Did I just pay a high price for my eagerness?

[troy mcclure]

Playing dumb has always worked for me. Send it the warranty card, 2 months from now send it back to TE and say ..hey it stopped working. Good Luck

 

[corndog]

Thank goodness my bank account can survive the enormous hit of losing your non-existent business. Never sold anything here, never will. Enjoy your moral superiority.

I don't see it as superiority, just a difference in character.

And see post #135, from the proverbial horses mouth. That coming from a company with a good warranty.

 

[Kikegg]

Manufacturers absolutely do factor such costs into the price you pay. The greater these costs the greater YOUR cost.

This is one reason why some manufacturers, especially those with liberal warranties, put such effort into making reliable products. Unfortunately it's hard and costly to deal with those who take advantage of such policies with accidentally (or intentionally) abused products.

Incidentally, we recently included input power auto-voltage detection and selection plus overvoltage protection in some amps models to prevent this, but it did add some cost. Hopefully it will reduce overall costs by eliminating such accidental (or intentional, and I'm NOT saying the OP did this intentionally) problems that get claimed under warranty.

Thanks for you input. Usually that kind of problems/accidents/mistakes are not covered by the warranty, which leaves in my opinion, the customer unprotected under the manufacturer's criteria and country's Customer Protection Laws (which tend to be very lax). It's great to hear you implemented that protection as accidents happen as to the OP. I think it's a very wise move!

 

[BigBear77]

I don't know if this was mentioned before, but are your receptacles the same configuration as those in the US??

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Guitar Center hasn't really gone out of their way to treat their customers or employees with respect so while I agree with you, I'd be perfectly OK using their liberal return policy to my advantage. Honestly, OP could say that he thought he ordered the 220V version and didn't even think that a 120V version would an option as he lives in a country with 220V power, which is pretty much what happened.

OP, try GC first, their employees are treated poorly and paid very low wages, they have little to no company loyalty and will probably send you a new one without much trouble.

Deceitfully taking advantage of a returns policy won't help the employees or other customers. If you think that GC doesn't treat them well, I'd suggest a letter saying that you are not intending to do business with GC, and explain why.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

agedhorse said: ↑
Manufacturers absolutely do factor such costs into the price you pay. The greater these costs the greater YOUR cost.

This is one reason why some manufacturers, especially those with liberal warranties, put such effort into making reliable products. Unfortunately it's hard and costly to deal with those who take advantage of such policies with accidentally (or intentionally) abused products.

Incidentally, we recently included input power auto-voltage detection and selection plus overvoltage protection in some amps models to prevent this, but it did add some cost. Hopefully it will reduce overall costs by eliminating such accidental (or intentional, and I'm NOT saying the OP did this intentionally) problems that get claimed under warranty.

I would imagine that having such protections also improves the perceived value of the product, and repeat business.

 

[jdthebassman]

I would replace it with a quilter bass block 800 you can find one here for $500 or less awesome amp.

 

[WardEarth]

Just gotta get a little more flo in your pockets. Sell your body on the streets if you have to.

 

[Groove Doctor]

We were told the amp was going to be multi voltage before it was released. Probably there is a jumper inside to allow a changeover with appropriate fuse change. Too late for OP.

I did that with the tiny GK head I use as my backup amp. Didn't even need to change the fuse.

 

[Groove Doctor]

The GC sales rep assured my friend that this will work with the 220V electrical system.

Make sure you quote this, including the store location, the date, time, etc which are all on the receipt.

If you can, include the name of that sales assistant that gave your friend that advice. If you don't know their name, describe them eg. Male over 50 with glasses and moustache.

Stress to them that that advice is the reason why you purchased the TE amp over other available amps.

 

[agedhorse]

The protection is the fuse, but the fuse would have been for 3.4A not 1.6A, so goodbye amp, unfortunately, most likely.

Fuses don't protect against such faults, even with the correct fuse size. By time the fuse would have opened, the voltage fault had already turned into a current fault and caused the damage.

 

[Bass_Bob]

As someone who deals with electronics daily I would suspect the only think that would be worth keeping would be the case itself. Not sure I would trust SS electronics after a major overvolt like that.

Yep, my first reaction is that the amp would go into my pile of stuff to strip for parts. But, I'd still hold out hope that the smoke and ooze was contained to the pre-PWM bits of the PS. It's a low cost amp whose supply got slammed with 440V post-doubler, so the hope is small. But who knows... perhaps it has a robust topology with super fast control feedback and massive power bus decoupling. I'd have to at least open it up and poke around a bit

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Fuses don't protect against such faults, even with the correct fuse size. By time the fuse would have opened, the voltage fault had already turned into a current fault and caused the damage.

Eek.

 

[gumtown]

A Fuse does not protect an amp, it only extinguishes the source of fire and explosion to prevent further personal harm.
The amp has "popped it's cookies", these ones are cheap enough that a repair would be more expensive than a replacement.
Just write it off to experience.

Sell it on eBay as 'not working', describing what happened, you would be surprised how much some mug would pay for it in optimistic enthusiasm.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Damnnn I feel bad for you, hopefully everything works out for the best...

 

[agedhorse]

Yep, my first reaction is that the amp would go into my pile of stuff to strip for parts. But, I'd still hold out hope that the smoke and ooze was contained to the pre-PWM bits of the PS. It's a low cost amp whose supply got slammed with 440V post-doubler, so the hope is small. But who knows... perhaps it has a robust topology with super fast control feedback and massive power bus decoupling. I'd have to at least open it up and poke around a bit

Wear rubber gloves, icky mess. Poking around might be ok for somebody who knows what's going on inside, but otherwise worthless for those who don't.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I did that with the tiny GK head I use as my backup amp. Didn't even need to change the fuse.

Elf needs a fuse change. The GK must have the fuse after the transformer, not that the fuse can save the amp from a double voltage goof anyway it seems.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

How were you able to do this?

I have never seen a 220 receptacle that was compatible with the blades on a North American power cable.

My home in Thailand was full of them, as well as everywhere I worked:

 

[agedhorse]

Elf needs a fuse change. The GK must have the fuse after the transformer, not that the fuse can save the amp from a double voltage goof anyway it seems.

Not possible, would violate every safety standard in the civilized world.

Fuses and components are sized to protect people and property, not necessarily the equipment itself. This is why a single fuse size can be chosen, the size is calculated and tested to clear faults to protect against shock and fire once the over-CURRENT event happens. This was an over-VOLTAGE event that caused damage that resulted in over-current. The progress of faults ares part of the safety certification process.

 

[MojoPenguin]

Yeah I bought my Carvin amp from the US, but the voltage goes from 110v to 220v so no problem. IMHO Class D amps should all be able to do that, just as computers chargers do.