Or15 noisy gain pot

Orange Amps Technical Q&A's

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Cstephan17
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Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Cstephan17 » Fri Mar 02, 2018 8:54 am

Hi, I know it has been discussed before. Got an Or15 head a few weeks ago and noticed lately crackling noise on the gain knob in 7w mode. Is it part of the design as in the pot changing the bias for some part or inducing voltage?

Jondog
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Jondog » Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:49 am

Seems to be a few of these lately. Shouldn’t do that I think. I wonder if the pot needs cleaning with De-oxit.
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Cstephan17
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Cstephan17 » Fri Mar 02, 2018 12:42 pm

It would crackle on the 15w mode too though.

Jondog
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Jondog » Fri Mar 02, 2018 4:31 pm

I would think so too. I know DC voltage can cause crackling. If that was the problem it can only be confirmed with testing. This is probably the 3rd or 4th instance I’ve read of this on the OR15. Recently too, wonder if it’s a batch issue. Not sure if Orange is aware or not. The wattage switch circuit is isolated from the gain pot and the DC voltage shouldn’t be on it if the coupling caps are good.
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Cstephan17
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Cstephan17 » Fri Mar 02, 2018 7:15 pm

Well there is some kind of wooshy noise too that goes on on certain gain pot knob positions that goes away when switching to 15w and then back to 7. I live in Beirut Lebanon and although still under warranty I dont think getting back to the dealer will help. Thank you for your replies.

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Les Paul Lover » Fri Mar 02, 2018 8:41 pm

Cstephan17 wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 7:15 pm
Well there is some kind of wooshy noise too that goes on on certain gain pot knob positions that goes away when switching to 15w and then back to 7. I live in Beirut Lebanon and although still under warranty I dont think getting back to the dealer will help. Thank you for your replies.

I remember reading about similar issues on tiny terror too.
I believe Orange (Ade himself if memory serves me right) said it was caused by a faulty preamp valve causing DC leak at the grid. In theory, swapping that preamp valve should solve the issue.

I don't have the time right now, but would suggest you try and Google the issue to confirm it.
Last edited by Les Paul Lover on Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
Past Orange: AD30TC Combo, TT, AD5


Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded, Vigier Expert Retro 54, Gibson SG 70s Tribute, Aria Pro II RS X80, G&L ASAT Special Tribute

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Les Paul Lover » Fri Mar 02, 2018 8:49 pm

Nevermind the time, I had to find it. :roll: :lol:
Ade Emsley wrote:
Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:55 am
The Tiny Terrors are fitted with JJ 12AX7 preamp tubes straight from the factory in Korea.
We are going to be using Chinese 12AX7`s for future Chinese Tiny Terror production as they are less noisy than some of the JJ`s.

The JJ EL84`s on the other hand are a pretty good, reliable tube with a really fat sounding bottom end!
Another really good EL84 at the moment is the Electro Harmonix!
To my ears, they do sound the best in a Tiny Terror if you want a little more bite in the upper mids.

Sometimes the JJ 12AX7`s can have some DC voltage on the grids which will cause the gain pot to appear noisy when turned.

This will not actually do the amp any harm as it is a very small amount of DC voltage.
This problem is most likely nothing to do with the pots so dont go trying to remove them only to find that nothing has changed!

Swapping the JJ preamp tubes for Chinese 12AX7`s will totally cure the problem and will probably make the TT sound even better.

Another Tiny Terror service tip is to have a technician tension all of the crimp connectors so that they are a really tight fit if they are not already.

Other than the above, there is very little to go wrong in a Tiny Terror as they are a very well made piece of kit!

Best regards
Adrian Emsley
Technical Director
Orange amps

I assume the issue may not be confined to JJ preamp valve only, and could happen with a faulty valve from any valve maker. Back in 2006 (date of the original post by Adrian), JJ were noted to occasionally have this fault.
Last edited by Les Paul Lover on Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
Past Orange: AD30TC Combo, TT, AD5


Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded, Vigier Expert Retro 54, Gibson SG 70s Tribute, Aria Pro II RS X80, G&L ASAT Special Tribute

Cstephan17
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Cstephan17 » Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:19 pm

Thank you so much for your time😀 and the answer i wanted to hear, no harm done to the amp, otherwise i can live with it till tbe next tube change.

Cstephan17
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Cstephan17 » Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:04 pm

Oh and btw what a great amp, the cleans and half dirty tones are just awesome. It has that vintage sound, hiwatt cleans, jtm and plexi dirt, jcm drive and if metal is not my thing , i can forget what lies behind 11 on the gain and live with it. Unlike other master volume amps that rely on preamp drive, increasing volume on this one really adds output valve distortion.

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Les Paul Lover » Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:37 pm

If you bought the amp new, and it's still under warranty, I would recommend you change the preamp valves to make totally sure you can solve that problem, if not, send it back under warranty. Getting a couple of preamp valves should be enough, swap them one at a time and try it again. Start with V1. If the valve you swapped didn't change anything, replace the original valve, and try V2.

I haven't seen the schematics, but I assume V3 is the phase inverter (irrelevant). The 12AT7 involved in the fx loop shouldn't have anything to do with it either.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
Past Orange: AD30TC Combo, TT, AD5


Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded, Vigier Expert Retro 54, Gibson SG 70s Tribute, Aria Pro II RS X80, G&L ASAT Special Tribute

Jondog
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Jondog » Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:17 am

That does make sense. Good memory! They coukd have gotten a bad batch of valves.
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Cstephan17
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Cstephan17 » Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:45 am

Thanks

Wylde Horses
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Wylde Horses » Sun Jul 28, 2019 12:04 pm

Sorry for bringing this one back from the dead, but I’ve noticed the same issue on my new Jim Root terror, which also comes stocked with JJ valves (bought the last one I could find in Canada :D ). I tried a little deoxit on the gain pot with no effect, so I’m glad I found this post because I never would have thought of replacing the preamp valves. I have some spare 12ax7’s, so I’ll give that a try.

Wylde Horses
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Wylde Horses » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:47 am

A quick update: replaced V1 with a spare JJ 12ax7 and the gain pot crackling is gone.

That said, I’m fairly new to Orange amps, having just bought a Rocker 15 combo last December, and now a Jim Root Terror, so I’m wondering are valve issues common with Orange? Within a few hours of playing on the Rocker 15, the 12at7 in the effect loop filter became microphonic and had to be replaced. Did I just get lucky with a couple rare examples?

Dark Helmet
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Re: Or15 noisy gain pot

Post by Dark Helmet » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:56 pm

Any valve/tube issue that Orange has, EVERY maker will have. the tube manufacturers are going to drive that through their QC and their build process.

Of the 6 Orange tube amps I've had (still have 5 of them!) the only two that have had ANY issues are the two that have been used and banged around the most... and never anything outside of expected wear. My AD30HTCwas a TANK (miss that one!, zero issues ever), the Thunderverb has had a bad pot and recently ate a pre-amp tube, the AD30TC is SUPER picky about pre-amp tubes (but super-amaze-balls when its "right"), AD15 and AD50 and OR15 have never missed a sniff.

The biggest thing to remember here is that not all tubes are created equal!
Dark Lord of the Schwartz
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