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Cat peed in my Amp

Off-Beat

Off-Beat

Guest
Dec 8, 2014
807
1,580
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Vienna, AUT
#1
I've got an Ashdown mag 300 and I once took it to a rehearsal. While playing I forcefully put a bottle of beer on it and it started "screaming". The high pitched noise wouldn't stop even when I turned down the output and preamp potis down. When I got it home I opened it up and found out that catpee was all over the circuit boards. I cleaned it, but I now hesitate to use it. I've got a 20w amp for home practice and atm we use an equipped rehearsal room. As it's a new band I also have no timetable to (fully) repear and stresstest it, but I'd love to refurbish it(equipment would be np, same for parts as a work at a company who build mechatronic components - would just need to stay longer).

Anyone got an idea where to look at? First idea was that a filter(lowpass?) got bypassed. I colleague ment it might be the preamp.
 
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#3
JDBlyth said:
Are you sure it's actually cat pee? This sounds weird, but faulty or damaged capacitors smell like cat pee, and if the electrolyte has leaked, it can look like it too.

Or it could be cat pee. I'd look for any blown or damaged capacitors first.
Click to expand...

I did that. All the caps of the electrolyte capacitors are still intact. Also hit them with a plastic stick while running to look for a "cold" soldering spot. Nothing.
The whole board was full of it, so I'm pretty sure it came from somewhere else.
 
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#4
When corrosive substances like cat pee get onto a PCB, (and this can even include water with high mineral content or water from a potted plant) the corrosive action typically destroys the leads and lead seals, and the dissimilar metals also corrode where they come together (solder and copper, ok copper and tin plate) for example) which ultimately make such damage totally unrepairable.

This is an example of where replacement of the affected PCBs is the only reliable solution. I would never want to own a unit with this kind of "repaired" damage as they tend to come up with problem after problem for ever.

I know this is not what you want to hear...
 
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#5
agedhorse said:
When corrosive substances like cat pee get onto a PCB, (and this can even include water with high mineral content or water from a potted plant) the corrosive action typically destroys the leads and lead seals, and the dissimilar metals also corrode where they come together (solder and copper, ok copper and tin plate) for example) which ultimately make such damage totally unrepairable.

This is an example of where replacement of the affected PCBs is the only reliable solution. I would never want to own a unit with this kind of "repaired" damage as they tend to come up with problem after problem for ever.

I know this is not what you want to hear...
Click to expand...

Actually that's quite good to hear, as it means I don't have to look deeper into it and rather just get a new amp/combo.
 
#7
images.jpg
 
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#13
Trabeen said:
If a cat wizzed on your amp it is no longer your amp, it has been claimed and is now the cat's amp.
Click to expand...

Dat's true. Except when the next cat strolls by and pees over the old pee to claim it anew. Cat pee is like a magnet for cats. It's kind of like cool bass gear. It attracts other bassists like flies ... until they smell the cat pee.
 
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#14
If it is actually urine, not just a male cat marking, then it is really not the cat's fault. Cats use their litterbox by preference. If a cat is using the bathroom outside the litterbox it means you (or whoever) are a crappy cat owner and need to clean the litterbox. Do not get pets if you are not prepared to take care of them.
 
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#16
I have no advice about repair, but don't bring the head on the road.

Having been in a band that did extensive touring, I can tell you that if you are being searched at borders, or at the rest stop as would frequently happen for that matter, sniffer dogs freak the effff out about cat pee. Drummer had a duffle bag that his cat peed on and the dog alerted by trying to kill it. Border cops thought they had busted the mother load. That led to a rather lengthy search. Yeah. There. Yep.
 
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#17
DiabolusInMusic said:
If it is actually urine, not just a male cat marking, then it is really not the cat's fault. Cats use their litterbox by preference. If a cat is using the bathroom outside the litterbox it means you (or whoever) are a crappy cat owner and need to clean the litterbox. Do not get pets if you are not prepared to take care of them.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, some cats are just A-holes.
We had four cats from before we had kids, not a one ever went outside the litter box (even the youngest, who lived the longest after the others had passed and he was alone).

My daughter got one a few years back... Nice, friendly, but if left alone for more than three hours... would pee on stuff (usually mine, which is odd, because I was her "person"). Had her checked, no health issues, everyone was nice to her, but if I went out to the store during the day over three hours... EVERY TIME. I like animals, but I'm not going to have my life controlled by one. We discovered when we went on vacation, what she needed was a companion. We knew we couldn't have someone "cat-sit", so while looking at boarding options, a friend offered to let her stay with her (and her cat), After having a cat meet-up, and determining they got along, we agreed to terms. The whole time she was there, she was perfect, even when the owner was at work (9 hours), never peed outside the box. She didn't want to come home, and cried the whole way, and without the first 24 hours peed multiple times even though everyone was home the whole time. The other owner called us the next day to say how sad her cat was, she wanted to have her, so we let her go. She's never peed at her house, she needed another cat.

We found it odd, cats are so independent, and someone was almost always home at our house (she was a rescued stray), that she would do that, but sometimes they are just difficult. We lucked on the solution, I didn't want to get another cat just on the chance it might have helped her.
 
#20
Off-Beat said:
I've got an Ashdown mag 300 and I once took it to a rehearsal. While playing I forcefully put a bottle of beer on it and it started "screaming". The high pitched noise wouldn't stop even when I turned down the output and preamp potis down. When I got it home I opened it up and found out that catpee was all over the circuit boards. I cleaned it, but I now hesitate to use it. I've got a 20w amp for home practice and atm we use an equipped rehearsal room. As it's a new band I also have no timetable to (fully) repear and stresstest it, but I'd love to refurbish it(equipment would be np, same for parts as a work at a company who build mechatronic components - would just need to stay longer).

Anyone got an idea where to look at? First idea was that a filter(lowpass?) got bypassed. I colleague ment it might be the preamp.
Click to expand...
Fire the cat.
 
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