It hums, said the customer.
I'll take a look, I said.

After a cleanup I tested it and couldn't find anything electrically wrong.

But with nothing except power connected there always seemed to be a faint
hum from the speaker.

Probably normal I thought. It doesn't seem to be the highest quality design.

But then I noticed that the bench seemed to be vibrating a little.
And when I disconnected the speaker the hum remained.

It's actually caused by the power transformer.
Pushing hard on the back of the unit by the transformer eliminates the hum.
Perhaps tightening the transformer bolts will fix it.

John Smith wrote:

It hums, said the customer.
I'll take a look, I said.

After a cleanup I tested it and couldn't find anything electrically wrong.

But with nothing except power connected there always seemed to be a faint
hum from the speaker.

Probably normal I thought. It doesn't seem to be the highest quality design.

But then I noticed that the bench seemed to be vibrating a little.
And when I disconnected the speaker the hum remained.

It's actually caused by the power transformer.
Pushing hard on the back of the unit by the transformer eliminates the hum.
Perhaps tightening the transformer bolts will fix it.


** There are a whole bunch of Fender SS amps built the same way - and I have seen one or two that hummed due to vibration from the AC transformer.

Tightening the mounting bolts might help.


..... Phil

On 06/07/2017 02:03, John Smith wrote:
It hums, said the customer.
I'll take a look, I said.

After a cleanup I tested it and couldn't find anything electrically wrong.

But with nothing except power connected there always seemed to be a faint
hum from the speaker.

Probably normal I thought. It doesn't seem to be the highest quality design.

But then I noticed that the bench seemed to be vibrating a little.
And when I disconnected the speaker the hum remained.

It's actually caused by the power transformer.
Pushing hard on the back of the unit by the transformer eliminates the hum.
Perhaps tightening the transformer bolts will fix it.



Before tightening the bolts, slacken a bit and introduce thinned lacquer
all around the E&I soft iron plates.
Check soldering at the input socket ground lines as well.