Peavey 6505 MH comes with a MAJOR flaw

[eclipseall]

Re: Peavey 6505 MH problem
Postby Roger Crimm » Tue Mar 08, 2016 6:23 pm

This issue really has nothing to do with where they are assembled. The only "problem", is that the amplifier is protecting itself a little TOO well. The design itself will handle continuous operation at full power, but the thermal fuses in the TSI protection circuit are apparently rated a bit too far in the conservative direction.

When pushed to full power for extended periods, the circuit is doing its job by shutting down the power tubes due to what it considers excessive heat. This seems to happen mostly when the amp is set to 1W or 5W, and driven wide open for a half hour or longer.

The fix at this point is to bypass the thermal fuses by shorting across them. The amplifier will be in no danger whatsoever unless you experience a cathode-to-screen short in a power tube. A better answer is in the works, so stay tuned.


Bottom line as I see it: If you put it in first gear and run the tach up to the red line and keep it there, did the motor fail because it was "low quality"?.. In this case, the motor didn't fail at all, it shut itself down first. Unfortunately it seems we erred on the side of caution. That will be addressed asap.

Roger Crimm
Peavey Customer Service
customerservice@peavey.com

 

[Partario]

This is interesting. I'm curious to see what they are going to do about this issue. I own one, and while I haven't run into this, I've heard a lot of complaints on here.
I removed the front block behind the grill for looks, but maybe it's helping ventilate the power tubes? Keep us updated.

 

[eclipseall]

Im packing mine up and return it.....Im not keeping junk around
It does it in all wattage settings. Its a design flaw that went into production.

 

[eclipseall]

This is interesting. I'm curious to see what they are going to do about this issue. I own one, and while I haven't run into this, I've heard a lot of complaints on here.
I removed the front block behind the grill for looks, but maybe it's helping ventilate the power tubes? Keep us updated.

Tube ventilation isn't the problem.

Ive tried even putting a fan behind it and as soon as I put the amp on standby the lights start blinking, even though the amp feels cooler due to the fan, but that means that everything is frying inside the amp. Might as well get rid of it now before I cant even give it away.

 

[Petar Bogdanov]

Tube ventilation isn't the problem.

Ive tried even putting a fan behind it and as soon as I put the amp on standby the lights start blinking, even though the amp feels cooler due to the fan, but that means that everything is frying inside the amp. Might as well get rid of it now before I cant even give it away.

The compartment where the thermal fuses are is sealed with a rubber gasket.

Yeah, a fan isn't going to do ..... The enclosure is dumb. Even if you install a higher temperature fuse, like Peavey intend to do, the mosfets are still going to desolder themselves over time, because they don't have heatsinks.

It needs a reshell, or at least some speed holes in the stock shell...

 

[7 Dying Trees]

I was just talking with a friend about how I don't trust amps crammed into small spaces as there are heat issues... Some things need proper airflow, tubes and transformers are two of them.

This just confirms I'd rather have a larger head than one which will eventually melt itself but it is slightly more portable.

 

[tedtan]

Is the issue that the amp is overheating and tripping the protection circuit or that the protection circuit itself is overly aggressive and trips too early? If the latter, a higher value fuse is better than shorting the fuses to bypass them entirely. If the former, then this is a major design flaw on Peavey's part and needs to be handled through warranty replacement of the defective units once a correction is implemented.

 

[Partario]

I'm thinking about getting rid of mine and getting a Thrasher 50, but I can't find any good reviews, sounds clips, or info!

 

[Asphyxia]

I didn't push mine anywhere near hard.
If you didn't see my thread I got one it had this problem. Sent it back and peavey packaged another turd for me.
In short never buy anything from peavey.

 

[mikolo]

: / Just bought one... Have not had this issue yet on 5w setting

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I was just talking with a friend about how I don't trust amps crammed into small spaces as there are heat issues... Some things need proper airflow, tubes and transformers are two of them.

This just confirms I'd rather have a larger head than one which will eventually melt itself but it is slightly more portable.

You're making it sound like all mini heads have this problem. As someone pointed out on MG.org, the EVH 5153 (a REALLY big full-sized head) shipped with a manufacturing defect and overheated way too easily. It's not the fact everything's in a small space, it's the fact the manufacturer/designer ....ed up.

They made it sound like they made the failsafe way too effective, not the fact that the amp overheated and broke something. Hopefully taking their word for it, it won't be an issue in future revisions. I just hope they allow for full refunds for amps that have this flaw.

 

[LeftOurEyes]

I have a MH and have had 0 problems with it, or my 6505+ for that matter.

In short never buy anything from peavey.

Haha dumb seeing as Peavey makes some of the most reliable amps you can buy for some of the lowest costs. The MH is a new product, and this does happen with all companies from time to time with new products. I know plenty of people using 10-20 year old Peavey amps with no problems. Peavey may not be known for the best clean sound, but reliability has not been a big problem for them.

Being more correct, buy a different Peavey amp, or a different lunchbox amp until the kinks are worked out with this model. The 6505+ sounds better anyway and there is not that much of a price difference, so I don't see why people don't just buy that model then. None of the lunchbox amps are quite as good as the full size counterparts, but most of them has a much bigger price gap, with Peavey there is not.

 

[Recto]

After seeing Peavey on undercover boss and then laying those people off, or worse, then moving production to China. Now this? No thanks Peavey, I will not buy your product.

 

[Baconjerky]

After seeing Peavey on undercover boss and then laying those people off, or worse, then moving production to China. Now this? No thanks Peavey, I will not buy your product.

No kidding. What they did to those guys was real terrible. I can't help but go back to that when I see their amps and usually that stuff doesn't bother me.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

After seeing Peavey on undercover boss and then laying those people off, or worse, then moving production to China. Now this? No thanks Peavey, I will not buy your product.

The Undercover Boss thing was ....ty, no denying that.

But...

ostby Roger Crimm » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:54 am

I do understand your concerns, and I hate that some of you have had trouble. There is no major flaw with the design as has been suggested by some. There is simply one component value that needed to be changed, and it has been. Unfortunately the issue did not reveal itself until now.

I wish I could invite you all to the lab so that you could see just how the TSI circuit works. These amplifiers will survive a dead short cathode to screen or even cathode to PLATE. These are conditions that would cause serious damage to most amplifiers, but all these amps do is shut the tube off. Any other tube amp would take out a screen resistor or fuse at the very least if that happened. THAT is what I would call a show stopper.

A great majority of the (relatively few) problems so far can be addressed by a simple tweak of the bias. If yours does happen to be shutting down prematurely, you can get it corrected under warranty. We have tested a new part value that corrects this issue if you are experiencing it. Not all will, and again I am very sorry that some of you have had a problem.

I hope you will not lose confidence in the amplifier due to this issue. They are fantastic sounding amplifiers with a unique and innovative design. I also want to assure you that we are always working hard to insure that our customers get the best possible quality and service. That will never change.

Roger Crimm
Peavey Customer Service
customerservice@peavey.com

So, if you have the problem, send it in to have it fixed. Or call Peavey to see if you can get a more up-to-date replacement with the fix.

 

[LeftOurEyes]

I admit the Undercover Boss thing was pretty bad. I don't think that the worst part of it was that they got fired. I think the worst part was that they put them on TV first, made promises, then fired them. Talk about bad timing, and the guy from Peavey that did it seemed like a jerk which obviously didn't help. In all reality I'm surprised that Peavey stuff was made in the USA as long as it was. They may not have had the best jobs, but most people at other major music manufactures lost their jobs a long time ago. All of the cheaper stuff is made in China now. People go on about how great Orange amps are, but unless you spend $2000+ it is made in China. Mesa Boogie is one of the only major brands made in USA still, but their price and reputation allows them to stay in business so far. Peavey suffered from a low price point. They made really good products at a really good price, but finally couldn't compete here anymore.

 

[eclipseall]

The Undercover Boss thing was ....ty, no denying that.

But...



So, if you have the problem, send it in to have it fixed. Or call Peavey to see if you can get a more up-to-date replacement with the fix.

Thats what i call sugar coating the problem from peavey. Sending it back for people who live outside the US is not easy or practical, and its expensive and time consuming (dealing with customs and all....not fun!)

A more practical solution would have been to field test the amp until this obvious design flaw revealed itself. I'm sure it would have pretty quickly. Mine did after about week, the first time I played it for longer than an hour and a half. A tweak of the bias did nothing to fix the problem.

Peavey messed up up a component that causes the amp to overheat and shut of. How can they have not picked up on this? Lack of field testing maybe.

Might not be a big issue to them. But for some of their customers its a huge deal. I already sent mine back for a refund, lost my money (import taxes and shipping) and thats fine, you live and learn. No sense in keeping gear around that doesn't work properly anyways. Im sure the flaw will be fixed in production, but Ive moved on to something else. This isn't the first time in my guitar playing life that I've had problems defective with gear. But it is the first time Ive had a problem with a Peavey.

Some people sent their amp back to peavey and Peavey sent them a replacement with the same issue. It shows how clueless they were about their component flaw until their own customers told them, after dishing out their cash.

I do believe and support that Peavey has great customer service. Its not like they did this on purpose. I do own a couple of 6505+ amps that i love and don't have any issues with.

This happens with new products. It sucks. Im not quilting on Peavey or their gear, but Id rather have their simple flagship models and Ill become a very late adaptor to their new stuff from now on. They are going through some major changes. Maybe thats contributing to them releasing products like the mini heads, which are a great idea but new a little more time on the drawing board.

Making gear in china is fine by me, stuffing components into a box int rocket science, but they just could not compete anymore at their price point. Made in the US is also not a guarantee that a unit is free from flaws either. Mesa had issues with their first run of the Mini Recs also and their customer service is not as good as Peaveys. This isn't about were the product was made, its about the lack of field testing a new product until its ready.

Im a upset that I lost money? Who wouldn't be!

 

[Stuck_in_a_dream]

I just received mine from Amazon yesterday, I didn't even have the time to try it out! My luck

Now what? I never buy gear on impulse and I actually researched this purchase for a while, and the 6505mh was what I exactly wanted to the tee. I love the 6505, but needed a practice tube amp with an fx loop.

If I decide to return it, are there any alternatives that don't cost twice as much?

 

[Petar Bogdanov]

Peavey messed up up a component that causes the amp to overheat and shut of. How can they have not picked up on this?

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but often times during optimization for manufacture, the spec changes. What's worse is that the factory can and will change suppliers without notifying you, and the only way to catch that is to test every shipment religiously.

The ventilation-less chassis is still dumb though.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Peavey suffered from a low price point. They made really good products at a really good price, but finally couldn't compete here anymore.

The problem is two fold with Peavey: 1) they tried to compete with thier own used pricing, and 2) they chose to undercut competitors instead of relying on new designs and a very loyal customer base.

They could have easily raised prices a bit, the only folks who would have jumped ship are those looking at bargain amps anyway.

Peavey was just too stubborn for thier own good.

It's interesting that you mention Mesa, as from a product standpoint Peavey is the anti-Mesa. Mesa knows they make great amps, and even though they can be had for cheap on the used market they know thier loyal fans will still buy thier amps at business supporting prices and they'll want to buy the amps because new features and models come out regularly.

If Mesa had just stopped after the first Dual Rec, then pushed the pricing lower and lower they would have sold a boatload, but would be right were Peavey is.