Update On the Trace Eliott ELF That I Blew Up.

[popcat]

The amp was on an eternity, the fan flew, there was smoke and lightning, it screamed like a lobster placed in hot water. ...It's gone, twenty pages of gone.

 

[Wood and Wire]

U.K. has the best-designed plugs:

View attachment 2953814

the Earth prong HAS to open the ports for the other two prongs

and those switches built into the outlets is pure genius

The other really cool thing about those plugs we have in the UK, is that when a device is left unplugged, the prongs naturally point up in the air.

It's only when you step on one, in bare feet, that you truly learn how high, and how far you can hop - or how extensive your vocabulary of expletives is.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Far worse than stepping on a Lego

 

[Element Zero]

Ancient alien theorists believe that knobs are not actually lost, they simply move to another dimension. Sort of like one shoe along the roadside.

 

[agedhorse]

Far worse than stepping on a Lego

Or (still warm) kitty yack.

 

[LuckyScott]

I read both threads. Really a bummer that it happened, but it was definitely not the fault of the amp company. I do think the thread title is unfair as someone could read just the title without reading the thread and get the impression that the quality of the amp was bad.

 

[Engle]

Or (still warm) kitty yack.

Cold kitty yack isn’t especially pleasant in bare feet either

 

[dindinbre]

U.K. has the best-designed plugs:

View attachment 2953814

the Earth prong HAS to open the ports for the other two prongs

and those switches built into the outlets is pure genius

UK ALMOST has the best designed plugs Place number 1 goes to Schuko plugs

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Those don't have a fuse built into the plug head, do they?

 

[dindinbre]

Nope, there is absolutely no need for something like that., that is just hell of an overkill. Having automatic fuses on board is just enough.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

The plug itself will fit right into a Thai outlet.
but they're both 220 Volts, so no real problem

 

[dindinbre]

Schuko plugs have several advantages over American plugs for example. There are no bare contacts, you cant plug it halfway, and you need some force to take it out from wall outlet, it is well secured. It is German technology after all, either unbeatable in quality and design or ultra weird and just not good.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Here is the backstory if you aren't familiar.

So I emailed Trace Eliott. There was no response for one and a half days so I sent them a reminder.

I got an email from a customer service guy named Chris and he essentially said that since the amp was bought in the US and carried outside of the US border, there is nothing they can do.

He said that there might be some local distributor (I searched, there is none) and they might or might not repair it for me since the unit was bought in the US.

That's it.

Well I wasn't expecting them to replace my unit. But I was surely hoping that at least he would give me an idea of the extent of the damage. Or provide some repair solution (for e.g. replacement of the board and the cost involved).

I am pretty disappointed with their scripted response.

I have written to them again. Asking them if they can provide tech support with respect to the repairs, as I know a competent technician here who regularly repairs amps and pedals. And has offered to take a look at my unit. He did mention that he might need some support from the manufacturer and we might need to ship in some parts. That was the support I was looking for from TE.

Now I am awaiting their reply again.

With all sympathy to the OP I'm going to +1 on how totally unfair - and possibly even defamatory - this thread title is to Trace Elliott.

The OP by his own admission plugged a 110V unit into a 230V supply.

So no surprise then that the amp "blew up".

It is not the fault of the manufacturer.

It is not the fault of the retailer.

It is 100% the fault of the end user.

It is an unrealistic expectation for a cheap amplifier to be repairable under these circumstances.

Don't diss Trace Elliott for this. If I were their legal advisor I'd be wondering about the adverse publicity from the misleading thread title.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Cold kitty yack isn’t especially pleasant in bare feet either

Or even socked feet. Depending on depth of yack pile and thickness of sock it might take another couple steps for the cold realisation to halt ones progress across the carpet.

 

[Downunderwonder]

With all sympathy to the OP I'm going to +1 on how totally unfair - and possibly even defamatory - this thread title is to Trace Elliott.

The OP by his own admission plugged a 110V unit into a 230V supply.

So no surprise then that the amp "blew up".

It is not the fault of the manufacturer.

It is not the fault of the retailer.

It is 100% the fault of the end user.

It is an unrealistic expectation for a cheap amplifier to be repairable under these circumstances.

Don't diss Trace Elliott for this. If I were their legal advisor I'd be wondering about the adverse publicity from the misleading thread title.

dude probably speaks two other languages better than English.

 

[BadExample]

dude probably speaks two other languages better than English.

And better English that we do.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

And better English that we do.

Probably

 

[Munjibunga]

The other really cool thing about those plugs we have in the UK, is that when a device is left unplugged, the prongs naturally point up in the air.

It's only when you step on one, in bare feet, that you truly learn how high, and how far you can hop - or how extensive your vocabulary of expletives is.

Then they don't need Legos, eh?

 

[mikewalker]

With all sympathy to the OP I'm going to +1 on how totally unfair - and possibly even defamatory - this thread title is to Trace Elliott....

Don't diss Trace Elliott for this. If I were their legal advisor I'd be wondering about the adverse publicity from the misleading thread title.

I mostly agree with that sentiment. But I guess the sheer luck of the thread title including the words "Trace Elliot ELF" brings a little marketing redemption of it's own! "Any publicity is good publicity..."

 

[Downunderwonder]

Any fool not noticing the facts or the general lack of blowup complaints is probably not a very good customer anyway.