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  • More Fender Super Bassman woes

    Yesterday the Guitar Dept wheeled in another Fender Super Bassman. I wouldn't accept it until they wheeled out the Ampeg SVT-CL they brought me last week, as the floor space in the shop is crowded with road cases. So, this one came back from a client they sent it to, claiming it didn't work. So, I pulled the road case cover off and hefted it up onto the check-out bench, powered up the power analyzer, connected dummy load, switched on and brought up the variac. No power consumption. Removed the fuse, noting the fuse holder is loose. Fuse is intact. Put it back in, switched it on and off a couple times, with no response. Went to unplug the AC mains cord, and the IEC panel connector followed the power cable until the internal wires stopped it. Great. Always design in Snap-in IEC AC Mains connectors, so you can save on the labor of installing panel fasteners!

    So, I had to pull the rear fan panel off, noticing the fan wires weren't even plugged into the mating chassis socket. Removed the two harness cable clamps mounted to the inside cabinet walls, unplugged the Pwr Xfmr Primary & Secondary wire connectors and removed the grounding screws associated with them, then did the same with the preamp connector up front. Stood the cabinet up on it's face to remove the cluster of power amp chassis mtg screws, and finally set it down, to slide out the chassis. Set the chassis upside down using a box to cradle the power tubes and hold it stable for inspection.

    Sure enough, with the IEC connector having pulled free, due to the breakage of the bottom pair of snap-fasteners, it also pulled off one of the AC Mains leads from it's male Fast-On blade. That will certainly disable the amp!

    As luck would have it, I didn't have any mating snap-in IEC 320 connectors, so I went looking. I already had to order replacement Phone Jacks for the Hot Rod Deville series amps, so while I was at Studio Sound Electornics' website, I looked to see what they had in IEC connectors. They had what looked like the right item, but, no details. I ordered a couple along with the phone jacks and processed that order.

    This morning, I looked on Mouser to see what they had with snap-in IEC 320 panel connectors, and found a Qualtek part whose chassis opening dimensions matched the Fender chassis, and downloaded that drawing to my database, and placed an order for those, with delivery expected for Friday, beating the other order. Then, while needing the bench, I went to put the rear panel back on, and, finding the fan wires cable-tied too short to get my hands in between the sharp edge of the perforated panel, finally getting the connector in place, it pushed the panel mount connector right thru the panel! Went to retrieve it with small needle nose pliers, and it disappeared out of reach. Figures.

    So, I had to pull the chassis back out to see what adventures this tiny little connector would bring. It had already been RTV'd into place by someone else. And, after fishing it out for inspection, pulling off the RTV that didn't help anything, I found the snap-in wings were already worn enough to no longer hold it into the cut-out in the chassis. I tried to insert a small spacer folded up from paper to give support to the wings, but that didn't solve anything. So, had to resort to mixing up some JB Weld, and glued it into place.

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    Qualtek_701W-X2-04_IEC320M.pdf

    So, at least I won't have to replace that tiny fan connector (I hope)...now just have to leave this chassis upside down and out of the way, and then reclaim the bench for the next problem.
    Logic is an organized way of going wrong with confidence

  • #2
    Just noticed that your pics suddenly got a lot better. Did you get a new camera?
    Last edited by The Dude; 02-27-2020, 12:19 AM.
    "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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    • #3
      Yuss! Your photos look AWESOME! iPhone 5 LIVES!
      Last edited by xtian; 02-27-2020, 09:24 PM.
      --
      I build and repair guitar amps
      http://amps.monkeymatic.com

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      • #4
        Originally posted by xtian View Post
        Yuss! Your photos look AWESOME! iPhone 4 LIVES!
        YES INDEED! xtian, your iPhone 5 has been a real Godsend!! I still have trouble waking the phone up, having turned it off each time. But, once awakened, it sure has vastly improved the clarity of all my images! I am indebted to your generosity!

        And to The Dude......YUP! xtian sent me his retired iPhone 5, and I'm still on the learning curve with it, and haven't dropped it once. Nice to be in the 21st century!
        Logic is an organized way of going wrong with confidence

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        • #5
          Why turn the iPhone off each time? I know the battery is weak, but you can just leave it plugged into the charger when not in use. Then it will be ready whenever you want to snap photos. Or...VIDEOS!!!
          --
          I build and repair guitar amps
          http://amps.monkeymatic.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by xtian View Post
            Why turn the iPhone off each time? I know the battery is weak, but you can just leave it plugged into the charger when not in use. Then it will be ready whenever you want to snap photos. Or...VIDEOS!!!
            Initially, prior to downloading the instruction manual, I had been turning it off with the button on the top, which only puts it to sleep, NOT off. After several days of not using it, I'd find it wouldn't turn back on without having to plug it in. At least with it powered down, there's nearly a full charge left if it had been off for days. I didn't find anywhere in the manual where it tells you after holding down the sleep button until the Apple icon appears, nothing happens for around 30 seconds until the logo goes away, then the display for typing in the password appears. I had tried many various keystrokes on the sleep button and the home button during that 30 second period but nothing made it get to the password screen any faster. Since I've been keeping it turned off, I haven't had low battery issues but once, maybe after more than a week, and perhaps I had NOT turned it off, but just put it to sleep that time.
            Logic is an organized way of going wrong with confidence

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