PT spludge

[Randall]

I have a pawn shop find 66 Fender Pro Reverb in for an overhaul. The dog house was in pretty rough shape with bad caps, a discolored node resistor, and a cloth coverered wire that had sparked to a chassis screw. Customer said he turned it on, and "it worked, but didn't sound good". I'm doing a full cap job, 3 prong, and some other things, and I did not power it up yet until the parts order arrives.

My question is one I have long wondered about. The PT has evidence that some spoo has leaked out of it. Usually, it is hardened, but here it is soft enought that I can dig a fingernail into it. All the wires are suspended in this material at the hole in the bell cover, and there are three drips on the underside. Is this potting that melted and oozed during service, or perhaps this is from the factory production? Is it anything to be concerned about? I know I have seen it many times on old working amps, and haven't really thought too much about it.

[drewl]

I don't know if that's stock spooge, or accumulated splooge but my '67 Pro Reverb looks the same.

I use a SS plug in rectifier to keep the PT a little cooler and it's been fine for the past twenty years.

[The Dude]

IMO, it's potting wax. Hard to tell for sure from a pic. Some wax leakage like that is ok. You see it quite often. On the other hand, if you see it boiling out of there, you could have shorted windings. I'd just keep an eye on transformer temp for a while after you get it repaired.