Vintage tube amp repair: don't plug it in until you check these 6 things.
That estate-sale tube amp has been sitting in someone's basement for forty years. Plug it straight into the wall and you might fry a $200 transformer, start a small electrical fire, or both. Run these six checks first.
Six checks. One page.
Tape it to the workshop cabinet.
What to inspect before opening the chassis.
The three failure signs that mean "don't plug this in." Spot them in 30 seconds.
How a dead transformer smells.
The smell test that catches a shorted winding before you ever apply power.
Which tubes are already done.
The three visual cues on a tube that mean a shorted transformer is one power-up away.
The variac trick (and the bulb tester alternative).
Why a 50-year-old amp never goes straight into a wall socket. The two cheap ways to bring it up safely.
What the first 10 seconds tell you.
What to watch for, what to smell for, and exactly when to kill power.
The 3-second transformer test.
The temperature check that tells you if a transformer is heading for failure, no thermal camera needed.
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