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Traynor YBA200 NIGHTMARE... advice needed (dial-up beware)

#21
The fuse started blowing at first.....(it's been a while ago so I can't recall everything 100%).....it made a bad crackling noise after the fuse started blowing. One of the power tubes was blown and not lighting up at all. I tried putting the 6550's back in it and the 3rd power tube lighted up REALLY bright but it still didn't make any noise.

I'm pretty sure I did not get the mod. In the whole time of talking with Traynor they never mentioned it, but it has been probably a year or more ago when this happened.


btw, in the two month it took to get repaired about 5-6 of those weeks was back and forth calls to Traynor!!

After it was repaired by my tech I did use it for several months with no problems. I have since sold the amp.
 
#22
I hope this isn't considered hijacking the thread.

I just spoke to Traynor, they are willing to do the work on my amp even though it is out of warranty. Very nice folks to talk to though the first customer service guy didn't think they did adjustable bias upgrades when I mentioned it. He had to check.

They are going to fix it and upgrade it to adjustable bias, and bias it for the kt88's I will be sending with the amp. They estimated 80-90 bucks for the repair plus round trip shipping. I could probably save a few bucks if I found the right repair person, but I'd rather have it fixed/upgraded by the people who built it.

The real disappointment is that what was supposed to be a great deal on an amp is going to cost me what a new one would have. Used YBA200 + full "low gain" retube + repair is almost exactly (within a few dollars) the same price as a new YBA200-2 and a set of preamp tubes, and with a new one I'd have a 2 year unconditional warranty if something goes wrong. Live and learn I guess, though I do get to have the version with the neat "winged" logo.

Maybe not a nightmare, but definately a sad story so far. I'm hoping for a happy ending.
 
#23
Wow!!!
This is kind of a sad story. Hope it works out for you. I have been in similar situations and they are not fun. Try to be patient and hold your temper, even if "you are right and they are wrong". Wait until it is all over and you have your amp safe in hand, then send nasty letters and emails if it seems relevant. JMHO.
But when a fuse blows the worst thing to do is put in a new fuse without knowing what caused it. Fuses don't go bad, something pushes them over the cliff.
Shame on Traynor for shipping that amp to you with those tubes in the sockets. Tubes should always be taken out and bubble wrapped for shipping. That is amp shipping 101. They at least owe you a new quartet.
OK. Enough of my 20/20 hindsight vision. Good Luck with all of this.:eek:
 
#24
A few things I dont get so I will ask rhetorically... if it was a resistor in the auto bias that they knew was overheating and failing, why wasn't it replaced with a higher wattage component? Sounds like that portion of the circuit was problematic anyway since they don't use it anymore.

Second, why was the amp shipped with the tubes in the sockets? Those retainer springs can very easily detatch from the retainer eyelet. AT that point it wouldnt take much of a jostle for them to come out of the socket. Then they are prone to losing vaccuum from bouncing around. Shipping tube amps with the power tubes in the sockets is not good. EDIT: hired hand you beat me to it! I should read more before I post... :D
 
#25
Eilif said:
3) A brief popping/scratching sound, an orange sun shining from the second tube
Click to expand...

That tube is in runaway and it could be a problem with the bias circuit. Tubes light up like that when they draw too much current. Simply replacing that tube will probably result in the same thing happening since its not really the tubes. I would have a tech check it out before you turn it on again.
 
#26
On the UPS note. My roomie's friend worked at them overnight for several months. The one detail he told me of the job is a horror story in itself.

Here's how it goes. They have 2 floors that he mentioned. When they need packages/parcels/what have you, they throw them down to the first floor. If there's nobody there to catch them, oops.

He got fired for not being fast enough. I guess someone lost a nice amp because someone like him wasn't quick enough to catch those flying packages, eh?

This also explains how one of our computers was reboxed, well, actually, they didn't pay us that luxury. They just took the crushed one, put it in a bigger box and send us a computer smashed into bits.

Anyways, back to thread...
 
#27
metron said:
Second, why was the amp shipped with the tubes in the sockets? Those retainer springs can very easily detatch from the retainer eyelet. AT that point it wouldnt take much of a jostle for them to come out of the socket. Then they are prone to losing vaccuum from bouncing around. Shipping tube amps with the power tubes in the sockets is not good. EDIT: hired hand you beat me to it! I should read more before I post... :D
Click to expand...


According to Ben Casey, it is standard practice to ship an amp with the tubes in the sockets. All of their tube amps are shipped this way.

I can't say if that's good or bad... but in this case, it wasn't. The springs did in fact detach from the eyelet, and the tubes suffered the consequences. A quick search on YouTube about UPS' handling practices tells me they probably didn't help the issue.
 
#29
slowburnaz said:
According to Ben Casey, it is standard practice to ship an amp with the tubes in the sockets. All of their tube amps are shipped this way.

I can't say if that's good or bad... but in this case, it wasn't. The springs did in fact detach from the eyelet, and the tubes suffered the consequences. A quick search on YouTube about UPS' handling practices tells me they probably didn't help the issue.
Click to expand...


Standard practice isnt always good. My father used to be a factory millwright. At the end of the day they would clean (sweep) the floors with asbestos dust. It was a standard practice at the time. He doesn't have cancer yet but a few guys he worked with died from it.

Anyway I have had several tube amps shipped to me with tubes in the sockets and a few of them had issues as a result. I won't say they won't make it, clearly they do however... its a bad standard practice IMO. Your tubes were bouncing around in the amp and 2 lost vaccuum. I assume you agree with me? :D

The only problem is that the sockets they go in is important. When I ship tube amps I pull the output tubes, number them, and write a simple guide on where they should go.
 
#30
I've got an RA number and I'm going to ship the amp back to Traynor as soon as the replacement tube arrives from Eurotubes. Hopefully everything will work out.

One interesting factoid. I spoke to a tech named "Guy" and he informed me that the Sovtek 6550's were passing alot less current than the specifications for "true" 6550's or the currently stock KT88's.


Slowburnaz,
Any satisfaction from Traynor or UPS yet?
 
#31
Eilif said:
I've got an RA number and I'm going to ship the amp back to Traynor as soon as the replacement tube arrives from Eurotubes. Hopefully everything will work out.

One interesting factoid. I spoke to a tech named "Guy" and he informed me that the Sovtek 6550's were passing alot less current than the specifications for "true" 6550's or the currently stock KT88's.


Slowburnaz,
Any satisfaction from Traynor or UPS yet?
Click to expand...


Traynor said they're going to have me ship the amp back to them (on their dime... still haven't received the UPS label via e-mail, though). I guess they're going to retube/repair, and send it back to me again.

It just sucks that they can't use any shipper other than UPS, or even insure the shipment. Funny thing is, when I asked the lady I spoke with in the credit department if they had insured the shipment, she told me that they don't do that. I'm paraphrasing here, but... "Insurance can cost a few bucks for each shipment, and that would cost us a LOT of money since we make so many shipments per day." Problem is, I paid for them to ship the amp back to me, and wasn't even given the option of insuring it.
 
#32
I think this is bad business on Traynor's end, Period! As a former business owner of a Manufacturer/retail wheel company, I bent over backwards for a customer who bought wheels off "ME" that had defective issues, no matter how long ago!!! You don’t need to spend your money on their problems, good luck…
 
#33
slowburnaz said:
Traynor said they're going to have me ship the amp back to them (on their dime... still haven't received the UPS label via e-mail, though). I guess they're going to retube/repair, and send it back to me again.
Click to expand...

Interesting... They aren't sending me a UPS label, they just gave me a RA number and said ship it. It may be because my unit is out of warranty, but yours is also right?
 
#34
Eilif said:
Interesting... They aren't sending me a UPS label, they just gave me a RA number and said ship it. It may be because my unit is out of warranty, but yours is also right?
Click to expand...

Well, the first time I sent it in for repairs, I paid shipping both ways. I guess they're paying for it this time... still haven't been sent a UPS label, though.
 
#36
IMHO stories like this are the exact reason why I use SS amps. Not to flame anyone who uses tube amps but when things go wrong with tube amps they seem to go REALLY wrong. And that just plain sucks for the user involved. Yes I know there are billions of guitar/bass players who use tubes but I guess you could say I am a little biased (pardon the pun). Hope it wll works out well for both of the posters with troubles! :)
 
#38
Man,as much as I hate to say it,I'm in the same boat.After singing the praises of this amp after the tube switch mine recently went Supernova.My tech has got it back up and running but he says the bias is running on the high side.I'm not a techie so I can only go on what he says.The 88's in mine he says are running at around 71 mw.He says this is why the amp truly sounds great, unfortunately the trade off is going to be shortened tube life.He also pointed out with the current bias system all it is going to take for another total meltdown is one tube going bad and the system is wrecked!I don't see why Traynor doesn't buck up and rectify the old amps with the new bias setup.I know that's a stretch but I don't think everyone that owns one would actually have them repaired anyway.A retro fit I believe would make Traynor look like heroes in the eyes of their customers.I really was getting off on this little amp before this happened. How about it Traynor,doesn't your customer deserve better?
 
#39
Moderately pertinent to the topic story:

I worked for UPS for a few weeks unloading trucks at their OKC hub. Unloaders walk into the back of a semi where the packages are stacked all the way to the ceiling. They then start unloading in the middle (ie: half way up). When you've undermined the wall'o'packages to the point that the packages on top are ready to fall, you jump out of the way and just let them fall the ten or so feet. Then you unload them. IOW, it is standard operating procedure to drop packages ten feet minimum when unloading them from trucks. I will use UPS to ship packages, but I make damn sure that I insure them and pack them as well as possible. They will be dropped. Period.
 

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