# decaying power supply cords



## prairietelecaster (Oct 25, 2006)

I have snagged a new to me old late 60's deluxe reverb that someone "bandmastered". I'm doing some tweaks (thanks for the advice "addicted to tubes" you are the best!). What has most surprised me so far is just how decayed the power supply cable had become. This was an upgraded grounded cord when it was installed. Anyhow I have replaced it and I am awaiting some caps from thetubestore.com. *I figure anyone with an old amp should really pay attention to the power cord* along with all the regular stuff. This one was only a few kinks from going south. (Which is probably old news to all you master techs).
It is a cool amp and in spite of someone changing it I will leave it as is for now as the mod is reversible.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I'll bet that this is one of THE most neglected (and abused) part of any amp.

Thanks for reminding all of us to keep an eye out for wear/problems :bow:

I had an amp that had a moulded plastic 3 way plug on the power cord...the ground pin had snapped off inside and was just sitting in the plug like a loose tooth.

Cheers

Dave


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## Gunny (Feb 21, 2006)

I had a similar experience just this weekend. 2 weeks ago I picked up an old Gibson amp (70s vintage). It had a 3 wire cord on it and I always check first to see if the ground is intact - it was.
On Friday I touched the on-off switch while plugged into another amp and got a tingle. WTF??? turns out the ground had broken off inside the molded plug. I got a new 9 ft 3 wire cord and replaced the old one.

Never assume that old stuff is OK.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

While one could probably spread some sort of substance on the outside insulation of a power cord, like Rubber Renew or any of those products you rub on the plastic interior of your car, that only addresses the outside getting crunchy over time, and unfortunately does not attend to the insulation of the individual conductors. Probably a good idea to get a computer-style power socket installed so that one can simply swap out connector cables.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

This is one part of marketing that does give a bit of a chuckle. 

I can picture it easy for all the times seeing it, the guitarist standing on the Amps with their 1/2 to 1 inch heavy board construction with the super durable car rug covering and their 1/4 inch steel impact corner protectors and their 1/4 thick lug handles or their 4 inch by 4 inch pull handles.... 

and the part most usually stood on, tripped over, and exposed to the ground damp and trampling is light weight plastic and carrying enough juice to light you up when not drenched in salty sweat kqoct


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

Gunny said:


> I had a similar experience just this weekend. 2 weeks ago I picked up an old Gibson amp (70s vintage). It had a 3 wire cord on it and I always check first to see if the ground is intact - it was.
> On Friday I touched the on-off switch while plugged into another amp and got a tingle. WTF??? turns out the ground had broken off inside the molded plug. I got a new 9 ft 3 wire cord and replaced the old one.
> 
> Never assume that old stuff is OK.


My amps get abused from me tearing them apart trying to find the talent knob so I can turn it up! kqoct


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Ripper said:


> My amps get abused from me tearing them apart trying to find the talent knob so I can turn it up! kqoct


Don't tell me you lost the location of it AGAIN.....kqoct (j/k)


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

I just can't seem to find that damn thing!!!


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

It's amazing what people will do to power cables. I regularly see mains cables with balls of electrical tape which, when unwound, have no outer plastic skin on them and, in some cases, exposed wire on one of the conductors.
The big problem with bad Ac cables is this that your amp fuse won't blow if they short.
Rather if the cable is plugged into an outlet with let's say a 15 amp breaker and if there's nothing else on the circuit, it will take 15 amps before it trips. By that time you just might be dealing with a fire!!! Always a good idea to check your AC cable periodically...it's worth it.:smile:


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

nonreverb said:


> It's amazing what people will do to power cables. I regularly see mains cables with balls of electrical tape which, when unwound, have no outer plastic skin on them and, in some cases, exposed wire on one of the conductors.
> The big problem with bad Ac cables is this that your amp fuse won't blow if they short.
> Rather if the cable is plugged into an outlet with let's say a 15 amp breaker and if there's nothing else on the circuit, it will take 15 amps before it trips. By that time you just might be dealing with a fire!!! Always a good idea to check your AC cable periodically...it's worth it.:smile:


Good point Rich. When you replace an AC cord make it long enough too :smile: Somebody we know likes to use short cords. grrr


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## prairietelecaster (Oct 25, 2006)

*12 foot cord*

Yeah I installed approx 12 feet of 14/3 gauge cable. Had to do the grommet/cable tie thing, which was fine as the original retainer was long gone on the previous mod.


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## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

Ripper said:


> My amps get abused from me tearing them apart trying to find the talent knob so I can turn it up! kqoct


Interesting problem...I found my "talent knob" and then marked it with a magic marker so I can find it again easily.
Unfortunately its stuck on 2 and wont turn up no matter how hard I try.
One idiot sugested practice but I'm thinking WD-40...


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