Crackles in my amp

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DeepDrummer
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Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 2:56 pm

Crackles in my amp

Post by DeepDrummer »

My Peavey Tube 120 gets to crackling and hissing sometimes and at those times it will even crackle a bit if I thump it. I was told by the outfit I bought it from that it could have been the line voltage. They actually reduce the voltage a bit around here during the day. I took it to the shop and we could not get it to do it. It comes and goes mind you. They were using something in the store to clean up the static in the line. If anyone has any suggestions on what I could use or do to prevent this, I'd be very interested. I really want to get that right if possible. I like my clean sound clean.
Music is in my Soul and the Blues Makes me whole.
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vancouverois
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by vancouverois »

A friend of mine who lives far from big towns had a similar problem and could
successfully correct this by using an UPS for its gear.
This device called "uninterruptible power supply" could help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterrup ... wer_supply

It's mostly used for computers, servers and the high end models can correct (on the fly) the
output/supplied voltage and sometimes the electric current frequency too.

Lets say you currently have only 90V instead of 110V or a serious voltage drop for a few seconds,
the box will correct this to 110V by using its own power on batteries to correct and supply what
is needed.

It also works in case of power outage as a redundant power supply, for a limited period of time.
Jan 15th 2007
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DeepDrummer
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by DeepDrummer »

Yes I am familiar with UPS devices. I had one once. It cost $450 and after about a year the battery in it died. I was hoping for a cheaper solution but yeah. if it Is low voltage I'll have to look at something like that. When it happens again I'll measure the voltage. The problem also popped the fuse in the amp too though and my wife's sewing machine. I dunno. I could probably get a small UPS cheap enough. Any more suggestions? There's not a lot of extra cash around my place...
Music is in my Soul and the Blues Makes me whole.
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MojoJim
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by MojoJim »

There are devices much cheaper than UPS systems called "power conditioners", "line conditioners", "voltage regulators", etc.

Here's a link to one on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/APC-LE1200-Automa ... 729&sr=8-6

They probably won't do as good a job as a UPS - but it might be enough.

If you popped a breaker that sounds like an over-voltage spike. Those aren't usually too hard to deal with.

I'm not expert on this stuff so there might be better suggestions that will be posted.
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DeepDrummer
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by DeepDrummer »

Yes, no doubt the breaker blowing was a spike of some sort. It happened twice in a row, one right after the other on the same day. The third fuse has lasted a couple months now but it's the cracking and snapping it does over my nice clean sound that bugs me. That's a pretty good looking unit there. I think I may need more of a line conditioner though. At the end of my lane there is a transformer that feeds one side of the highway so there could be some interference there as people use power. I checked the voltage last night but I wasn'ty playing so I don't know if there would have been a problem at that time or not. It measured from 109 -117V on what is a 110/120 volt line so I would say that was within spec. SO I have established a baseline and when I play this morning (after I finish my coffee here (I't almost 5 am), if and probably when it crackles I'll check again. I think it may be more of a conditioner I need. Since that unit from Amazon doesn't turn on until it dips to 90 volts, it really doesn't serve me well. 91 volts could ruin delicate things before it ever kicked in. Oddly, I don't get any problems with my cheaper amps. If it gets to be too much of a problem and I can't get it straightened out, I'll be taking my Peavey that I bought in July and take it back to the store who says there is nothing wrong and have them replace it with some kind of older style amp. I don't know. The problem is perhaps that I live out in the country. There's a farm beside me and I know they use a lot of power too. It always seems to happen in the morning. At this point I am not too pleased with the whole situation. For the price of that unit you pointed may be worth a try as some of the reviews say it conditione the line, it may be worth a try. I'll have to pay them a visit as I know they use something in the store to supply clean power. No matter what, in order to solve the problem is going to take money and that is in short enough supply around here. Maybe I'll just leave my amp on their doorstep in a million pieces.
Music is in my Soul and the Blues Makes me whole.
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DeepDrummer
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by DeepDrummer »

Last night my wonderful wife showed me a surge protector that she had plugged in by her computer whith nothing else plugged into it so I said what the heck, if and when it happens again, I'll try it. So right oin schedule a half hour into playing this morning the crackling began. I grabbed her surge protector and slipped directly into the surge protector I was alread using for that circuit (power bar type) and then plugged my amp into it. Turned it back on and it hasn't so much as hickuped since. It's still too early to call it conclusive but so far it looks promising. I think the fuse blowing may or may not have been related.
Here is what it was (glad I didn't have to pay for it).
http://www.panamax.com/Products/Other/M ... p#tab_spec
The specs do state that it conditions the line.
oops there goes a little crackle. Just for a few seconds. hmmm we'll see.
We'll give it a week before I'll say it worked fror sure but right now. oh baaaaby it sounds sooo nice.
Music is in my Soul and the Blues Makes me whole.
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MojoJim
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by MojoJim »

If the crackling is coming in through your power it's probably some high frequency transients. The blown fuse is probalby a lower frequency power spike.

Surge protectors come in lots of different ratings (directly tied to price). If the surge protector that you're using seems like a step in the right direction you might do some comparison shopping for one with a better transient response rating and better overall energy handling capability. Just an idea.

Way back in the old days the inductance in the big power transformers and the capacitance of the giant filter caps did a pretty good job of gobbling transients. Then some electrical equipment changed over to switching power supplies to get rid of the weight of the heavy components - and the high frequency filtering suffered. I don't know how modern guitar amps are built - so these thoughts may not apply at all.

I've got the Peavey Vypyr 30 modeling amp and some folks on the Internet claim that they get random sounds coming from the modeling section of the amp. I don't know if your Peavey 120 tube amp has a modeling section or not. Probably a very unlikely source of the noise in any case.

Good luck!
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DeepDrummer
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by DeepDrummer »

I think we have got it nailed down. Today was going to be the first whole day I got to spend on music or at least the morning which is my favourite time to do so. So I got all comfy with my guitar ready to go. Sure enough Crackle city. I measured the line voltage which was a solid 123 volts. Perfect. I turned off everything in the house but nope still crackling. I turned on my other two amps to full. No crackling there at all. No, I decided it's definitely an amp problem especially since I could make it do it with a bit of a thump on the top of the amp. I took it back to where I bought it in July and explained everything to the owner. He plugged it in and since he suspected a tube he brushed his hand across the tubes. Sure enough *crackle*. The toob even dimmed. Funny noone suspected a tube the firt time I brought it back for that and was told it was fine because ithey couldn't get it to do it. So there it is at the shop and here I am. All I have are a couple small amps which are ok for practice but they just don't have the same depth and tone. Oh well. Another perfect day shot. But anyway. I think we have it pegged. Here's hoping this is the last time for this nonsense. Peavey puts the tubes in hanging down. Now I don't gig at all or ever move my amp but if I was gigging and moving around over bumpy roads or anything . I don't know... The prognosis is good anyway. Here's hoping the tube doesn't cost too much. The darn thing only has about 20 hrs on it and it died after about 5 hrs but who knows. What transpires now will determine if I ever enter that store again. I have spend thousands there in the past and even brought customers in there but there is just something really fishy here in my over paranoid mind. Not much point going back if they can't even fix an amp they sold me. The price difference from here to the city for stuff would easily cover my gas to get there. We'll see. Word of mouth is a funny thing eh?
Music is in my Soul and the Blues Makes me whole.
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antigua72
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by antigua72 »

excuse me
I guess its the socket .....if you can produce the crackling by moving (thumb) the tube , its the socket or corrosive pins

but please be careful...don´t open the amp if you´re not trained in electrical repairs... its dangerous for your life....no joke !!
there is about over 300 Volts in the amp....even some time after you plugged it off the lines
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DeepDrummer
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Re: Crackles in my amp

Post by DeepDrummer »

Yep I realize that. I let them fix it. It seems to be better than perfect now. The amp was brand new a couple months ago. Time will tell if it happens again or not. I was getting close to taking a sledge hammer to it. I can't afford another so I controlled myself. The tube actually was dim even. You could be right. As I said time will tell. Right now I am a happy camper. I spent an hour learning m country's national anthem with lots of chrunchy distortion and overdrive and everything to torture test it. Kind of like Jimi did back in the 60's but for a different country. Back on clean it was still crystal clear. My little sort of studio setup here is humidity controlled and I never go anywhere so corrosion shouldn't be a factor. It's a fairly new model too. Here's hoping my run of bad luck is over.
Music is in my Soul and the Blues Makes me whole.
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