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SVT810AV arrives with broken wheel

bil

bil

Apr 21, 2012
7
1
Hudson, NH
#1
My new SVT810AV just arrived. The right wheel is bent to the point of not turning. It also doesn't sit squarely; the stack rocks a bit to one side.

There are four screws or bolts holding the wheel on. Is it necessary to get access inside the cab to replace the wheel?

Is it worth the aggravation (read: bringing it to nearby GC) to have it fixed under warranty?

(this didn't stop me from testing it out! am running a 2007 SVR-VR thru it; sounds like my old '78 SVT as best as I remember)
 
#2
Replacing the wheel caster isn't a tough task by any means, as it has T-nuts on the inside of the cab. You basically un-bolt the caster, and replace it without having to access anything from the inside.
(IMO) You paid for a "new" cab, so taking it in for them to repair "free" under warranty would the best thing to do, unless it would be a major pain to take it in for repair (long distance drive). If the latter was the case, I would just get them to send a new caster and replace it Myself.
 
#3
I'd get them to replace it just on principle,but I would go to Fliptops and order a pair of wheels from them. The ones on my Heritage 810 were hard plastic,and Fliptops sells the original style hard rubber wheels. Much nicer.
 
#4
My 810e was new about a month ago. One gig, the original wheels were SEVERELY chunked up from going 25 feet across a black-top parking lot. They are hard plastic, noisy, and not very durable.

I went to the local hardware store and purchased the exact same size and hole pattern wheels made of softer rubber/vinyl and replaced them right away. $15 total, and not only is it quieter, but they show no wear whatsoever after half a dozen gigs. Far superior to the stock wheel. Takes 10 minutes top to swap them out. No need to open up the cab, you can do it all from the outside with a socket wrench.

If I were you, I would just upgrade your wheels for $15 and be done with it.
 
#5
Eric Moesle said:
I went to the local hardware store and purchased the exact same size and hole pattern wheels made of softer rubber/vinyl and replaced them right away. $15 total, and not only is it quieter, but they show no wear whatsoever after half a dozen gigs. Far superior to the stock wheel. Takes 10 minutes top to swap them out. No need to open up the cab, you can do it all from the outside with a socket wrench.

If I were you, I would just upgrade your wheels for $15 and be done with it.
Click to expand...

+1. that's exactly what i did on mine too.
 
#10
nick98338 said:
Broken wheel? Could happen to anything during shipping. No big deal. But, lousy quality wheels? Apparently, somewhat widely known to be lousy wheels. To save what? A couple of bucks on a $1000 + cabinet? I'm not feeling the confidence here.
Click to expand...
How much experience with them do you have? I would guess very little if any. The wheels on those cabs are pretty good actually. I still see tons of them in use by backline rental companies and touring pros with the original wheels. Obviously it's shipping damage, and a call to Ampeg will get you a replacement wheel as soon as they can ship it.
 
#13
Thanx for all your help!

So all could see, i've attached two jpg's of the wheel. It's the caster's frame that's torqued. Doesn't look like much, but it's enough to keep a) the wheel from spinning freely and b) the stack teeters a bit.

Dealer (in California; I'm in New Hampshire) will refund local GC for wheel.

I removed the wheel and went to HomeDepot; one swivel caster had the same hole pattern, but no rigid casters fit. But I'll keep looking...

There doesn't appear to be any damage other than the wheel. Played three hours last night, and didn't notice any issues...
 

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  • svt810av - right wheel bottom view.jpg
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  • svt810av - right wheel side view.jpg
    svt810av - right wheel side view.jpg
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#14
JimmyM said:
LOL! If that happened, it would have shown up already when he plugged in.
Click to expand...

True - but I'd want to look it over carefully for any potential structure damage... Seems to me that the angled board that those casters are mounted to is the area I've seen needing work on Ampeg 810s that have been "rode hard and put away wet" a few too many times... If it were my cab, I might consider pulling the bottom drivers and taking a look inside, to make sure everything was OK in there - and if it was, and there weren't any other issues, I'd just replace the caster and enjoy my new cab... IMO, those new Heritage 810s are pretty sweet...


- georgestrings
 
#16
JimmyM said:
How much experience with them do you have? I would guess very little if any. The wheels on those cabs are pretty good actually. I still see tons of them in use by backline rental companies and touring pros with the original wheels. Obviously it's shipping damage, and a call to Ampeg will get you a replacement wheel as soon as they can ship it.
Click to expand...


Not to mention that big cabs tend to be rough on casters, anyways - it's not uncommon for their hardware to need attention if you gig them alot, and not a big deal - cost of doing business, as far as I'm concerned... I seem to get around 2 years of gigging out of the casters on my Mesa big cabs - I think they *could* put better casters on them, but don't see it as a deal breaker...


- gergestrings
 
#17
will33 said:
Shipping damage....return it. The wheel is the least of your worries. The knock could've knocked speaker baskets out of alignment, broke glue seals on magnets...who knows what.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd be concerned that whatever caused a hit hard enough to bend the wheel had done internal damage. I'd take it back...and leave it.

It's quite another thing if YOU break a wheel at some point and you know what you did to break it. It's a new cabinet; let it be someone else's issue.

While you're waiting for a new one, you might hunt down the best set of replacement wheels you can find and have them in hand when the new cabinet arrives.

And give some thought to the fact that a 130 lb cabinet is already "aggravating" to take back to GC and that it easily breaks its wheels and allow your mind to consider that there are lighter alternatives.:ninja:
 
#18
dspellman said:
Yeah, I'd be concerned that whatever caused a hit hard enough to bend the wheel had done internal damage. I'd take it back...and leave it.

It's quite another thing if YOU break a wheel at some point and you know what you did to break it. It's a new cabinet; let it be someone else's issue.

While you're waiting for a new one, you might hunt down the best set of replacement wheels you can find and have them in hand when the new cabinet arrives.

And give some thought to the fact that a 130 lb cabinet is already "aggravating" to take back to GC and that it easily breaks its wheels and allow your mind to consider that there are lighter alternatives.:ninja:
Click to expand...
No there isn't. Yes, there are lighter cabs out there, but if there were legit alternatives for the Ampeg 810, we would use them.
 
#20
You might not notice other damage right away. You will when a magnet falls off 2 months from now, or when a coil rubs through after a few hours of use.

If it's a brand new cab, it's a simple warranty return...better safe than sorry.

If it's used, then inspect everything yourself and fix what's needed.

And yeah, that skateboard truck thing is a cool idea.
 

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