Fender Deville 212 is dead after 1 hour playing, switching off and coming back

[alonper]

Hello Friends,

We have Fender Hot Rod Deville 212, It's been a while that the amp is turning off after some time of playing, it stops working (the red light is turning off , no sound out of the speakers) and coming back after a while..
I have searched in the forum for common issues with that Deville but I haven't found any data about this kind of problem.
Anyone have suggestions? where to focus in the PCB?

Thanks in advance,
Alon

[Leo_Gnardo]

Anyone have suggestions? where to focus in the PCB?

It IS an unusual problem granted. But who says it has to be a fault in the PCB? It could be . . . but it could also be a bad power switch, AC cable/plug, even a funky fuse. Do you always plug it into the same AC outlet - if so, that's where your problem may be.

I keep thinking of this series of Fender amps as being "new" but they've been around long enough, 20-25 years, the ones built in the 90's & even early 00's are now turning up with symptoms of "old age," and everything that implies in troubleshooting them.

[alonper]

It IS an unusual problem granted. But who says it has to be a fault in the PCB? It could be . . . but it could also be a bad power switch, AC cable/plug, even a funky fuse. Do you always plug it into the same AC outlet - if so, that's where your problem may be.

Hi Leo, Thanks for writing.
I have double checked the AC cable and plug, everything soldered and attached good, It was my first thought.. I also tried to move and shake the cable to see if it happened.. The amp is turning of only after 1 hour of playing with high gain..
Do you think that I should check all the soldering as people advice for the other problems? the white resistors and the bulb soldering or you dont think it's related to the same thing?

Thanks again for your advice.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Yes then it's time for a closer look. Those white resistors have nothing to do with the pilot lamp. They can be a problem, and could cause a loss of signal thru the amp, but would not cause the pilot lamp to turn off. Bulb (vacuum tube?) soldering, same. It's always worth a look, but still wouldn't cause the symptom you describe.

It's possible the amp's not experiencing a total loss of power when it appears to turn off. It could be a fault in only the filament wiring. If there's a filament fuse, that's a potential problem area. I've seen filament fuse terminals get so hot they corrode, or de-solder themselves from the circuit board, but can't say I've seen that happen in this kind of amp. I've also seen the push-on connectors on filament leads get hot, corroded & loosen up, plus their mating tabs on the circuit board doing the same. Check those out, and if you don't find a fault, read on...

You've seen us use the term "chopstick" on MEF? Looks like it's time to poke around your amp, using a NON conductive prod like a wood or plastic chopstick, especially if you can get it to go to it's fault mode. That may help pinpoint the problem area which is apparently in the power and/or filament zone.

[alonper]

Yes then it's time for a closer look. Those white resistors have nothing to do with the pilot lamp. They can be a problem, and could cause a loss of signal thru the amp, but would not cause the pilot lamp to turn off. Bulb (vacuum tube?) soldering, same. It's always worth a look, but still wouldn't cause the symptom you describe.

It's possible the amp's not experiencing a total loss of power when it appears to turn off. It could be a fault in only the filament wiring. If there's a filament fuse, that's a potential problem area. I've seen filament fuse terminals get so hot they corrode, or de-solder themselves from the circuit board, but can't say I've seen that happen in this kind of amp. I've also seen the push-on connectors on filament leads get hot, corroded & loosen up, plus their mating tabs on the circuit board doing the same. Check those out, and if you don't find a fault, read on...

You've seen us use the term "chopstick" on MEF? Looks like it's time to poke around your amp, using a NON conductive prod like a wood or plastic chopstick, especially if you can get it to go to it's fault mode. That may help pinpoint the problem area which is apparently in the power and/or filament zone.

Alright. I will check all your suggestions, It will take me a few days but I will write my findings.
Thanks a lot for all the explanations. I never thought that someone will guide me with so much details.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Alright. I will check all your suggestions, It will take me a few days but I will write my findings.
Thanks a lot for all the explanations. I never thought that someone will guide me with so much details.

You're welcome for the help, also welcome on board MEF. I hope you'll find what's wrong with your amp & can fix it.

Details? I'm sure some other MEFsters will hop on and have some other suggestions too. We have a brain trust of fixit folks here.

[Enzo]

A fault in the heater wiring or transformer would not affect the LEDs, and a problem with the two power resistors for the 15v supplies would not kill the heaters.

Look at the thermistor in the mains wiring?


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