Hot Rod Deville burnt smell/blown fuse

[jmaf]

IME new tube paint always gets fried even in normal operation. Would you say I've been biasing them too hot ?

Curiously I thought the same thing Steve Conner did, I'd smell and visually inspect the tube sockets. No shame in closely sniffing like a dog in the amp, the smell remains near the trouble section for days no matter if it's open.

You may also want to shake the amp around because that's something else you've got on stage that isn't in your bench: vibration. Combo amps are tube killers especially on stage.

[Zipslack]

Oddball suggestion...

Here's an oddball suggestion...

Depending on the club environment, is it possible you had a temporary infestation? Insect/bug of some sort crawls into the nice warm cabinet, get itself zapped to smithereens. I've seen all kinds of crap inside electrical equipment - I think insects have an affinity for the electromagnetic fields and/or warmth. If it was something small, you might not even find much evidence. Heck, I've even found a small snake in a copy machine one time...crawled up in there and electrocuted itself, killed the copier. And clubs aren't well-known for clean and sanitary conditions....

[jmaf]

Here's an oddball suggestion...

Depending on the club environment, is it possible you had a temporary infestation? Insect/bug of some sort crawls into the nice warm cabinet, get itself zapped to smithereens. I've seen all kinds of crap inside electrical equipment - I think insects have an affinity for the electromagnetic fields and/or warmth. If it was something small, you might not even find much evidence. Heck, I've even found a small snake in a copy machine one time...crawled up in there and electrocuted itself, killed the copier. And clubs aren't well-known for clean and sanitary conditions....

It used to be very common on my former bench. The fluorescent light at night and those flying ants(whatever they are) would fall into my work. One time I had a high wattage EL34-based amp on for tests and one flying thing zapped itself on 700VDC. Never seen snakes though.

[jadams]

Thanks for all of the help guys, it is very much appreciated. I have new filter caps on order, which won't be here until Friday, so I'm going to install them and touch up all of the solder joints when they get here. I'm playing the same place that night so I'll let you all know how I make out. Thanks again.

[troubleshooter321]

Funny story --no reall technical value but this thread reminded me of something

I might not have all the facts right.. but it went something like this.. The crowd was mainly blues and country fans. The band was smoking hot..all the sudden their was a bang and then some fire... The lead guitarist amp was on fire. He took it in stride, grabbed his drink and said "well thats the first time Ive seen a amp a fire. Smile it will do you good. :

[jadams]

So I changed the filter caps, mounted those power resistors off the board with a bit of silicon, touched up all of the solder joints on the power tube sockets and put in a new pair of JJ 6l6's. Just finished playing a gig with it and had no problems whatsoever. I also did a couple of simple mods from Justin Holton's site which have considerably improved the sound of this amp. Thanks again for all the help.