extended foreplay III troubleshooting help

praff · 2925

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Offline praff

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on: January 25, 2012, 05:14:52 AM
First of all wanted to say thanks to the community for my many years of listening bliss I have gotten out of my bottlehead gear.  It truly has been an exciting and enjoyable journey.  

I have been enjoying an extended foreplay III driving upgraded paramours (built by me) for about 4 years with the only other mods being upgraded alps volume pots about 3 years ago.  The problem I am having is that I have lost my right channel.  I have swapped tubes in both channels as well as the regulator position to no avail.  I have also done resistance checks to rule out the input path, selector switch and volume control.  A couple of visual items to note are that

1.  One led on the shunt regulator pc board is not lit.  I believe it is the one closest to the power supply and closest to the right volume control in the D1 (i think) position on the middle board.  

2.  The shunt regulator board is a little scorched or discolored (maybe just overheated as I dont see any visually failed components on the board) across the very middle of the board about 1/4" wide.  I can post a pic later if necessary.

I have also misplaced my extended upgrade manual.  I have my foreplay III manual but can't find the extended.  So just wondering where to start on the troubleshooting efforts.  Also, Doc, I need an additional copy of the extended manual, so let me know if I need to contact Eileen or if it can be emailed.  Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.  
« Last Edit: January 26, 2012, 02:22:36 AM by praff »



Offline praff

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Reply #1 on: February 26, 2012, 12:26:52 PM
WooHooooooooo....sweet tunes again.  Just thought I would report back some findings.

looked at a few suspect solder joints and contemplated a scorched shunt board and unlit LED on the board.  Eileen was kind enough to send me another copy of my extended manual and the middle shunt board with parts.  After building the board, re-soldering a couple leads to the board and installing, all resistance and voltage checks looked ok.  All LEDs lit on the boards and now am again listening to a little susan tedeschi on the rig.  Man...I put off troubleshooting/fixing for way too long.  Once again I am amazed at how good this rig sounds with my bottlehead equipment. 



Offline porcupunctis

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Reply #2 on: February 26, 2012, 12:33:42 PM
Being able to repair/upgrade your gear makes Bottlehead the best value in the audio world.  The gear sounds phenomenal in its stock configuration and even better (for personal tastes) when modded.  Plus, there is no problem that this forum can't help you figure out.

That's value.

Glad you're up and running.  If my FPIII went down I would be pulling all-nighters until it was well again.

Randall Massey
Teacher of Mathematics
Lifetime audio-electronics junkie