Just Got A Duce II

a fine line between stupid and clever

Postby erichayes » Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:49 am

Hi All,

The first thing you want to do with any ailing Peavey amp, be it tube or solid state, is thoroughly clean all the Molex interconnects with something fairly aggressive, like CRC Lectra Motive or QD. After a while, Peaveys develop what my former partner calls "Peaveyitis". which is a general deterioration of the conductivity of these connectors. The symptoms can drive you nuts because they don't make any sense.

So clean all the connectors, Dave, and see where you stand. If you're still having problems, at least we can eliminate Peaveyitis as the source.
Eric in the Jefferson State
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Postby erichayes » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:37 pm

Hi All,

Dave, I get CRC Lectra Motive at my corner Ace Hardware store. It's not designed for cleaning pots and rotary switches (they'll seize up if you do), but really strips the crap off of relay and connector contacts. In a pinch at a concert once, I used Bräkleen successfully, but I considered that a last resort.

Until relatively recently, Peavey was the only amp builder that used Molex or similar connectors, which is why the problem only showed up in older Peaveys. I imagine that the malady has now spread to other amps using interconnects to tie everythng together. As to where they're located: anywhere and everywhere, from power and output transformer/PCB interface to speaker connectors. If you see one, clean it.
Eric in the Jefferson State
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Postby Gingertube » Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:43 am

Just a thought.
I repaired a Peavey about 18 months ago - I think it was a Deuce II.

The Phase Splitter Driver was a Solid State MJE340 Transistor Differential Amp rather than a tube circuit.

The reported problem with the amp I saw sounds very similar to the initial problems you describe - that is sound fading in and out and very little bottom end.

On the amp I fixed the fault was traced to a leaky electrolytic coupling cap on the one of the bases of the differential amplifier transistors which was throwing balance way out. One side was just about full on while the other side of the diff amp was just about full off. Check the collector voltages on the two diff amp transistors they should be within a volt or so of each other.

Cheers,
Ian
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Postby dhuebert » Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:17 am

Radio shack sells rotary dial contact cleaner, remember rotary dials on TVs? You turned a twelve stop selector switch to change channels. Anyways, Radio shack sells a cleaner for those things that I like alot. It is very aggressive and contains a lubricant to keep things running smoothly. It is especially good for those terrible bullet connectors on English cars.

Don
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