lowhand_mike Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 ok after saturdays gig when we were unpacking yesterday i discovered that some numpty had put the fog machine on its side on top of my amp which face down in the back of the car, basically the entire contents of the fog fluid bottle was inside my amp head. this tuff seems pretty oily but there was nothing on the bottle to help solve what it was and what it would do to my head. cleaned up the bulk of the fluid but what should i do next, is the head screwed? what is the fluid made of? really can't afford to replace this already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 [quote name='lowhand_mike' post='224825' date='Jun 23 2008, 11:04 AM'] ok after saturdays gig when we were unpacking yesterday i discovered that some numpty had put the fog machine on its side on top of my amp which face down in the back of the car, basically the entire contents of the fog fluid bottle was inside my amp head. this tuff seems pretty oily but there was nothing on the bottle to help solve what it was and what it would do to my head. cleaned up the bulk of the fluid but what should i do next, is the head screwed? what is the fluid made of? really can't afford to replace this already. [/quote] MB1. Dont Switch it on! A call to Martin at Ashdown might be an idea First!(as this will invalidate your guarantee) Gather youre talking about the Ashdown C210 combo?If so youre gonna have to take the amp out of the combo(four screws recessed under plastic plugs)disconnect the speaker lead and slide out.Thorough careful inspection /clean and dry out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 [quote name='MB1' post='224853' date='Jun 23 2008, 11:23 AM']MB1. Dont Switch it on! A call to Martin at Ashdown might be an idea First!(as this will invalidate your guarantee) Gather youre talking about the Ashdown C210 combo?If so youre gonna have to take the amp out of the combo(four screws recessed under plastic plugs)disconnect the speaker lead and slide out.Thorough careful inspection /clean and dry out.[/quote] yeah my guitarist said stupidly, you wanna switch it on and see if it works? you can imagine my subtle answer i'll drop martin a line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 ok just phoned ashdown very helpful as usual basically they said it should be ok but to get as much off as possible and give it a really good spray down with switch cleaner which should get the bulk of the oily crap off. main thing to work on is the power boards. have to see how this goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 [quote name='lowhand_mike' post='224934' date='Jun 23 2008, 12:29 PM']yeah my guitarist said stupidly, you wanna switch it on and see if it works? you can imagine my subtle answer i'll drop martin a line[/quote] MB1. And the Drummer said....Ashdown?...What Ashdown?...(sorry couldnt resist!) Hope all goes well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 just to add on the side of ashdowns support. when i phoned i spoke to Guy, and to reiterate he was very helpful and patient explaining exactly what i needed to do and the places in the amp i needed to concentrate on. also received an email this morning from martin just to follow up from my conversation with guy. all doesn't sound like much but i have NEVER delt with a company that does anything like this for their customers just got to get down to the rehearsal room to get the amp and take it home for a good clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 [quote name='lowhand_mike' post='225770' date='Jun 24 2008, 11:46 AM']just to add on the side of ashdowns support. when i phoned i spoke to Guy, and to reiterate he was very helpful and patient explaining exactly what i needed to do and the places in the amp i needed to concentrate on. also received an email this morning from martin just to follow up from my conversation with guy. all doesn't sound like much but i have NEVER delt with a company that does anything like this for their customers just got to get down to the rehearsal room to get the amp and take it home for a good clean.[/quote] Bands/songs to avoid once fixed: Foghat and Fog on the Tyne.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 [quote name='yorks5stringer' post='225772' date='Jun 24 2008, 11:50 AM']Bands/songs to avoid once fixed: Foghat and Fog on the Tyne....[/quote] lol and smoke on the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 gave it another really good clean out (it had been sitting in the rehearsal place all week to dry out) took all the boards off and cleaned as much of the oil of the backs as i could (not easy with all those little spikey bits) and got rid of the bulk of the crap. took the plunge and turned it on, which it did, then plugged my bass in. and it worked, hurrah!!. sound seemed a bit quiet though but that may just be me. at least its still working. i'll give it a full test on monday night. one good point is that the fan is super quiet now with all that oil in it :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 haha good stuff! glad it's working, i've heard ashdown customer service is excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 [quote name='budget bassist' post='228651' date='Jun 28 2008, 05:59 PM']haha good stuff! glad it's working, i've heard ashdown customer service is excellent![/quote] it certainly is, and there is no bull. martin said it didn't matter if the amp was 10 days old or 10 years old they want to keep their gear working (or something to that effect) and the reply's by email were same day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnt Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 (edited) You got lucky - that sounds like a mineral oil fog fluid, which is harmless to electronic gear, and some types of oil are even used for cleaning PCBs. Some PC overclockers submerge their motherboards in the stuff to keep the chips cool. If it had been a water-based fluid... ouch. Edited June 28, 2008 by bnt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 [quote name='bnt' post='228710' date='Jun 28 2008, 08:33 PM']You got lucky - that sounds like a mineral oil fog fluid, which is harmless to electronic gear, and some types of oil are even used for cleaning PCBs. Some PC overclockers submerge their motherboards in the stuff to keep the chips cool. If it had been a water-based fluid... ouch.[/quote] yeah i totally agree, i got very very lucky. i thought it was a water based fluid till i touched it. and that would have been one head to throw away. fortunately its not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 ok hopefully this will be the final update on this. we had practice last night so this was the test. it all turned on ok, it played at a high volume with no problems. and now for some reason everything works better than before, the VU meter actually shows the levels properly rather than the needle just mooching around near the left hand side of the meter. the sub harmonics now work at any level ( I could never really hear it doing anything before) its almost as if having sprayed the whole of the inside of the head with switch cleaner it has cleaned out all the contacts so they are working perfectly. th e only thing is there is a bit of a funky smell coming out the back from the heat sinks but then that is probably just a bit of the oil and spray being burnt off slowly as it wasnt over heating. i just need to keep an eye on the fan to make sure it doesn't stick (with all that oil on it it shouldn't but then it could attract dust. i was very very very lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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