Peavey Classic 50 60 cycle hum (2006 non-tweed model)

[CharlyG]

I am working on a Classic 50 and I need to get the boards out. I have everything loosened, and all connectors removed, and I can't seem to get the wiggle room to get it out.

What am I overlooking?

Thanks,
CharlyG

[selloutrr]

if it's all un screwed it should drop out if you invert it.

make sure the screw in the center of the board is out, all pots, and grounding/ support screws. shouldn't have to fight it. push in the pots while it's on it's side and it should pop right out.

[CharlyG]

Well, there isn't enough room. There is NO wiggle room once you push the pot shafts in, there is not enough space to clear the front lip. Well, I got it out, by wiggling around. Now to look for bad solder connections.

[CharlyG]

I think I found the culprit. There is a ground wire going from the main board to the power section and it plugs in at both ends. The connectors are very loose, and even when I "squoze" em back together, still not very tight. I think I will solder it at both ends instead and eliminate that issue forever. I am still gonna resolder a few suspicious spots on the board, JIC.

[selloutrr]

Gravity should have helped position the board to fall out when you pushed the pots in.

FWI. when working on PCB amps I often find it quicker to resolder the entire board then putting it back together and hoping I found all the issues.

Any pressure fit connection is prone for failure, it can become lose, the contacts can tarnish, or it can fall off all together in an impact. (thrown around the back of a car).

Good idea to make it a hard solder point. make sure you can still get the board in and out once it's soldered in place. you can test the ground with alligator clips before you solder if you have any doubts.

[Structo]

I'm not sure if that board has non lead solder but when I was inside a small Crate amp I found it difficult to solder over the no lead solder.

I had to try and suck it off before the new leaded solder would flow.

I understand why they want to take the lead out of circuits but it would be nice if they perfected alternate solder before doing so......that stuff is garbage.

[sonicmojo]

I recently spent a lot of time on a beat up old Classic 50 trying to debug a crackling sound that was very intermittent. If I pounded on the amp, it would happen. If I chopsticked around the boards, sometimes it would happen. I tightened all the pins on the sockets. Yes, I also tightened the same jumper wire you are talking about. Long story short, after a lot of reflowing the solder on the entire power tube board, cleaning all pots, jacks, etc, and a bunch of other hacking, it all turned out to be a flaky tube. Make sure you check those too!

[selloutrr]

you should always test the tubes.
90% of the time tubes amp troubles can be solved with new tubes, electrolytic capacitors, and a good cleaning.