0:00-0:50 Introduction to Amplifier Safety 0:50-2:50 Explanation of Filter Cap & Different Types 2:50-4:13 How to Measure Voltage 4:13-5:15 See the High Voltage 5:15-End Discharging Filter Cap Demonstration
@@ryans9029 Well, isn't it the same for kitchen knives or ... a pillow? Just wait for someone with a special gift for doing things wrong and they will do it. The rest of us don't mind tips and info in videos! :D
Around 1970 I got hit full force by the power supply in an unplugged 50 watt Bassman. At the time I had no clue at all what I was doing. I heard a loud crack, and the room literally turned bright blue for a fraction of a second. I've learned a lot since then!
A bit more about putting a hand in your pocket while checking high voltages. What is really dangerous is current across your heart. By keeping a hand in your pocket, the charge will typically run down your arm, down the same side of your body and out to ground. Great advice and a great video.
OMG...you would make a WONDERFUL science teacher. You have an Isaac Asimov knack for explaining rather complicated subjects in the least complicated manner. You are a great communicator. You may have saved lives with this video.
Very nice to see a woman working in a traditionally male role. I have worked as a technician my entire life and have seen very few woman technicians. Great demo. Well done.
Thank you for presenting all of this so clearly. I have wondered about it for as long as I've been hearing cautions about opening up tube amps, and never had it explained. Much appreciated.
I’ve been searching for clear instructions on this for about three days. This is the clearest explanation and demonstration I’ve seen so far. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Terrific series of videos; interesting and informative even to someone for whom most of this is way over my head. Interesting to watch in same way I find myself watching Uncle Doug. Sorta like getting some sense of what's going on inside my tube amps in a clear manner.
Thanks! I usually just fix guitars but I was given a vintage Ampeg SVT in need of refurb. I have been apprehensive about working on it because of the legendary legend of these murder caps, but your explanation was great and to the point. Noice!
Hi Colleen, I’ve been following you for the past couple years via Instagram. And I’m very excited to see you make the plunge into the world of RU-vid. I personally have always been fascinated with the idea of gear repair but have been apprehensive on starting because there is so much information. I’d love to see some videos on how to get started and resources. It would be killer if you had a patreon or something of that sorts. It seems like such an hard field to get into with the apprentice style learning process. At least for me. Very excited to see what you have in store for the channel! Cheers!
Hey Ryan! I totally understand what you mean about the information overload. It’s hard to know where to start at times.... hopefully my videos will give you a bit of guidance. Feel free to reach out if you ever have questions! Also- love the idea of a Patreon, I will make one in the near future :)
Good to actually see it done, and also like the additional little bits of information like the markings on the capacitors etc, well done, great basic info, good video, well delivered :) thank you
Great show. Will tune in again. I like that you are showing the want-a- be repair personals safe and true ways to discharge Caps.. Keep up the Good work.
The one hand in pocket trick was the first thing they taught us in electronics school. I was working on an old TV in the classroom and touched the terminals of the crt with my hand that should have been in my pocket. The whole class heard the snap as the spark entered my finger. The instructor used me as an example of what not to do. I wasn't hurt but I felt really stupid for the rest of the day lol.
Great video for people getting started! Nice work. Repairing, constructing, and appreciating vintage audio circuitry is how I got started in my lifelong love of electronics design at age 10 or so.
Thank you Colleen, I have been reluctant to work on my amps for fear of getting shocked....that is, until I saw your video! Well explained and much appreciated!
This is the first video I've come across that thoroughly explains this. I've been collecting and trading guitar tube amps for decades. Thanks! Subscribed!
Definitely. Some seem to want to make it more complex than it should be. I get nobody wants to encourage people to poke around willy nilly, but this is as direct as it can get.
@@Scott__C Yep, it hinders sales :). If people know how to mod themselves, they'll buy less expensive amps and just modify the ones that they already have.
Thanks a lot for making this content ! I’m trying to repair an old Bass amp, it hasn’t got tubes, but fairly big caps. This is a very nice tutorial. Keep on the good work :)
I just found out about this channel and I'm so happy that I found it!! I play guitar and, even though I don't know much about electronics, I really like to watch people working on amps but most of the time, I only understand half of what's going on. I really liked how you explained what is what and what you were doing on this video! After I'm done with this comment, I'm going to watch other videos from this channel and I'm looking forward to see more!!! P.S. When I was in high school, there was a year where, for 1 month, once a week, we had 2 hours where we worked with electronics/electricity, then, the next month, we learned about cooking, then about being a hair dresser, working with metal, then with wood, etc... The idea was to make us try out different things to see if there was something that we really liked, to help us decide in what direction we would like to go. During one of those months, we worked with electricity and I remember our teacher saying that when you're working with high voltage, it's always a good idea to keep one hand in your pocket, the reason being, just like you said, in case we get shocked, keeping one hand in your pocket will make the electricity go down, from your hand to your feet instead of going from one hand to the other, through your heart and risking having a heart attack.
I’m learning how to bench test,diagnose, and repair my own stuff. I appreciate your clear DIY advise. No one works on these older amps anymore. Old stuff rules!
Oh they do, at least in my area... I have heard of folks waiting months, if not a year or more to get them into a shop, and then wait a year or more for the work to be completed! I am in the Detroit area, and I just bought an o-scop, signal generator, and a bunch of other gear to repair vintage electronics, mainly mine.
I just found your videos, very nicely done!! I learned long ago in an electronics tech class about discharging caps safely, and working with high voltage safely. I work with high voltage RF circuits in communications equipment as well as old audio equipment and you'd never make the mistake if bumping a "HOT" capacitor charged to 3000 to 5000 volts in a RF amplifier circuit more than once!! You might not get the second chance!! Glad to see you teach proper safety methods and testing. Properly designed power supply circuits usually have bleeder resistors across the terminals of the caps too but they do take some time to bleed off. I'm glad you mentioned using a bleeder cap when draining. you must have had some good instructors or mentors! Keep up the good videos!!
Great textbook demonstration. Short, concise and to the point. All major points covered. This is the video I'm going to refer people to who are new to amp building. Great work!
I'd love to see a video on swapping in an upgraded reverb tank. I have an old Teisco Checkmate 18 with tube reverb. It has a funny little reverb tank that sounds alright but I'd like to upgrade it to something better. Thanks for your great videos! Really clear and helpful.
Thanks for this. Good to also learn the resistor trick. Many just slap a grnd wire on the pos end of a cap which is pretty exciting especially if it's one of the big electrolytics. Good lesson. Thank you!
Awesome, thanks! I have a Epiphone Valve Standard I've been wanting to make some mods on (taking the DSP out of the circuit, that kind of thing), but I've been too nervous to open it up! Knowing how to discharge will definitely help make the leap!
I'm currently repairing an old Sega Genesis and had flashbacks of when I repaired a camera and got a zap so I went online to learn how to discharge capacitors and found your video! Thank you so much!
@@blazer6248 a great classic. Sadly, playing on emulators really don't hit the same way as on a console but sometime it's the only way to be able to play certain games again. :(
I'm late to the party, and I'm sure I'm not the first to say thing, but I'm happy to see someone show how to do this without just whacking it to ground with a screwdriver. With the wrong set of circumstances the screwdriver could end up embedded in the concrete behind you-visible through the screwdriver-shaped hole in your head.
Thank you! You’ve earned many good Karma points.😊 I’ve been wondering how to do this for 30 years. This is the first video I’ve seen that actually clearly and safely shows how to do it.
Just found this on a SheShreds facebook group and it's awesome! You explain so clearly and straight to the point, i love it! I would love to see some simple and/or most common repairs to amps (especially if any can be done in-situ at a venue or practice space safely and if there are things i could carry with me or get into a venue toolkit to make such a thing possible, i am a sound engineer and a bassist in a band and it would be mad useful!) And also if you do any stuff with pedals, case studies with different electronic bits, more how-to's and any other safety stuff, etc. I would absolutely love to see that!
Thank you so much for the great ideas! I love the rec about simple/common repairs and a repair kit to keep on hand. Will definitely be doing a vid on that in the future :)
Supercool video! Very clear and straight forward, no annoying music or unnecessary bullshit, so enjoyable to watch! I would never open a tube amp by myself, since I might die in seconds. :-D But I love to see so much expertise on those devices. Especially love the sound of old Fender Champ amps. There's something magical about them ... Great job, keep going! Cheers
This was awesome! Just learned a bunch of stuff. I always wondered what was in the 'Dog House.' If I still had tube amps I'd definitely take them to you!
Colleen, I have watched all your videos to date, and I have learned so much from you! I like how you state what an amp symptom is, how you diagnose the problem, and how you describe the method to fix it, with all the things that also need to be done. You cut through the BS of most of the other amp techs I see here on RU-vid, I mean, how long should a viewer be made to suffer just to see the UNBOXING of an amp? And I like how you stress safety in this video, people underestimate electricity so bad that it's sickening. I worked in the electric utility industry for 32 years, complacency can be deadly. All that aside, I want to thank you for bringing your videos to us. I wish you the very best in your endeavors!
That was a great lesson I took electronics in College and learned a lot of theory but always felt lacking in the lab part. Experience with hands on is what I always wanted. Thanks for your well paced and unhurried explanation of the topic. I will watch all of your videos.
Finally someone else using a 470ohm 5watt resistor I’ve had way to many mixed results some say this and that but only seen one guy explain why to use a 470ohm 5watt with pretty good reasons but every one else is using really high value resistors. Just subscribed btw great vid
Thank you! You have no idea how many times I have been zapped by my various amps over the years. I was mostly just changing inboard fuses, but sometimes i was just looking at the guts of the amp to see if I could learn something.
Your video's are so good because your approach is very simple and straightforward with very good illustrating. No fancy ego-tainted dialog, just "the facts". THX !
All videos I’ve watch like this assumes you have a resistor hanging around! Well I don’t! I’m going to buy a capacitor discharging pen, I’ll wear rubber gloves and ground the work piece. I liked your video.
Thank you. I ordered that resistor and look forward to being safer when I work on this gear. Your presentation is clear, concise, and delivered in such a laid-back tone that I seem to soak up all the information.
its possible to make your own resistors if you need one in a pinch. Salty water has a resistance as a function of the distance between the electrodes in the water and the salinity of the water.
I’ve been sitting on a busted 5e3 clone I stumbled onto and worried to do any troubleshooting on it because of the cap discharge. This video gave me the confidence to rip it apart and getting running top notch again. Thanks for such a great video.
