DSL 100 problems

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SDMF38

SDMF38

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OK guys here's the deal. Bought a 2006 DSL 100 for cheap. Like almost nothing and knew that it wouldn't fire up. The c46 resistor is fried and there are traces of carbon on V5 power tube. It will power up on standby but as soon as the power switch is flipped it hums and pops the mains fuse. my tech is thinking bias drift but from my research I'm leaning elsewhere. Should I fix the DSL or gut it and use the chassis and head shell and build something else in it?

Thanks
 
I've had a lot of experience with these and they did suffer quite a bit from the bias drift issue. What was happening was the power tube pcb they used conducted a small amount of voltage that caused the bias to continuously rise until a tube smoked itself or arcing between pins occurred. Antique electronic supply carries a replacement board that is made of a different material which did not conduct any voltage. The C46 issue was common as well and it was because they used an underpowered cap there. Newer boards have a 22pf 1kv cap that is much more robust.
 
Thanks for the reply but at 245 dollars thats more than what I want to put into the thing. Replacing a tube socket and c46 maybe the way I go and if I dont like it then i can gut the damn thing. When I bought it I knew it didnt work and thats why I got it for so cheap( under $100) way under actually. Ive seen the bias drift in the TSL and its pretty severe, and if this has it ill gut the damn thing, but until its up and running I wont know.
 
I figure if you got the amp for less than $100,it would be worth putting the new board in and you could still pull a profit if you sold it. My experience is once the old boards fry once, they will continue to do it. I have one on my bench now that has been back three times because the owner doesn't want to spring for a board either. Good luck.
 
mine's 1998. i put a new board in mine. problem solved. i'll never get back out of the amp what i've got into it.. so i'm keeping it. a used dsl should be in the neighborhood of 5-600 i would think. you could almost double your money by repairing it. whatever you decide to do is up to you. just throwing that out there. :)
i think marshall waited until the statute of limitations ran out before they finally admitted to the problem.
 
Padre Bonic":209ievb4 said:
I figure if you got the amp for less than $100,it would be worth putting the new board in and you could still pull a profit if you sold it. My experience is once the old boards fry once, they will continue to do it. I have one on my bench now that has been back three times because the owner doesn't want to spring for a board either. Good luck.
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true. :thumbsup:
 
How hard was it to install the new board?
Looks like a drop-in replacement. I've got an LE DSL that has drift issues as well. I'd love to stick that board in it if its not too bad to install
 
JTyson":18dbu4tm said:
How hard was it to install the new board?
Looks like a drop-in replacement. I've got an LE DSL that has drift issues as well. I'd love to stick that board in it if its not too bad to install
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Not hard at all. Just make sure you label all the connectors to go back to the proper places.
 
they aren't hard. label the connectors and maybe take a pic if you can. about the only tools needed are a phillips and a needle nose pliers for the spade terminals. the rest of the connections are molex.
one other thing you might want to consider doing if you are tearing it that far apart is going through the rest of the boards and touching up some of the connections. they had some real issues. i literally tore mine totally apart and found about a dozen cold solder joints and one connection that wasn't even made to the reverb driver board. also check the output section board and make sure that the ground is connected between the 4-8 ohm jack and the 16 ohm jack. on the early versions it wasn't.. so the output section wasn't properly grounded across all jacks. a 15 watt iron will do the trick without getting the traces too hot so they don't lift off the board.
 
standard current day marshall maneuver. Make a really good sounding amp.....for as cheap as friggin' possible
 
jeez.. you and olaf should talk about that. i know he has some serious issues with how cheaply stuff is made these days. :lol: :LOL: i don't blame him because it is. but that's probably a whole new thread. :D
 
1big1":2o91q780 said:
they aren't hard. label the connectors and maybe take a pic if you can. about the only tools needed are a phillips and a needle nose pliers for the spade terminals. the rest of the connections are molex.
one other thing you might want to consider doing if you are tearing it that far apart is going through the rest of the boards and touching up some of the connections. they had some real issues. i literally tore mine totally apart and found about a dozen cold solder joints and one connection that wasn't even made to the reverb driver board. also check the output section board and make sure that the ground is connected between the 4-8 ohm jack and the 16 ohm jack. on the early versions it wasn't.. so the output section wasn't properly grounded across all jacks. a 15 watt iron will do the trick without getting the traces too hot so they don't lift off the board.
Click to expand...
This.
 
Thanks guys, the reverb hasent worked for awhile, maybe thats the issue with it also.
I dont think there will be a problem changing it out, I've wondered where I could get one of the updated boards for awhile.
I was gonna get one and send the whole thing to Mike Fortin for some selective molestation, but he's so busy I hate to even bother him at the moment.
Thanks for the help :rock:
 
no problem. it was actually fun once i got started. just remember to discharge those caps and keep them discharged while you're digging around.
i ordered the board from a local brick and mortar. they got it through their marshall rep who fortunately had three in stock. it was 240 iirc. it took them a couple of weeks to get it.. but i didn't care. it wasn't working anyway. :lol: :LOL:
 
forgot to mention that you'll need to form the new caps once you install the new motherboard. you can make a pretty inexpensive variac out of stuff you might have sitting around.. or can buy for cheap. just google poor man's variac. they're pretty commonly used by ham radio guys. you can also check ot's with them.
 
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