Mesa Rectifier Recap?

[BetterOffShred]

Hey guys, long time no post.  I got my BS in Mechanical Engineering finally and started working at the power utility on Hydro-electric dam projects.   Anyway..

So I have an early 2000's Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier (3 channel), and it still sounds good, but when I turn the amp off it pops loudly through the speakers.  If I engage the standby first, the amp will not pop (once the sound fades).  It pops in all three channels..
Is this an indication my filter caps are going bad, or at least one of them?   I just moved and all my stuff is in disarray, but once I get settled I was fixing to pop it open and replace them.  The amp got knocked over early in it's life with the foot pedal cord attached, and I think there is a bunch of broken solder joints where that connects to the board, as it will change channels randomly if subjected to vibration such as sitting on the cab.   So yeah I'd love to hear some opinions on my popping problem!  Thanks again
-Brett

[SoundmasterG]

Hey guys, long time no post.  I got my BS in Mechanical Engineering finally and started working at the power utility on Hydro-electric dam projects.   Anyway..

So I have an early 2000's Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier (3 channel), and it still sounds good, but when I turn the amp off it pops loudly through the speakers.  If I engage the standby first, the amp will not pop (once the sound fades).  It pops in all three channels..
Is this an indication my filter caps are going bad, or at least one of them?   I just moved and all my stuff is in disarray, but once I get settled I was fixing to pop it open and replace them.  The amp got knocked over early in it's life with the foot pedal cord attached, and I think there is a bunch of broken solder joints where that connects to the board, as it will change channels randomly if subjected to vibration such as sitting on the cab.   So yeah I'd love to hear some opinions on my popping problem!  Thanks again
-Brett

I suppose it could be electrolytic caps, and it certainly can't hurt to replace them. Around the time your Dual Rectifier was made there were some shoddy caps going around so perhaps Mesa used some. I've got an early 90's two channel Dual Rectifier that still has original caps and is still going strong even though I don't power it on a lot, so you may consider replacing your electrolytics to be safe, but also consider other possible problem areas.


Greg

[Johntb]

By no means am I an expert but I would be looking at all those solder joints.
Does the amp have an option to keep the fx loop "out"? If so try turning it off with the loop out and see. That would really narrow it down. Maybe you will luck out and it will be a simple bad 1/4" jack or something.

Good luck.

John

[BetterOffShred]

Well the Tubes are all pretty old, so I'll probably start with some new tubes, and see if the pop goes away from that, and if it doesn't I'll start looking at other things. 

The footswitch.. If I set the amp to a certain channel on the back it's all good, but if I set channel switching to the footswitch it hops around when it vibrates.  I'm sure the socket has broken solder joints where it connects to the board.   So I'll have to open it up for that anyway.  Thanks
-Brett