".

Possibly there is someone on the boards here that is a B52 service center that can help you out? I will say that I've been inside numerous B52 amps and was rather impressed with the build quality vs. price. I really don't think they're all that bad, especially when you consider the price. It's certainly, IMO, worth getting fixed. If you choose to repair it yourself, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a transformer, although you'd have to pay for it. It won't be considered a warranty repair unless it's done by an authorized service center. Good luck with your quest!

[Enzo]

I am unclear still.

In the photo, I see a red, blue, and brown wires, which makes me think output transformer. Yet the above description sounds like we are discussing a power transformer.

When you say "with all outputs disconnected", what does that mean exactly? From a customer service perspective that MIGHT mean everything unplugged from the amp output - no speaker load. But then if we take it to mean power transformer, then "outputs" become secondaries, so I see high voltage and bias windings plus 6v and 5v heater circuits, all of which would have to be disconnected for tests. But back to output transformer, all the outputs there could mean the power tubes removed, or it could mean the wires were removed from the power tube sockets. Unless the transformer wires were unsoldered from the circuit or otherwise disconnected, then the flyback diodes are still there to fail. Certainly all the power tubes need to come out for test.

[The Dude]

In the photo, I see a red, blue, and brown wires, which makes me think output transformer. Yet the above description sounds like we are discussing a power transformer.

I initially thought the same thing. The white wire threw me and since we can't see the entire thing............ who knows......

[Leo_Gnardo]

From what I've seen of B-52's, and what you have to say about their so called "support", I'd have to say you have a disposable amp there. Find a rubbish bin big enough to fit, toss it in, and forget about it. And don't buy any more of them.

[J M Fahey]

Sorry but owner should have phoned/mailed B52 to ask which Service shop they suggest, send them a non working amp **no matter what the problem is** and in due time get it (or a replacement) back in due working order.
Failure description does not need to go beyond: "I turn it on, it blows the fuse" . Period.
Let them diagnose and handle it.
*IF* they do not honor the warranty then they are in the oven.

Buy your meesing with it (and admitting it, including proof such as a picture) allows them to deny service with just cause.

Won't even *comment* on soldering quality, lack/presence of insulation, etc. because that's irrelevant in this context.

[TubeAmpStudent]

Sorry but owner should have phoned/mailed B52 to ask which Service shop they suggest, send them a non working amp **no matter what the problem is** and in due time get it (or a replacement) back in due working order.
Failure description does not need to go beyond: "I turn it on, it blows the fuse" . Period.
Let them diagnose and handle it.
*IF* they do not honor the warranty then they are in the oven.

Buy your meesing with it (and admitting it, including proof such as a picture) allows them to deny service with just cause.

Won't even *comment* on soldering quality, lack/presence of insulation, etc. because that's irrelevant in this context.

Sorry but I did phone/email them and ask which service shop they suggest and they would not tell me. Their guitar amp website did not list ANY services centers and I did not know to look on their DJ equipment site to find a service center.
Welcome to B-52 Guitar Amplification

Also, I followed the directions in the ATX-100 Owner's Manual under the 2 year Warranty section:

NEVER RETURN THE ENTIRE CABINET - JUST THE DEFECTIVE COMPONENT. Identify and remove the defective component.
http://www.b-52stealthseries.com/manuals/ATX100.pdf

If I had tried to ship them my 60 pound Tube Head, they probably would have refused shipment. Or maybe they would have taken it, thrown it in the back for a few months, and then declared bankruptcy.
I don't know if this Monday morning quarterbacking stuff is useful.

The bottom line is, Musicians Friend sold me a new B-52 ATX-100 head that failed under Warranty and I spent countless hours trying to get it resolved.
I don't think they want to resolve any problems for anyone. As the other person above mentioned, they seem to be fine with selling disposable Tube Heads for $599.

To answer the question about the wires: wires on that side of the ATX-100 Power transformer go to the Main Power Switch and to the 115/230 Volt Selector. The Red, White, Blue, and Brown from that side of power transformer all go directly to the 115V/230V switch.

I guess I have to decide whether I'm going to seek out a new power transformer or take up Musicians Friend on their offer to cut me a sweet deal on a tube head from a reputable company.
I just won't ever buy a B -52 again or any Egnator product in the future.

[TubeAmpStudent]

I initially thought the same thing. The white wire threw me and since we can't see the entire thing............ who knows......

Here's a picture of the 115/230v selector switch with the red/white/blue/brown wires coming directly from the B-52 ATX-100 power transformer.