Hello Dan, thank you. I have one of those in storage. They are a good amp. I will drag it out and do a video on it when I get a minute. Thanks for watching and take care.
I gigged one it these for many years. The stock tube sockets didn’t take the heat well and would discolor and even melt a little. Replacing them could often break a pad or trace on board. I remember jumpering same trace on my own amp! The second version of the amp, the LC15-110 which came out in 2008, was a much better design and construction. The rest of that one though, dear lord, what a dangerous mess.
Hello. Yes, sometimes you do have to jumper traces. They are flimsy on this amp. They used to much heat on the trace attaching the jumper so it was just a burnt mess. The later ones were much better as you say. Thanks for watching and take care.
It depends on whether the customer wants to pay for your time to give it a proper sorting out. It's do-able but what is the replacement value? Shame to trash it, these Laney's sound great.
I've seen other Laneys with bad soldering on PC boards; most recently an LC30 Mk 2 from 2004. Seems like somethings not run right at the machine solder line. And sloppy quality check.
Here in the US, equipment owners throwing dangerously defective things away, as well as technicians on occasion, would sometimes cut off the power cord at the chassis grommet, as a sign or warning to anyone who might scavenge the equipment that it is dangerously defective. Unfortunately, if the gear uses IEC input connectors, somebody can just get a power cord and plug it into the amp chassis and attempt to power it up. ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
At 15:16 , the riveted ground has a black anodized star washer. This should keep it from spinning or loosening but the star washer itself won't conduct worth a darn, and if you try to solder that rivet to the chassis, the star washer will impede the solder.
Always a bit of a quandary Martyn. All those lower price valve Laney's sound really good. The savings are in the build type . Customers decision on that one.. Minimum of three hours work with no grantee of a reliable fix.
Hello. Thank you. That's cleared that one up. I must have noticed it before but just forgot about it. I see so many amps nowadays. The VC15 is a nice amp. I have had a few Laney amps on the channel but not the VC15 yet. I have a playlist for the Laney amps. Thanks for watching and take care.
I doubt it is economically viable to repair but ultimately up to the customer. Isn't the HT fuse on the back panel? Obviously the mains fuse is in the IEC socket but I thought the round fuse to the right is the HT fuse...
It is indeed the HT fuse, Martyn uncharacteristically missed noticing that (a cup of tea might perk him up!😉). What gets me is the fuse on the underside of the board near the front panel where you can't see it or easily get to it. It's probably a fuse for the heater circuit of the tubes (required by EU electrical codes), but the location of it is just plain dumb.
Hello. Yes, a cup of teat always does the trick. There were two fuses on the edge of the underside of the board. Both were heater fuses. Take care mate.
At 12:41 , making a ground connection with a black painted or anodized screw (passing through the board and into a metal standoff) is a stupid thing to do, guaranteed to become intermittent. PS, the screws appear to be Pozidrive; use of an ordinary Philips screwdriver is likely to chew up and strip out the heads.
I would definitely show all of that to the customer as you explained to him your concerns. But the way the traces are all broken and lifted and the solder joints whoever did that apparently was using a very high wattage soldering iron or he or she simply did not know what they were doing and they kept burning every Trace. I mean as a tech who would really want to be any part of that mess? That little amplifier which I'm not sure of the value I know it can't be much. But that thing could turn into a nightmare time pit. I would just explain to the customer that I'm very sorry but it said something I'm not interested in working on I don't have the time for it. And also with the high voltage is it could be very unsafe I wouldn't recommend trying to have it repaired. But then again that's just me I wouldn't want to waste my time on something like that it's not worth it.
Hello again. Yes, you are bang on right there. I didn't fancy removing all that bad solder of the board, even if I was being paid for it. Thank you and take care.
I know in light of all the defects, it's not a major problem, but it doesn't look like any of the A.C. wires have been twisted either. What a mess this one is.
I have mid 80s Laney AOR 30 combo with 6V6s. Very under rated amp ! Great channel. Keep it up!
Hello Dan, thank you. I have one of those in storage. They are a good amp. I will drag it out and do a video on it when I get a minute. Thanks for watching and take care.
I gigged one it these for many years. The stock tube sockets didn’t take the heat well and would discolor and even melt a little. Replacing them could often break a pad or trace on board. I remember jumpering same trace on my own amp! The second version of the amp, the LC15-110 which came out in 2008, was a much better design and construction. The rest of that one though, dear lord, what a dangerous mess.
Hello. Yes, sometimes you do have to jumper traces. They are flimsy on this amp. They used to much heat on the trace attaching the jumper so it was just a burnt mess. The later ones were much better as you say. Thanks for watching and take care.
It depends on whether the customer wants to pay for your time to give it a proper sorting out. It's do-able but what is the replacement value? Shame to trash it, these Laney's sound great.
Hello Rob. It is a shame. They are a great sounding amp for the money. Take care Rob.
I've seen other Laneys with bad soldering on PC boards; most recently an LC30 Mk 2 from 2004. Seems like somethings not run right at the machine solder line. And sloppy quality check.
Hello. You could be right there. It could even be a bit of both. Bad factory and a sloppy tech. Thanks for watching and take care.
I’m sure ( customer willing) you’ll sort it out Martyn 👍👍
Hello John. He didn't want to fork out the money. Take care mate.
@ When’s Dark Lightning back in Derby ( or near) 😉😉
Here in the US, equipment owners throwing dangerously defective things away, as well as technicians on occasion, would sometimes cut off the power cord at the chassis grommet, as a sign or warning to anyone who might scavenge the equipment that it is dangerously defective. Unfortunately, if the gear uses IEC input connectors, somebody can just get a power cord and plug it into the amp chassis and attempt to power it up. ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
Techs in the UK sometimes cut off the power chords too. Best you can with this one is to remove the fuse. Take care.
At 15:16 , the riveted ground has a black anodized star washer. This should keep it from spinning or loosening but the star washer itself won't conduct worth a darn, and if you try to solder that rivet to the chassis, the star washer will impede the solder.
Hello Pete. Yes, it needed replacing with a bolt. Now I think of it I have replace rivets for bolts before on some Laney amps. Thanks Pete. Take care.
Always a bit of a quandary Martyn. All those lower price valve Laney's sound really good. The savings are in the build type . Customers decision on that one.. Minimum of three hours work with no grantee of a reliable fix.
Hello Pete. It's not worth fixing and I don't fancy it to be honest. Take care Pete.
My VC15 had the safety ground on the back next to the IC socket, just like this one. I guess it's a Laney thing.
Hello. Thank you. That's cleared that one up. I must have noticed it before but just forgot about it. I see so many amps nowadays. The VC15 is a nice amp. I have had a few Laney amps on the channel but not the VC15 yet. I have a playlist for the Laney amps. Thanks for watching and take care.
I doubt it is economically viable to repair but ultimately up to the customer. Isn't the HT fuse on the back panel? Obviously the mains fuse is in the IEC socket but I thought the round fuse to the right is the HT fuse...
It is indeed the HT fuse, Martyn uncharacteristically missed noticing that (a cup of tea might perk him up!😉). What gets me is the fuse on the underside of the board near the front panel where you can't see it or easily get to it. It's probably a fuse for the heater circuit of the tubes (required by EU electrical codes), but the location of it is just plain dumb.
Hello Simon. yes, I did miss that. I was assuming it would be on the board. But you are right. It's not worth fixing. Take care.
Hello. Yes, a cup of teat always does the trick. There were two fuses on the edge of the underside of the board. Both were heater fuses. Take care mate.
At 12:41 , making a ground connection with a black painted or anodized screw (passing through the board and into a metal standoff) is a stupid thing to do, guaranteed to become intermittent. PS, the screws appear to be Pozidrive; use of an ordinary Philips screwdriver is likely to chew up and strip out the heads.
I think the whole ground scheme on this one is a Friday afternoon botch job.
I would definitely show all of that to the customer as you explained to him your concerns. But the way the traces are all broken and lifted and the solder joints whoever did that apparently was using a very high wattage soldering iron or he or she simply did not know what they were doing and they kept burning every Trace. I mean as a tech who would really want to be any part of that mess? That little amplifier which I'm not sure of the value I know it can't be much. But that thing could turn into a nightmare time pit. I would just explain to the customer that I'm very sorry but it said something I'm not interested in working on I don't have the time for it. And also with the high voltage is it could be very unsafe I wouldn't recommend trying to have it repaired. But then again that's just me I wouldn't want to waste my time on something like that it's not worth it.
Hello again. Yes, you are bang on right there. I didn't fancy removing all that bad solder of the board, even if I was being paid for it. Thank you and take care.
I know in light of all the defects, it's not a major problem, but it doesn't look like any of the A.C. wires have been twisted either. What a mess this one is.
Hello Steve. Yes, a total Dogs dinner is this one. Take care Steve.
Martyn, do you have a sign outside your place that says “Dump your shit here”?
" Give us your tired, your poorly treated and abused amplifiers; the wretched electronic refuse bound for a landfill....."
Most definitely
Just a bit of a bad run at the moment.
I would say that one is uneconomical to repair.
Hello Michael. It is. The customer has taken it back. Cheaper to buy another one. Take care Michael.