My Amp Is Smokin'

[warren0728]

So as some of you know i retubed my classic 20 with jj's frome eurotubes and i really like the sound.

Once i changed them i noticed that when i started playing it it smoked a little and i figured it was just the new tubes...and that it would quit soon.

well it didn't although it is smoking less. I could not find the exact place the smoke was coming from (although i could smell it). I think know what is going on now and am wondering if i have goofed it up.

I read that when changes tubes it was a good idea to use some contact cleaner and clean the jacks the tubes go in before replacing. To do this it was recommended that you spray contact cleaner on the old tubes pins and insert them into the jacks several times. I did this and even spreayed some of the contact cleaner into the jacks.

Well I just looked at the can of contact cleaner i bought and it says "Contact Cleaner AND LUBRICANT" safe for all electronics.

So my guess is what i smell is the lubricant when it gets hot? Could this hurt the amp...so far it still sounds good and it seems the smell is getting better (like the lubricant is getting burned off?).

Should i go get a can of contact cleaner only (no lubricant) and start over?

ww

[Tone2TheBone]

*bonk* never spray anything in your tube sockets!!! *bonk*

[warren0728]

*bonk* never spray anything in your tube sockets!!! *bonk*

ok...so what do i do...i'm not sure that i actually sprayed it directly into the sockets but i did spray it on the old tube pins and then push them in and out of the sockets to clean them...is it ruined...should i go trade it in at guitar center for something else?

ww

[Tone2TheBone]

ok...so what do i do...i'm not sure that i actually sprayed it directly into the sockets but i did spray it on the old tube pins and then push them in and out of the sockets to clean them...is it ruined...should i go trade it in at guitar center for something else?

ww

Oh. Then never spray anything on your tube pins!!! *bonk*

I'm not sure. If you sprayed the tube pins they'd have been inserted in an upside down position so the liquid that came from the spray wouldn't have dripped UP inside the chassis. (Unless you put them in sideways with the amph laying on the ground)..... <<< But you shouldn't introduce any moisture at all around the pins to begin with. If it were me I'd take the chassis off the amph and look inside to see any spray residue. If I did then I would clean it up. But in thinking about all this you might have short circuited the entire thing and it wouldn't be of any help to see if you can clean it up by yourself. *shakes head* I'd take it to a service dood and tell him someone else sprayed that stuff in there.....

[warren0728]

well the tubes do hang down on the classic 20 and i did not turn the amp over or on it's side when changing tubes so my guess is the contact cleaner did not get into the chassis (unless it traveled up like you said!). The amp seems to be working properly and sounds great...it just has a smell when turned on and that smell seems to be getting less and less.

i feel like an idiot....

ww

[Tone2TheBone]

well the tubes do hang down on the classic 20 and i did not turn the amp over or on it's side when changing tubes so my guess is the contact cleaner did not get into the chassis (unless it traveled up like you said!). The amp seems to be working properly and sounds great...it just has a smell when turned on and that smell seems to be getting less and less.

i feel like an idiot....

ww

Oh you mean it still works?! Whew! *is shaking from fright* I thought it was fried!

Nah I think you're ok dude. Just don't let that happen again!

[SuperSwede]

I dont think that you messed up Warren.. here is a few lines from Hoffmanamps.com:

After retentioning all the 9-pin sockets, spray a little contact cleaner into each socket. Take a paper towel and wipe out any excess spray that may be sitting on top of the socket. Take each pre-amp tube and spray a little contact cleaner on all the pins. You may have to clean the pins with a metal brush or emory cloth if they appear dirty or corroded. Insert each 9-pin tube back into its proper tube socket. Later, after turning the amp back on, you can wiggle these tubes and listen for any scratchy noises which indicates that the tube still is not making good contact.

[warren0728]

ok....i think i'm ok then....i am just concerned because the contact cleaner spray i used is contact cleaner/lubricant and i think the smell i smell is the lubricant when it is heated up by the tubes....

ww

[Spudman***]

As long as it doesn't smell like electronics smoke you should be fine. If it smells like burnt resistor, capacitor, or wires...then uh oh. Otherwise play the heck out of it. It will probably quit after it all gets toasted. Most likely you are still burning lubricant.

[Robert****]

As long as it doesn't smell like freshly made pancakes, you're ok.

[warren0728]

hey i wouldn't mind if it smelled like pancakes!!

ww

[NPauly]

Contact cleaner is fine, but next time (assume you ever do this again) don't get one with a lubricant. This is especially important when the tubes hang upside down and are subjected to the vibrations inherent in a guitar amp -- you don't want them to slip out. Contact cleaner evaporates pretty quickly since it is usually alcohol based, so the burning smell was probably the lubricant burning off. The possibly unfortunate news is that the burnt lubricant residue might mean that sometime in the future you will need to spray contact cleaner on the pins of a tube and insert the tube a couple times to clean the contacts.

[Danzego]

Now I could be wrong here...and generally I am....but this whole thing with lubricant on the tubes...

Isn't it really bad to get that kind of stuff on a glass tube? I mean, I'm sure many of us have seen replacement bulsbs, such as ones in car brake lights and whatnot, where it says not to handle the bulb directly. The reason is that getting finger oils on a bulb could result in it exploding due to increased heat in one area or something or other.

My point is if you got any of that on the tubes in the process of spraying this stuff in the amp electronics (or afterwards), could that be where some of this smell problem is stemming from? Might be something to look into.

[Plank_Spanker]

Hmmmmmmm..............

Smoke...........................bad!

If the amp is still alive, it's probably the lubricant cooking off.


Unless the pins on the old tubes looked nasty, I wouldn't bother with shooting contact cleaner into the sockets. Even then, just shooting the cleaner in will not accomplish much. You'll need to insert and extract the tube a few times to burnish the contacts. As you've discovered, don't use lubricating cleaner on tube sockets - save that for pots and switches.

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

A contact cleaner like deoxit on the pins of a tube and then worked into the socket wont hurt anything and the smell is more than likely the lube getting heated.. Warren dont go putting your hands inside a tube amp to clean stuff , there is enough voltage stored in there to ruin your day and put you in a box for the duration .. if you have never been in there , bring it to a pro ... the lube wont hurt anything anyway .... just be careful the voltage is stored in the caps even days after the amp has been turned off and un-plugged 6S9L

[Plank_Spanker]

there is enough voltage stored in there to ruin your day and put you in a box for the duration .. if you have never been in there , bring it to a pro ... the lube wont hurt anything anyway .... just be careful the voltage is stored in the caps even days after the amp has been turned off and un-plugged 6S9L

I'm a long time avionics tech. I've worked on airborne radar sets that were absolutely LETHAL if you didn't mind your "P's and Q's" whilst your fingers were roaming the components.

If you don't know what you're doing - DON'T do it!

Most human bodies don't react well to a massive flow of electrons coursing through them.

[sunvalleylaw]

I have instructed my kids to not even get near the rear of my C-30. (Shudder, knock on wood). As far as messing with the insides, I am one of those "let someone who knows what they are doing handle it" kind of guys.

[Spudman***]

A contact cleaner like deoxit on the pins of a tube and then worked into the socket wont hurt anything and the smell is more than likely the lube getting heated..

Deoxit +1 Great stuff

[warren0728]

looks like deoxit contains a lubricant also....

ww