Water damage Peavey Artist 240

[casiocreature]

Hello all,

I recently found my Peavey Artist 240 amp under water after some serious flooding here in New Jersey. After letting it dry a couple days I gave it a shot and it worked for a few minutes then the sound slowly faded and died right before my ears. It still powers up and the tubes glow but I only hear a low hum. I tested the speaker and it works fine. After more drying and cleaning I still can't here anything, not even a pop or a scratchy noise. Any help would be cool.

Thanks

[Enzo]

Call PV parts and ask for the schematics. Then inspect the circuit boards closely looking for any burnt open traces.

Now start at the power supply and verufy all the working voltages are present. Restore any that are missing, power supplies are not complpicated.

A couple days might not be enough. Water can wick under an IC and hold on a long time. Take an air gun to it and blow water out of any little nooks.

This is a hybrid, it has tubes AND solid state parts. Is yours the Artist or the Artist VT?

[casiocreature]

Thanks. There is hope! I'll get the schematic.

Its not a VT. Date stamped inside is 1976.

Call PV parts and ask for the schematics. Then inspect the circuit boards closely looking for any burnt open traces.

Now start at the power supply and verufy all the working voltages are present. Restore any that are missing, power supplies are not complpicated.

A couple days might not be enough. Water can wick under an IC and hold on a long time. Take an air gun to it and blow water out of any little nooks.

This is a hybrid, it has tubes AND solid state parts. Is yours the Artist or the Artist VT?

[Mars Amp Repair]

Also,
If it were allowed to dry by itself, you will most probably have mineral deposits left behind that can create resistance paths all over the place wet or dry. As Enzo mentioned, the deposits can form between the close pins of Ic's in or under the IC sockets or IC's where you can't see them. It looks like white spots on the board.

If that is the case I would remove the pcb or at least get it loose enough to so you can take a brush & some kind of cleaner like 409 or the like & scrub both sides of the pcb. Then rinse thoroughly with water & quickly blow the board off with compressed air from a compressor..canned air won't be enough.

This way you will avoid mineral deposits from settling on the boards again. In the past I have been able to rescue even complex boards with flatpacks & chip components, when camcorders were worth repairing.

Note that even if it is working today what is still damp can dry & cause the mineral deposts to cause damage later.

Good luck, glen




If that is the case, you almost have to rewet the board & then quickly dry it with compressed air.

[Rob Mercure]

Having salvaged several amps that were involved in floods I simply put the chassis in my kitchen sink and then spay out the chassis until I'm satisfied I've removed any mud or other deposits. I then place the chassis in "warm" oven - about 120 degrees - for about 4 hours. This technique has worked for me for over 15 years - and some of the amps were under mud for several days before I got to them.

Rob

[Mars Amp Repair]

cool rob,
I'll be certain to employ that method should I even encounter units like that...here in denver, don't get much flooding....mostly the errant glass of water or beer spill...glen

[Enzo]

I spent some time working in a microbiology lab while in college. Yes we did have colleges that long ago, microbes too. And we had to wash the glassware among other awful chores. First the autoclave to pressure cook them to kill any remaining life forms, then a high tech dishwashing sort of machine. The racks of glass came out dripping wet. If we needed something to be dry - and who didn't - we would then wipe it with alcohol. The alcohol would absorb any water it encountered and it evaporated pretty fast. If you REALLY needed dry, you then sponged away the alcohol with ether. That last step done under a extractor hood.

Point being, you can dribble a little alcohol under parts to help dislodge the water, then the whole deal evaporates a whole lot faster.

Use pure isopropyl, the 99% stuff. it is cheap. The lower purity stuff is diluted with water, so don't get it. And some "rubbing" alcohol contains skin lubricating oils, another reason to chose the 99%. You cannot get 100%. As soon as you open the cap, it would absord water from the air. Oh alright, labs can get reagent grade stuff, but not the drugstore.

[Peter Clothier]

Be carefull when drying off Electronic equipment in domestic ovens.

When Rob says 120 degrees, he means a sensible 120 Farenheit. NOT 120 CENTIGRADE.

4 Hrs @ 120c will kill the amp and your missus will kill you.

I don't know how ovens are graded stateside but here in the UK(and France) our Gas ovens are 'Mark' graded from 1-10. Gas mark 1/4 = 212F/100C. So a constant 120F is not so easy to acheive.
I find that if you place your kit on top of a central heating radiator for a day it does the job a treat.
I recommend removing the can covers from transformers (if possible) so they can dry out properly.
Flood damage is'nt something I see. Here it's more like Beer damage. (why do guitarists insist on placing their pint of beer on top of a valve head?) You just know what's going to happen.
I reckon these guys are the same guys who when they were 2 years old in the early 1980's used to think that their parents prized new top loading VCR was a prelude to the Tamagotchi and would proceed to feed it with Jam sandwiches, Biscuits, Candy and then wash it down with half a cup of sticky fruit juice.
Geeeezus...... That stuff could eat right through circuit track in less than a week.
Enough said I think.