Amp died right in the second song of the night

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Marshallman

Marshallman

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So I was playing a benefit gig for the local food pantry last night. Feeling great, the PRS was feeling great and in the second song of the night during the second solo at the end - pow.... amp dies on me. This is the Egnater Renegade that I've had for the last three years with no issue. It never worked for the rest of the night. I was able to manage to finish the night but still bummed me out big time.

Any suggestions on what could have happened? I think maybe the fuse? Any thoughts?
 
Oh God... That would be terrible... I think I had a small anxiety attack just thinking of that happening...
 
That's why I always carried the Ol Peavey Bandit as a backup
 
Egnater.....well there's your problem!!
Probably a transformer issue like the majority of guys having problems with them
 
I always have a Crate Powerblock with me....I'm always covered. :thumbsup:
 
xzyryabx":vrh1v3wl said:
Egnater.....well there's your problem!!
Probably a transformer issue like the majority of guys having problems with them
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this.. but hopefully just a power tube issue. these amps are plagued with poor reliability according to a local amp tech I spoke to.. he services them for guitar center and he had at least 3 or 4 the day I was in.
 
Going strong for 3 years you say?

Powertubes would be my guess. Only takes one to pop and then the fuses follow immediately thereafter. If not the powertubes/fuses, perhaps one of your preamp tubes.

Mechanical failure is slim on an amp that's been running strady for such a long time. Not saying it's impossible, but it sounds to me like it's tube related, as tubes do wear out, and bam, that's it. Now, if you were unable to power the amp up after this happened, that's likely because the mains fuse popped. So check it out. And do so when it's not plugged in - pull the chassis, check fuses, check all tubes.

Peace
 
Another vote for "sounds like a tube issue." While it's not out of the realm of possibility something "bigger" is the issue, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions without going through the usual suspects and most simple possible causes first.

This may sound like a dumb question, but have you checked everything else in your signal path? You mentioned a fuse, but you didn't say if it actually popped or if you were just speculating. If you use a wireless, check it. Plug straight into the amp instead. Check all of your cables. I saw a guy swearing he'd blown a transformer once because he was getting no sound and he could hear a crackling inside the transformer when he tried to play. The culprit? His speaker cable from the head to the cab had started to go bad. Moral of the story? Check everything in your signal path, batteries if you have them in pedals, etc. Most of the time, it's just something simple.

If everything else checks out, I'd lean towards it being a tube issue, which is what it sounds like. I'd go there next. I wouldn't assume anything was wrong with the amp itself (unless you had definitive proof) without ruling out everything else first.

Good luck!
 
Same thing happened to me right at the beginning of a gig I did last year or so. Saw my LED's go on for about 2 seconds, then death. Absolute nothingness. I ran around in desperation looking for some help. Luckily the band after us generously let me borrow their Line 6 head at the last minute.

So... Changed the fuse. Nothing.
Took it to my tech who diagnosed it as a power tube failure which then blew out the fuse. He changed those and all was well.
He recommended to always keep my head in the passenger seat if possible. He said the bumps and vibrations from being in the trunk are common culprits of power tube damage.

Since then I've brought a backup head, which is a pain given all the other crap I've gotta haul, but better than the alternative of having nothing. I've gotta get a more compact option like a lunchbox head or the Crate Powerblock as mentioned above.
 
3 years is a good track record and now it needs alittle care humm
That amp is exceptional i think,ive 2 egnater heads and redplated 3 tubes and blown fuses and fortunately only tubes and bias drift issues have occured .
Lucky me!
 
That's why you should always have a full backup set of preamp and poweramp tubes and fuses.
 
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