Mark iii redplating

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ChrisoBod

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Hi I'm new to this board. I just got a mkiii I think purple stripe the year looks like 91. The amp has not been used in about nine years, so when I got it home I cleaned the tube sockets and pots, put some good tubes in and cranked it up. Besides a few pops and crackles it sounded pretty good, but all the sudden it started humming and the guitar sound stopped. I turned it off right away and checked the tubes while turning it back on to see that the outer left tube was redplating and the fuse blew. I tried some different tubes and checked the sockets but still the same thing.
If someone could help I would really appreciate it.
 
Google is your friend. Type "cause of red plating" in Google search.
Only 3,000,000 results.
'91 would be a blue stripe. Mark IIIs came out in '84 and purple stripes were early. Black > Purple > Red > Blue > Green.
 
ChrisoBod said:
...put some good tubes in...
Hmm...not so much. Your tubes are probably WAY out of range for your fixed bias amp. If not, there are other issues preventing an acceptable bias. M/B power tubes FTW, or, time to see a tech.
 
kdorsey said:
ChrisoBod said:
...put some good tubes in...
Hmm...not so much. Your tubes are probably WAY out of range for your fixed bias amp. If not, there are other issues preventing an acceptable bias. M/B power tubes FTW, or, time to see a tech.

Just because I'm new to this board doesn't mean I'm new to mesas, I never use tubes out of range. I've had my mkiv and f30 for years and always use mesa or tubes from a vendor that sells mesa spec.
Thanks
 
MrMarkIII said:
Google is your friend. Type "cause of red plating" in Google search.
Only 3,000,000 results.
'91 would be a blue stripe. Mark IIIs came out in '84 and purple stripes were early. Black > Purple > Red > Blue > Green.

Thanks for the info.
 
Probably worn tube sockets. The connectors get stretched and the tube pins don't make a good connection, particularly if you switch from a power tube with thick pins (Sovtek) to one with thinner pins (JJ). A tech can re-tension them.
 
If one tube is redplating and you have tried the obvious things like proper Mesa range tubes and all good connections at the sockets, as it seems that you have then I would suspect a problem with the bias supply on that tube. If you know what you are doing re safety precautions (there are lethal voltages on some of the pin/sockets!) you could try measuring the bias voltage on the grid of all the tube sockets with the tubes out - if its Simulclass the two outers should be the same and the two inners the same but outer is different to inner. The plate resistor is another possible problem, these can be damaged during tube failures as Mesa don't fit an HT fuse so these sometimes act as the fuse when a tube fails, checking the plate voltages would probably show up any problem. Do you know that the amp was working all ok when it was last used 9 years ago or might this be the reason it was out of use? Another possible is a capacitor problem due to the years of disuse. I believe that it is recommended to bring the voltage up slowly to charge the caps on an amp that has not been used for many years - but it seems less likely to me as I cant think why only one tube would be affected. Sounds like the amp needs a proper check-over to me, its unlikely to be anything very serious/expensive I think. There are schematics on the internet that show the various voltages. I expect someone on here could expand on this - I don't claim to be a real expert.
 
If one tube is redplating and you have tried the obvious things like proper Mesa range tubes and all good connections at the sockets, as it seems that you have then I would suspect a problem with the bias supply on that tube. If you know what you are doing re safety precautions (there are lethal voltages on some of the pin/sockets!) you could try measuring the bias voltage on the grid of all the tube sockets with the tubes out - if its Simulclass the two outers should be the same and the two inners the same but outer is different to inner. The plate resistor is another possible problem, these can be damaged during tube failures as Mesa don't fit an HT fuse so these sometimes act as the fuse when a tube fails, checking the plate voltages would probably show up any problem. Do you know that the amp was working all ok when it was last used 9 years ago or might this be the reason it was out of use? Another possible is a capacitor problem due to the years of disuse. I believe that it is recommended to bring the voltage up slowly to charge the caps on an amp that has not been used for many years - but it seems less likely to me as I cant think why only one tube would be affected. Sounds like the amp needs a proper check-over to me, its unlikely to be anything very serious/expensive I think. There are schematics on the internet that show the various voltages. I expect someone on here could expand on this - I don't claim to be a real expert.
 
Many possibilities as the guys have all mentioned, and it's gonna need a look inside to diagnose.
I'm not so keen on the tubes out of spec idea, and given it redplated quickly I'd be looking at the bias supply. First globally, then specifically to that socket.
I'd hope you'll find either a dry/open/cracked joint or even a burnt dropper resistor..
Remember the first failed/suspect area may not be the root cause however, so go slowly, carefully, methodically - sounds like you've already done this in your post-hibernation routine - now apply it to the troubleshooting..
Check the socket tension if not already done..
As alway, send to a trusted tech for repair if you're at all unfamiliar with the innards of working valve amps..

Let us know what it ended up being too - helps in everyone's learning and knowledge..

Dave
 
Rob Lockwood said:
If one tube is redplating and you have tried the obvious things like proper Mesa range tubes and all good connections at the sockets, as it seems that you have then I would suspect a problem with the bias supply on that tube. If you know what you are doing re safety precautions (there are lethal voltages on some of the pin/sockets!) you could try measuring the bias voltage on the grid of all the tube sockets with the tubes out - if its Simulclass the two outers should be the same and the two inners the same but outer is different to inner. The plate resistor is another possible problem, these can be damaged during tube failures as Mesa don't fit an HT fuse so these sometimes act as the fuse when a tube fails, checking the plate voltages would probably show up any problem. Do you know that the amp was working all ok when it was last used 9 years ago or might this be the reason it was out of use? Another possible is a capacitor problem due to the years of disuse. I believe that it is recommended to bring the voltage up slowly to charge the caps on an amp that has not been used for many years - but it seems less likely to me as I cant think why only one tube would be affected. Sounds like the amp needs a proper check-over to me, its unlikely to be anything very serious/expensive I think. There are schematics on the internet that show the various voltages. I expect someone on here could expand on this - I don't claim to be a real expert.

Thanks for the help guys. ended up being one of the .1uf 400v caps on the bias supply. So the tube are good but then my lead gain was maxing out a 4 then dropping off and my master was making a horrible popping sound, so I checked the rest of the caps and found 3 bad .047uf 400v caps swapped em out and it sounds great. I'm gonna get all new orange drops and electrolytics soon.
 
gret find(s), but bummer so many of the others have gone leaky too..
Thx for finishing off the thread.. will be of good info for future readers..
 
ChrisoBod said:
Rob Lockwood said:
If one tube is redplating and you have tried the obvious things like proper Mesa range tubes and all good connections at the sockets, as it seems that you have then I would suspect a problem with the bias supply on that tube. If you know what you are doing re safety precautions (there are lethal voltages on some of the pin/sockets!) you could try measuring the bias voltage on the grid of all the tube sockets with the tubes out - if its Simulclass the two outers should be the same and the two inners the same but outer is different to inner. The plate resistor is another possible problem, these can be damaged during tube failures as Mesa don't fit an HT fuse so these sometimes act as the fuse when a tube fails, checking the plate voltages would probably show up any problem. Do you know that the amp was working all ok when it was last used 9 years ago or might this be the reason it was out of use? Another possible is a capacitor problem due to the years of disuse. I believe that it is recommended to bring the voltage up slowly to charge the caps on an amp that has not been used for many years - but it seems less likely to me as I cant think why only one tube would be affected. Sounds like the amp needs a proper check-over to me, its unlikely to be anything very serious/expensive I think. There are schematics on the internet that show the various voltages. I expect someone on here could expand on this - I don't claim to be a real expert.

Thanks for the help guys. ended up being one of the .1uf 400v caps on the bias supply. So the tube are good but then my lead gain was maxing out a 4 then dropping off and my master was making a horrible popping sound, so I checked the rest of the caps and found 3 bad .047uf 400v caps swapped em out and it sounds great. I'm gonna get all new orange drops and electrolytics soon.

My mark iii almost face the same problem. You can see the replating emerge when standby switched to the on position. Can another circle which capacitor on the board is the bias selection and if Chriso see this reply please help to tell which caps you just changed and fix the problem. THX!

10550965_10152314039998195_1045142510163094712_n.jpg

Power on
10557276_10152314040073195_7034897579164824093_n.jpg

Standby on and redplating after few seconds
10491993_10152314040088195_4189159735023808231_n.jpg

I just change a new 470 ohm resistor in the tube socket for it just burn out before
994108_10152314039968195_2056969331792126802_n.jpg

One of the old resistor just burned (right hand side)
10550965_10152314039848195_6320293009784916674_n.jpg

Please help to locate the bias area
10492478_10152314039768195_3862867307256808129_n.jpg

And which caps must be change (.1uf 400v & .047uf 400v)
 

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