Since this is a bass guitar amp and vibrated a lot from sitting on top of a speaker cabinet, I would suggest tightening the ground screw on the right hand side of that front circuit board, and tightening the nuts that holds the pots to the chassis, since all of those are probably supposed to make chassis ground connections. If they're not loose yet, eventually they will be!
It was good to see this video today. I had a similar problem with my Ashdown. When it played up, crackled etc. it end up going into "protect" mode and went dead for a few seconds. Your videos are always down to earth and that's why I follow your content.
Stuart, It's good to see little tricks like the paper on these contacts. I have an Orange Micro Dark that has the same issue. I'm hoping the trick helps it last longer between cleanings. Thanks again for an excellent educational video.
Excellent explanation on class D circuitry. Stuart. It was concise, and easy to understand. Conversely, it does not make it easy to fix by any sense. I'm glad it turned out to be some corrosion on the input jack, and scratchy pots. That fan was strong enough to enable the amp to fly if it had wings. Well done, as always, Stuart. Enjoy the weekend. Cheers!
Syringes like the one shown are often marketed as "printer cartridge ink syringes". If they say "Luer Lock", that refers to the needles having a bayonet-like twist-on base so that you can swap needles of different guage/thickness onto the syringe, or replace a glue-clogged needle. (A thin guitar string is helpful for clearing clogs). Anyway, kudos for using the syringe ---- it's far less wasteful of expensive cleaners. Be advised that I have yet to find a source for inexpensive syringes that use a rubber gasket which is immune to damage from alcohol, solvents or control cleaners. Best to empty out the syringe after you use it and don't leave it sitting there with any kind of liquid in it. Don't just buy one syringe, buy several or a half-dozen in a pack.
Thanks. Tbh they are so cheap I don;t worry unduly. I think they're like 10p each or something. I've reverted to D5 as I found the alcohol didn't work 100% of the time.
Great video Stuart.. Never seen inside that particular Orange amp before. Amazing that they've achieved the advantage of a conventional valve pre-amp with such a huge solid state output power in such a portable and none hernia inducing head. Time will tell if these designs will still be repairable when they've had five decades of use like the old physiotherapists favourite Ampegs.
"5 decades"? Not even a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. My guess at a lifetime for such devices would be 5 to 7 years, 10 at the maximum. If you're really lucky and the output section is a one size fits all device made by the tens are hundreds of thousands for use by various brands, then you might be able to buy a whole new board in the next 5 to 10 years. After that I'm sure it would be obsolete and the chance of fixing it by replacing individual components would not be great, certainly not cost effective when it would probably cost more to fix it than it would cost to buy a replacement. And most of the energy and materials that went into making that device would be completely wasted......
@@goodun2974 An excellent example of what you are saying is the Blackstar HT1 and HT5. 90% surface mount so largely unfixable. Up until a year ago Blackstar would sell me a complete replacement board for £35 so ALL these amps could be repaired. They announced last year that they were discontinuing all replacement boards. A totally mad decision because they could have upped the price to £100 each and we would all have gladly paid it. Now tens of thousadns of these amps are all destined for landfill. Totally immoral in my view.
A similar technique can be applied to diagnosing/repairing stereo equipment ---- if the receiver has removable links on the rear panel for the preamp to power amp connection. "Divide and Conquer"!
I found a similar ground issue in an amp where the manufacturer had forgotten to tape over a ground point when painting the chassis. It was easily fixed by sanding off the paint. I have also seen amps where they used these black oxide-finish screws that cause problem because the screw finish isnt conductive. Obviously those screws need to be replaced if they are to be used for grounding a pcb pad to chassis. I wonder if some amp designers are pencil pushers with no real-world experience....
Interesting thanks. Yes I often see basic design errors cropping up in newish amps. E.g. power resistors mounted close to the PCB etc. My view is that the designers are youngish and for some reason there isn't an 'old hand' experienced eye watching over them. That's just a guess though. The other thing that gives this exact symptom is dirty inter-board connectors.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 On the topic of inter board connectors: I found an intermittent one caused by a bad crimp on a stranded wire. This was not a removable click connector: the crimp part was permanently soldered to the board by design. Tapping on the plastic housing revealed that the wire strands were making bad connection to the crimp inside.
@@infectionsman Yes I think they use interboard connectors to make final assembly easier. Crazy though. E.g. on a JCM 2000 amp you have in exces of 200 crimped interboard connectors in the circuit. What could possibly go wrong? And yes, those 'soldered at one end' and 'plug on the other' are a nightmare.
I have one of these… all I need is the impedance elevator switch replacing, as it’s fallen off over time. Seems like no one wants to touch it! Very frustrating. Hopi g orange themselves can replace it! Thanks for the video…
Hello, thanks. Same problem here with a EBS session 60. I didn´t get so lucky but, i think the gain pot is somehow the problem. The noise went away a little bit and i am trying to do my best in the case. Otherwise, probably i should replace the gain pot, will see.
The Achilles' heel of switching amplifiers is the high amount of high-frequency ripple that the electrolytic caps have to deal with, which causes internal overheating. Capacitors often fail prematurely in such circuits, and are frequently seen to be bulging and domed on top. High-temperature, low-ESR caps should be considered a design requirement for such circuits; but manufacturers are *cheapskates*, and anyway often have little control over the components used by the Chinese companies that churn out vast numbers of such general-purpose, one-size-fits-all, component-stuffed Class D amplifier boards.
Yes you're right 75%+ it's the caps which fail. One other problem with repairing Class D is they often liberally apply gunk like silicpon rubber over everything making it close to impossible to change a component.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 , At least silicone generally is neither corrosive nor conductive. Older electronic equipment used a rubbery yellow to tan colored glue called SonyBond that became corrosive and conductive over time and with heat. I've seen more modern class D amplifiers in powered subwoofers for audio-video TV systems where components were secured with some kind of rubbery black glue that we call "the black goo of death" because it corrodes everything it touches.
I have the same amp. Mine has started to have issues. It will play fine for about 20 minutes then start crackling. It eventually just completely cuts out. Any thoughts?
Hello, im working on the PSU of this amp and the transformer is dead... do you think it's not possible to find the same ref somewhere ? or rewinding it ? cheers
Hi Rewinding is very expensive. Have you tried Orange for a replacement? If no joy, try and get a schematic and see what windings it has on it, you may be able to find something similar off the shelf.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 hi, yes schematic is online and it shows 3 secondary, rectifed gives +53v,0v,-53v / +175vdc / +6,3v... Schematics shows fuses used so i can supposed VA... Ferrite is ok. Just winding is dead. The problem is about the primary side where there 2 windings shared with the pwm driver... Not easy task. Still learning. Rewinding myself does not look really expensive but it looks difficult in terms of the right job done
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830That's what I thought myself. If it sounds like a hairdryer, moves and heats air like a hairdryer, well, then it is a hairdryer! Maybe all those rock bands which are famous for their voluptious hair style, would appreciate an amp which could be used to dry a wet hair as well. 😁
Sure, the modern bass guitar *amplifier* has become small, lightweight and portable ---- but a speaker cabinet capable of tolerating/reproducing 500 watts of low frequency notes most definitely has not!
I really like your attitude : " This is how I do it"....... Not sitting on any high horses.... Hats off!!!
Cheers Bjorn!
Since this is a bass guitar amp and vibrated a lot from sitting on top of a speaker cabinet, I would suggest tightening the ground screw on the right hand side of that front circuit board, and tightening the nuts that holds the pots to the chassis, since all of those are probably supposed to make chassis ground connections. If they're not loose yet, eventually they will be!
Gooid idea!
Another superb repair job as always, Stu
Thanks!
This guy is the bomb!! Best amp tech I've ever had!! Super nice guy as well!
Great video. Thank you Berkshire Amp Repair. I've always been kind of intrigued by these little Orange "lunchbox" amps.
Yes, crazy amount of power for its size, But if it goes wrong....
It was good to see this video today. I had a similar problem with my Ashdown. When it played up, crackled etc. it end up going into "protect" mode and went dead for a few seconds. Your videos are always down to earth and that's why I follow your content.
Thanks Chris.
Nice one again Stuart sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we don't! cheers from down under.
Thanks Steve.
Stuart,
It's good to see little tricks like the paper on these contacts. I have an Orange Micro Dark that has the same issue. I'm hoping the trick helps it last longer between cleanings. Thanks again for an excellent educational video.
Thanks Michael.
Excellent explanation on class D circuitry. Stuart. It was concise, and easy to understand. Conversely, it does not make it easy to fix by any sense. I'm glad it turned out to be some corrosion on the input jack, and scratchy pots. That fan was strong enough to enable the amp to fly if it had wings. Well done, as always, Stuart. Enjoy the weekend. Cheers!
Yes anotjer viewer said it could double as a hairdrier!
Syringes like the one shown are often marketed as "printer cartridge ink syringes". If they say "Luer Lock", that refers to the needles having a bayonet-like twist-on base so that you can swap needles of different guage/thickness onto the syringe, or replace a glue-clogged needle. (A thin guitar string is helpful for clearing clogs). Anyway, kudos for using the syringe ---- it's far less wasteful of expensive cleaners. Be advised that I have yet to find a source for inexpensive syringes that use a rubber gasket which is immune to damage from alcohol, solvents or control cleaners. Best to empty out the syringe after you use it and don't leave it sitting there with any kind of liquid in it. Don't just buy one syringe, buy several or a half-dozen in a pack.
Thanks. Tbh they are so cheap I don;t worry unduly. I think they're like 10p each or something. I've reverted to D5 as I found the alcohol didn't work 100% of the time.
Great video Stuart.. Never seen inside that particular Orange amp before. Amazing that they've achieved the advantage of a conventional valve pre-amp with such a huge solid state output power in such a portable and none hernia inducing head. Time will tell if these designs will still be repairable when they've had five decades of use like the old physiotherapists favourite Ampegs.
Hi Pete. Very hard to repair the class D section!
"5 decades"? Not even a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. My guess at a lifetime for such devices would be 5 to 7 years, 10 at the maximum. If you're really lucky and the output section is a one size fits all device made by the tens are hundreds of thousands for use by various brands, then you might be able to buy a whole new board in the next 5 to 10 years. After that I'm sure it would be obsolete and the chance of fixing it by replacing individual components would not be great, certainly not cost effective when it would probably cost more to fix it than it would cost to buy a replacement. And most of the energy and materials that went into making that device would be completely wasted......
@@goodun2974 An excellent example of what you are saying is the Blackstar HT1 and HT5. 90% surface mount so largely unfixable. Up until a year ago Blackstar would sell me a complete replacement board for £35 so ALL these amps could be repaired. They announced last year that they were discontinuing all replacement boards. A totally mad decision because they could have upped the price to £100 each and we would all have gladly paid it. Now tens of thousadns of these amps are all destined for landfill. Totally immoral in my view.
Powerful little beast Stuart..😀 Cool fix, always informative..Ed..UK..😁
Yes crazy amount of power from such a small amp.
Thanks for doing these video's Stuart very informative.:>
Thanks Paul.
I enjoyed this vid. Never seen the paper trick for cleaning contacts. I usually change the sockets but I will definitely try this next time.
Great thanks Charles.
A similar technique can be applied to diagnosing/repairing stereo equipment ---- if the receiver has removable links on the rear panel for the preamp to power amp connection. "Divide and Conquer"!
Nice one Young Stuart!!
Thank you.
I found a similar ground issue in an amp where the manufacturer had forgotten to tape over a ground point when painting the chassis. It was easily fixed by sanding off the paint. I have also seen amps where they used these black oxide-finish screws that cause problem because the screw finish isnt conductive. Obviously those screws need to be replaced if they are to be used for grounding a pcb pad to chassis. I wonder if some amp designers are pencil pushers with no real-world experience....
Interesting thanks. Yes I often see basic design errors cropping up in newish amps. E.g. power resistors mounted close to the PCB etc. My view is that the designers are youngish and for some reason there isn't an 'old hand' experienced eye watching over them. That's just a guess though. The other thing that gives this exact symptom is dirty inter-board connectors.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 On the topic of inter board connectors: I found an intermittent one caused by a bad crimp on a stranded wire. This was not a removable click connector: the crimp part was permanently soldered to the board by design. Tapping on the plastic housing revealed that the wire strands were making bad connection to the crimp inside.
@@infectionsman Yes I think they use interboard connectors to make final assembly easier. Crazy though. E.g. on a JCM 2000 amp you have in exces of 200 crimped interboard connectors in the circuit. What could possibly go wrong? And yes, those 'soldered at one end' and 'plug on the other' are a nightmare.
It's good to be lucky great fix
Cheers Gary
I have one of these… all I need is the impedance elevator switch replacing, as it’s fallen off over time. Seems like no one wants to touch it! Very frustrating. Hopi g orange themselves can replace it! Thanks for the video…
Ok good luck getting it fixed.
“Well that’s very surprising” Lol, I’d have been cursing the amps existence!! 😂
You don;t see the bits I cut out!!!
Hello, thanks. Same problem here with a EBS session 60. I didn´t get so lucky but, i think the gain pot is somehow the problem. The noise went away a little bit and i am trying to do my best in the case. Otherwise, probably i should replace the gain pot, will see.
Good fix, as usual. What was that big puddle on the bench after you cleaned the potentiometers and plugged the amp back in? Seemed concerning to me.
Hmm, not too sure what that was, I didn;t notice it. Maybe the DeOxit as it doesn;t really evaporate.
Sounds like a full on fry up breakfast as opposed to a pure bacon fry up! 🙂
Full English!
The Achilles' heel of switching amplifiers is the high amount of high-frequency ripple that the electrolytic caps have to deal with, which causes internal overheating. Capacitors often fail prematurely in such circuits, and are frequently seen to be bulging and domed on top. High-temperature, low-ESR caps should be considered a design requirement for such circuits; but manufacturers are *cheapskates*, and anyway often have little control over the components used by the Chinese companies that churn out vast numbers of such general-purpose, one-size-fits-all, component-stuffed Class D amplifier boards.
Yes you're right 75%+ it's the caps which fail. One other problem with repairing Class D is they often liberally apply gunk like silicpon rubber over everything making it close to impossible to change a component.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 , At least silicone generally is neither corrosive nor conductive. Older electronic equipment used a rubbery yellow to tan colored glue called SonyBond that became corrosive and conductive over time and with heat. I've seen more modern class D amplifiers in powered subwoofers for audio-video TV systems where components were secured with some kind of rubbery black glue that we call "the black goo of death" because it corrodes everything it touches.
I have the same amp. Mine has started to have issues. It will play fine for about 20 minutes then start crackling. It eventually just completely cuts out. Any thoughts?
It could be so many things, sorry.
Hello, im working on the PSU of this amp and the transformer is dead... do you think it's not possible to find the same ref somewhere ? or rewinding it ? cheers
Hi Rewinding is very expensive. Have you tried Orange for a replacement? If no joy, try and get a schematic and see what windings it has on it, you may be able to find something similar off the shelf.
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830 hi, yes schematic is online and it shows 3 secondary, rectifed gives +53v,0v,-53v / +175vdc / +6,3v... Schematics shows fuses used so i can supposed VA... Ferrite is ok. Just winding is dead. The problem is about the primary side where there 2 windings shared with the pwm driver... Not easy task. Still learning. Rewinding myself does not look really expensive but it looks difficult in terms of the right job done
I'd try Orange. I've never had a go at rewinding. I doubt it's very easy! Good luck.
Can it be used as a hair dryer?
Yes, definitely!
@@stuartukguitarampguy5830That's what I thought myself. If it sounds like a hairdryer, moves and heats air like a hairdryer, well, then it is a hairdryer! Maybe all those rock bands which are famous for their voluptious hair style, would appreciate an amp which could be used to dry a wet hair as well. 😁
Sure, the modern bass guitar *amplifier* has become small, lightweight and portable ---- but a speaker cabinet capable of tolerating/reproducing 500 watts of low frequency notes most definitely has not!
Yes that's true!