Peavey VB-2 issue

Astring · #1 08-18-2012, 09:58 PM

I hope the tech from PV sees this post.........Just bought a VB-2 from a music dealer in mint condition, model made in USA. Ran it a few times and blew the internal fuse, no output. Got it repaired, brand new output tubes, the repairman said it was bad tubes. Ran it at a gig for two + hours, everything fine until pfft. the fuse blew again. HELP! Can I ever trust this amp???? My thoughts are that since each amp has a serial number, Peavey should be able to determine exactly when built, and any associated problems and maybe exchange a clunker for a unit that works and is reliable. By purchasing one from a second source, the original warranty seems to be N/G. While I understand this, it's just not fair to the new owner or the Peavey name itself! This amp is new!
If there are any suggestions on what could cause this, it would be greatly appreciated as well....but the trust issue is huge after the amp blew the fuse twice.
It can't be the tubes after two sets, because if the tube circuit was that delicate, what good would the amp be???

One Drop · #2 08-18-2012, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astring

I hope the tech from PV sees this post.........Just bought a VB-2 from a music dealer in mint condition, model made in USA. Ran it a few times and blew the internal fuse, no output. Got it repaired, brand new output tubes, the repairman said it was bad tubes. Ran it at a gig for two + hours, everything fine until pfft. the fuse blew again. HELP! Can I ever trust this amp???? My thoughts are that since each amp has a serial number, Peavey should be able to determine exactly when built, and any associated problems and maybe exchange a clunker for a unit that works and is reliable. By purchasing one from a second source, the original warranty seems to be N/G. While I understand this, it's just not fair to the new owner or the Peavey name itself! This amp is new!
If there are any suggestions on what could cause this, it would be greatly appreciated as well....but the trust issue is huge after the amp blew the fuse twice.
It can't be the tubes after two sets, because if the tube circuit was that delicate, what good would the amp be???

Very large possibility the repairman did not find the real problem. I'm not sure bad tubes are a common cause of shorting fuses, but I'm no expert.

rodl2005 · #3 08-18-2012, 10:23 PM

Hope u kept the original tubes, may've been fine-if not all then some....
If it was a fuse blown, tech "should've" diagnosed & repaired???

BbbyBld · #4 08-19-2012, 10:57 AM

Did the fuse come from Peavey? The proper fuse would be nearly impossible to find any other way. It has special ratings.

What type of tubes were used as replacements? This amp has a pretty high plate voltage. It's well under the max for this tube type, but not all modern tubes meet spec.

Was it properly re-biased by the tech? That may be hard to tell. If you use the same tech, ask how he verifies correct bias. The bias should be set by measuring the plate current. Some techs set bias "visually".

Keep me posted and I will help any way I can.

Astring · #5 08-19-2012, 06:14 PM

Hey thanks for that info, actually I am dropping it off tomorrow (again) and I will pass along these comments. They are an authorized Peavey servicecenter by the way.....I'll let you know what they say......I was told that the new ones were biased, but what method I don't know....as well as the type of fuse...

VanillaThundah · #6 08-19-2012, 06:18 PM

Had a similar problem with my past one. The internal fuse needs to be replaced, but like the Peavey rep said, it needs to be one of theirs.

Astring · #7 08-20-2012, 06:30 AM

We'll pass that on also, but you mentioned your "past" one, that doesn't sound good to me. I actually love the tone of this amp, well, when it works and would like to keep it. Hopefully you don't have it because of something else!

carbonfold · #8 08-20-2012, 09:08 AM

This may help you out as I had the same issue:

Transformer Diodes

But, in the end the Peavey repair tech ended up replacing a whole pcb section instead of breaking down the "exact" problem.

VanillaThundah · #9 08-20-2012, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astring

We'll pass that on also, but you mentioned your "past" one, that doesn't sound good to me. I actually love the tone of this amp, well, when it works and would like to keep it. Hopefully you don't have it because of something else!

Without going into too much detail and ruffling feathers, I will just say that it wasn't what I wanted out of a tube amp when compared to others I had owned in the past. If you like the tone of yours, you should get it fixed and enjoy it til you croak. To my knowledge, this internal fuse is the only problem I've read about. I had no other issues with mine outside of that.

Astring · #10 08-20-2012, 06:50 PM

Wow carbonfold, that's a whole lot of technical stuff!! wow....

Astring · #11 08-20-2012, 07:04 PM

Vanilla, I appreciate your comments, here's my dilemma.....I DO love the tone of the amp when it's working, and, I have played through many amps both tube and transistor so I can make some good comparisons...actually I have a classic Ampeg B-18 that was fixed and re-done by a tech who actually worked for Ampeg back in the day. I have a West tube amp also that was re-done by Dave West himself and sounds awesome! So I wanted a tuber that I could actually take out on the road because the two old ones above are worth way too much to have someone spill a beer on them. I've had (and still do) a couple of transistor amps which are a whole lot lighter but they just don't have that classic sound----close mind you , but not exactly.
So I bought this Peavey....now I can't in my right frame of mind sell this one off if it's not working .....and have to see through some kind of fix. It's a shame because it doesn't give the Peavey name a very good rep if we can't find the solution.
So, that's the dilemma. Hopefully my tech will come up with the solution this time around!
But, hey I hear you.....every amp is not for everybody if you know what I mean.

VanillaThundah · #12 08-20-2012, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astring

Vanilla, I appreciate your comments, here's my dilemma.....I DO love the tone of the amp when it's working, and, I have played through many amps both tube and transistor so I can make some good comparisons...actually I have a classic Ampeg B-18 that was fixed and re-done by a tech who actually worked for Ampeg back in the day. I have a West tube amp also that was re-done by Dave West himself and sounds awesome! So I wanted a tuber that I could actually take out on the road because the two old ones above are worth way too much to have someone spill a beer on them. I've had (and still do) a couple of transistor amps which are a whole lot lighter but they just don't have that classic sound----close mind you , but not exactly.
So I bought this Peavey....now I can't in my right frame of mind sell this one off if it's not working .....and have to see through some kind of fix. It's a shame because it doesn't give the Peavey name a very good rep if we can't find the solution.
So, that's the dilemma. Hopefully my tech will come up with the solution this time around!
But, hey I hear you.....every amp is not for everybody if you know what I mean.

As soon as they get the Peavey fuse in there, it should work just fine. I've had other Peavey products that were darn near bulletproof (my MAXBass combo, for one) and to my knowledge this is the only hiccup I've heard of. I may be nabbing one of their 8x10 cabs in the future as well, so I wouldn't judge them too harshly just based on the VB-2.

Yes, I do respect them for putting the SMPS in the VB-3, it would be interesting to see how it affects an amp tonally. If we could put an SMPS in more all-tube amps, could you imagine how much weight it would knock off? 300w SVT and under 40lbs? I'd lug that around all day long

Astring · #13 08-21-2012, 07:39 AM

yep that's usually the issue with those heavy transformers. if they come up with a hybrid that actually sounds more like the tube section, and is light--well that's it! Look at the technology for the class d amps that are out there, they weigh in at like a few pounds. So somewhere in between would be cool.

RockBobby · #14 11-10-2012, 11:39 AM

Is this it? Mine went on the blink and I haven't brought it in yet. The damn thing is only about 1/4 in.

**DethByDoom** · #15 11-10-2012, 01:38 PM

I have one. Never had problems like these. Mines a newer one. From what I've heard the early vb2s had a manufacturing fault that caused problems like this. They got recalled to have the part replaced. Can't remember the part… hopefully the service center would know?

jastacey · #16 11-11-2012, 07:51 AM

I had one of the early VB2 ...and it had the fuse issue ... I tried using off the shelf fuses and had no luck ...... got some factory fuses and that cured the problem .... if your changing power tubes tubes, reset the bias

BbbyBld · #17 11-11-2012, 11:27 AM

That picture shows the fuse that had the problem. It's likely that replacing that fuse is all the amp needs. You'll have to get the fuse from Peavey.

RockBobby · #18 11-11-2012, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BbbyBld

That picture shows the fuse that had the problem. It's likely that replacing that fuse is all the amp needs. You'll have to get the fuse from Peavey.

Thanks bobby. Do you have a link to a contact person? I'll need instructions. Unhook hot wires, etc so I don't get zapped. Thanks.

pocketgroove · #19 11-11-2012, 11:44 AM

I have an earlier one, no problems. I've heard this was a common issue for the first year or two of these amps. It should be pretty well-documented.

ZanaZulu807 · #20 11-18-2012, 11:05 AM

Hopefully someone can determine the problem with mine, but from what I'm reading it sounds like fuse issues. Last night I was playing at low volumes with some effects and out of nowhere this loud smashing noise came through the speakers. The sound suddenly went dead so I put the amp in standby mode then off to cool the tubes down and tried again to see if I got some sound. I tried rolling the master knob and got no kind of output, tried plugging into different jacks and still got nothing. The tubes and the front panel all light up but I'm getting no sound whatsoever. Is this a blown fuse? How much does it usually take to repair something like this?