Tick Tick Tick goes the amp

[newguitarsmell]

Hi Guys
I have a great sounding (in all other ways) amp I'm using, but every once in awhile I get either a crackle sound - like pot noise - or a tick tick tick sound.
They are both intermittent.

Any ideas what those sounds might indicate? Other than that the amp sounds fine.

Thanks

[tubenit]

As an FYI to everyone ……………………….    The guys on the forum love to help people troubleshoot amp problems or design a new circuit.   When the forum has been most helpful to someone, there are typically 4 things the poster has done.

1) provided the "actual" schematic he is using in the amp's current state

2) a high resolution photo of the chassis interior

3) voltages on the plates and cathodes of all the tubes

4) a detailed description of what is currently NOT working and a detailed description of what they have already tried
    to do in order to resolve the problem.

With respect, Tubenit

[tubenit]

Did you look in ARCHIVES under "Trouble shooting guidelines"

https://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=21999.0

With respect, Tubenit

[tubeswell]

Unless we have the sort of information tubenit outlined above, everything is just stabs in the dark.

[shooter]

crackle, bacon frying, sizzle are indicative of bad solder, usually where big volts are, should be able to wiggle n jiggle wires, tubes, ettal

like pot noise

Dude, that's great shit!!, like that? 

[tubenit]

Newguitarsmell,

Did you realize you did not even state what kind of amp it is? 

Tubenit

[newguitarsmell]

One

[newguitarsmell]

2

[newguitarsmell]

Three again. Yes, I’m a dummy.

[newguitarsmell]

Four

[newguitarsmell]

https://el34world.com/Hoffman/files/Hoffman_5F2A.pdf

I can't figure out how to extract just one page... I will keep trying.

[newguitarsmell]

Sorry guys - I don't mean to be a dumb +$&t!  I know better.

I don't know a lot about all of this...obviously

[newguitarsmell]

Got it.

[Willabe]

Three again. Yes, I’m a dummy.

Your not a dummy!

The words we say/write matter. Don't affirm negative to yourself. 

You made a mistake, or didn't know how yet, that's all.   

[shooter]

kinda trippy when I zoom in, not to helpful for troubleshooting 

grab a good clean of the tube line and a second of the jack-knob line

[newguitarsmell]

Try this?

[newguitarsmell]

And the input jacks

[newguitarsmell]

I made those a little bigger. I can send the others at a little higher resolution I think.

[tubenit]

We need to know what you've already tried in order to resolve the problem?

Have you tried chopsticking the wiring and turrets with a non-conductive stick?  IF so, did you pinpoint where the problem is coming from?

Have you tried known good tubes?

Do the voltages look correct on the plates and cathodes?

[I've had a new tube (EL84) go bad from almost the git go & it made odd intermittent noises.] 

Does the amp make the noise with the volume turned up more OR is the noise unrelated to the volume of the amp?
A)  in other words with the amp at low volume it does it make the noise at all?
B)  is the volume of the noise the same regardless of the volume of the amp?

Have you tried a different guitar amp speaker?  Sometimes speakers make crackling noises.

Have you tried a different guitar and a different cord for the guitar to plug in?

Please provide more information.  with respect, Tubenit

BTW,  many of the questions are from the ARCHIVES "troubleshooting guide".

[shooter]

practice your drumming in the box, look close, poke prod.

[newguitarsmell]

Thanks. so far I have tried nothing . I will try all these things. I feel like it’s a tube. I use NOS tubes and though they sound lovely, they are often iffy. The bias is good. I did check that.
the cable is also good - I will poke a chopstick. Thanks guys.

[tubeswell]

...so far I have tried nothing . I will try all these things. I feel like it’s a tube. I use NOS tubes and though they sound lovely, they are often iffy. ...

Also try another rectifier tube. Sometimes noises like 'buzzing' or 'ticking' can be a bad rectifier tube

[PRR]

> get either a crackle sound - like pot noise - or a tick tick tick sound. They are both intermittent.

While amp information is good for context......

In ALL audio, crackles and ticks are 95% of the time BAD CONNECTIONS.

I bet Watson heard Bell through crackles because he did not have good wire or connectors. (And Grey's telephone was entirely a bad connection.)

The original point of Integrated Circuits was to reduce the number of hand-made bad joints and the excessive cost of finding each/every bad joint in a million-joint computer.

"Joints" can also be bad connections INside sockets, pots, tubes, speakers, etc etc. But if you just built the amplifier, without two experienced joint-inspectors, my money is on your joints.

[kagliostro]

I don't see much tin on your solder joints

may be is because I usually don't have a good vision or your photo isn't close enough

but I'll give a try on repassing your junctions

Franco