Question about noisy channel [resolved]

[jstrano]

Good Morning,
I've had my SEX built for about a year and am running it through a Moreplay that I built shortly thereafter. 
The SEX has been working great for just shy of a year, but all of a sudden I've gotten a little static (lack of definition) through the right channel.  I isolated it down to the amp and it is definitely the right channel.
-The unit is great for about 2 or 3 songs, but then fades after it heats up
-I've tried a few different tubes in that socket, which I thought may have fixed it, but it showed up
-When I move the tube lightly I do get A LOT of noise from that channel
-I have flipped the unit over and checked soldering joints on the socket and reflowed about 3 of them as I wasn't super-psyched with the appearance of those attachments. 

I'm at the point where I feel like I need to flip it back over and reflow everything on that channel, but before I go through that, does anyone have any other ideas that would be helpful? 
I LOVE this amp and want to get her back up to 100% ASAP. 
PS, I run the amp about 15-20 hours a week if that tells anyone anything
Thanks,
Jason

[Paul Birkeland]

That sounds exactly like a flaky solder joint acting up.  If you run the amp inverted and hooked up to a cheap pair of speakers, poke around a bit with a chopstick to see if you can set the noise off.  That can help focus your resoldering efforts.

[jstrano]

Ahhhh, chop sticks! That's a great idea, I will be trying that and reporting back. 
Thank you guys for everything, everyone at Bottlehead has always been amazing with support. 
-Jason

[jstrano]

Paul, I just wanted to respond that you were 100% correct. 
I did exactly as you stated and found a flaky solder joint on the the capacitor on the left channel.  The joint looked beautiful, but there must have been something about it.  We're in great shape and it sounds great!
I can't stress how awesome this company and community is. 
Thanks,
Jason

[Paul Birkeland]

Thank you for letting us know that you were able to find it. 

[Doc B.]

This is excellent and I hope many people read it. Looking at a solder joint - no matter how beautiful it is - can't tell you how well it will work. That's because the crtical interface is hidden under the solder, where the flux has (or has not) created a good surface for the metals to make contact.