AD30TC lack of volume/presence

enricofo · Post by **enricofo** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:07 am

I have a problem with my AD30TC.
The amp starts working well but after about one hour suddenly the volume and presence go down.It's not depending to the tubes because they have been changed and tested and problem remains. I have made all trials changing guitar, jack, everything...
Please help me.

a.hun · Post by **a.hun** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:50 am

Hi enricofo. Welcome to the forum.

If it is happening suddenly after the amp has warmed up for a good while it sounds very like a thermal issue - heat related. What is probably happening is that there is an iffy electrical contact somewhere inside the amp. When the amp is cool there is no problem. When it heats up and things inside expand enough the contact is being broken and you are losing power. It is very likely just to be something simple like a bad solder joint which only opens up when the amp is really hot.

You are going to need to set a good amp tech on the case though. (Or your Orange dealer if it is still under warranty!!!) Intermittent problems can be tricky to track down as the tech will have to be able to reproduce the problem on his test bench. (If it just works perfectly for him, as can happen when the amp is opened up, he won't easily find the problem!) So give him as many clues as you can eg:
Exactly what happens when it goes faulty?
What does it sound like?
Which controls still work, which don't?

Intermittent problems

Good luck!

aNDyH.

enricofo · Post by **enricofo** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:54 am

Thank you a lot for your answer.
Now, this is the situation: the tech has found that the amp has the problem that I 've tried to explain to him, but he's telling me that to find which is the cause it may occours a lot of time....If he's not able to find a solution, what can I do? Maybe bring it to another tech...

a.hun · Post by **a.hun** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:44 pm

I'd give the tech a chance. As it says in that article I linked to it can be tricky tracking down intermittent problems. He's quite right in saying that!

aNDyH.

enricofo · Post by **enricofo** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 7:47 am

Ok! Two months later and the tech is still not able to find where is the cause of this problem...I'm out of warranty, what can I do?

BrianPhase90 · Post by **BrianPhase90** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:39 am

enricofo wrote:Ok! Two months later and the tech is still not able to find where is the cause of this problem...I'm out of warranty, what can I do?

Take it to a different tech!

enricofo · Post by **enricofo** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:49 am

So, the tech thinks the problem is due to the output transformer, but he is not 100% sure, howewer he 's going to change it with a new one.
What do you think guys?

Upstate · Post by **Upstate** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:27 pm

That is a pretty expensive gamble,... I would do the following first,.... after you have played and the amp starts it's misbehaving,.... do the tap test, or wiggle test on the tubes and sockets,...

Tap test,... while the amp is on, and being intermittent, tap each tube with a pencil,... if you get a static sound, or it acts normal for a bit, it still could be that tube,...

Wiggle test,... again while the amp is on, and acting up,... (be careful doing this as the tubes will be hot) with your fingers protected from the heat, a t-shirt wrapped around them or?? grab each tube firmly, and wiggle it in kind of a circular motion like you were going to remove them,... again, if the sond goes back to normal, or it quits acting up, then it is probably a soldering point on the socket of the tube you were wiggling. If those tests do not result in a solution, then try a wiggle test with any of the plugs, or other fittings IE switches, sockets, anything other than cords, and instruments.

Still no results,.. give your info to the tech, and tell him to check and wiring for lose soldering, There are lots of little jumper type wires inside the amp any of which could have either end with a bad solder connection,... if that does not fix it,... I would start with a b+ voltage check,... it sounds to me like the power section is losing a part of the b+ voltage somewhere,.... have him trace that from the power transformer thru to the power tubes,..., then the signal out to the output transformer, and last to the jacks that the speaker is plugged into.

And while he is tracing signal,... go all the way to the speakers, and check the connections there as well...

If the loss of power is still not found, then maybe the trannie is at fault, but try the much less expensive methods first.

S

Post by **bclaire** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:03 pm

enricofo wrote:So, the tech thinks the problem is due to the output transformer, but he is not 100% sure, howewer he 's going to change it with a new one.
What do you think guys?

I think he doesn't know what he's doing, and will screw it up. Get it away from him and to someone else.

Where are you located? Adding it to your profile helps us help you

enricofo · Post by **enricofo** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:59 am

I'm sceptic too...but if it will not work also with this change, I'll not pay him...

and finally bring to another tech..
I live near Venice....very far from you "bclaire"...

enricofo · Post by **enricofo** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:55 am

The tech was right: with the new output transformer the problem is gone.
Now I'm asking to myself what could have caused this damage to the that transformer, opening the old one it looks like it was overheated.
Cost: 220 Eur

AD30TC lack of volume/presence

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