Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

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RockerBoy30
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Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by RockerBoy30 » Fri Jun 09, 2017 12:35 am

Hey folks, love the sound of my Orange OR15 but have had a few issues with it over the past couple years. And now I'm worried it may have met its maker.

It was working just fine during band practice last night, and then all the sudden... nothing. Came back from a bathroom break, kicked it off standby, and it was dead. I got some *very* low volume when I had the gain and volume cranked all the way up. And it was plenty loud when I plugged into the effects loop directly. I also tried the cab through another head, different cables, guitars, etc — I isolated it to the OR15 head itself.

I assumed it was a power tube issue, so I came home today and swapped out all the tubes (minus the loop) — all preamp tubes and the powers. And changed the fuse for good measure. Same deal: EXTREMELY low (as in, almost 0) volume when everything is cranked, and some popping and a noticeable hum. The hum gets quieter and goes away the higher I turn the volume nob.

And here's the kicker: upon closer inspection/smelling, there's a scent of smoke coming from it that I've never smelled before. Yikes.

Here's the ONLY thing I can think of... In the middle of a song, a band mate kicked my power cable out of the wall (we have a small rehearsal space). So it got unplugged while everything was turned on. I plugged it back in and everything was fine for another 20 or 30 minutes until the aforementioned problems described above. Is it possible that may have been what killed it?

I guess I'm gonna haul it to the tech tomorrow, but please... if anybody has any thoughts/advice, I'm in desperate need of help here. :|

Thanks, and cheers!

Ben W.

PBA
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by PBA » Fri Jun 09, 2017 7:30 am

My sympathies. I don't know what might be wrong - hopefully your tech will.

However, if you have volume when you plug into the effects return, then the power valves and output transformer are likely to be ok. Really, that only leaves the pre-amp. If you've had some problems for a while then it may be that one or more of your pre-amp valves was failing. It may have now failed and taken out some other components with it.

Don't use it until it's been looked at. Make sure you explain everything to your tech. While I don't understand the intricacies of valve amp circuits they are generally fairly simple and repairs are often possible. Don't give up on it yet!

bclaire
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by bclaire » Fri Jun 09, 2017 9:40 am

Don't blame a kicked out cord for the answer - or a bandmate. That's not likely any chance of the cause...

Sounds like a failed tube took something out when it went. All tubes start wearing out the moment you install them and turn them on... It sounds very much like it's not user-fixable - it's time to bring it to a qualified tech.

I hope you saved your preamp tubes - more than likely, they may be fine.

Let us know what happens.

RockerBoy30
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by RockerBoy30 » Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:45 am

Thanks guys, appreciate the input. I didn't think the kicked out cord would cause that kind of damage, but I was reaching for some sort of explanation beyond total random failure.

Taking it into a tech today to get a prognosis.

bclaire
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by bclaire » Fri Jun 09, 2017 12:46 pm

RockerBoy30 wrote:
Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:45 am
Thanks guys, appreciate the input. I didn't think the kicked out cord would cause that kind of damage, but I was reaching for some sort of explanation beyond total random failure.

Taking it into a tech today to get a prognosis.
Tubes fail for no rhyme or reason. Usually a fuse will blow protecting things like grid resistors and such but occasionally a tube will take something else out with it. Usually minor but just annoying.

Surgeon
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by Surgeon » Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:04 am

RockerBoy30 wrote:
Fri Jun 09, 2017 12:35 am
Hey folks, love the sound of my Orange OR15 but have had a few issues with it over the past couple years. And now I'm worried it may have met its maker.

It was working just fine during band practice last night, and then all the sudden... nothing. Came back from a bathroom break, kicked it off standby, and it was dead. I got some *very* low volume when I had the gain and volume cranked all the way up. And it was plenty loud when I plugged into the effects loop directly. I also tried the cab through another head, different cables, guitars, etc — I isolated it to the OR15 head itself.

I assumed it was a power tube issue, so I came home today and swapped out all the tubes (minus the loop) — all preamp tubes and the powers. And changed the fuse for good measure. Same deal: EXTREMELY low (as in, almost 0) volume when everything is cranked, and some popping and a noticeable hum. The hum gets quieter and goes away the higher I turn the volume nob.

And here's the kicker: upon closer inspection/smelling, there's a scent of smoke coming from it that I've never smelled before. Yikes.

Here's the ONLY thing I can think of... In the middle of a song, a band mate kicked my power cable out of the wall (we have a small rehearsal space). So it got unplugged while everything was turned on. I plugged it back in and everything was fine for another 20 or 30 minutes until the aforementioned problems described above. Is it possible that may have been what killed it?

I guess I'm gonna haul it to the tech tomorrow, but please... if anybody has any thoughts/advice, I'm in desperate need of help here. :|

Thanks, and cheers!

Ben W.
Any news with this case? Mine just did the exact same thing about an hour ago. Swapped tubes (all of them in the end), checked fuses (all good), tried plugging in the fx return, all the classic troubleshooting strategies: no sound, at all... Curious about what ended-up being the solution for yours.

Surgeon
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by Surgeon » Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:19 am

Interesting... the HT fuse looked perfectly fine and yet, when I replaced it briefly (about 5s of operation) with a 0.5mA (instead of a .25 which I didn't have on hand) it fixed the problem.

So the fuse blew... I'm thinking problematic tube somewhere...

robbvant
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Re: Orange OR15 — is it totally dead? Help!

Post by robbvant » Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:39 pm

maybe you yanked the input jack and broke the soldering connection.
Also can’t you kill your amp if you yank the speaker cable out and leave the amp on. Which cable did you yank out?

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