Major problem with a Power amp

[maliciousteve]

Hey guys. I recently sold my Peavey poweramp off, i thought all was fine with it, except that it may need some new tubes.

I just got an email from the guy i sold it to and he said

"I took it to practice tonight for the 1st time and managed to do one song before it started sparking through the top vent, got a strong burning smell then it lit up like a Christmas tree and died. The standby light on the channel I was going through flickered just before it happened."

What could have caused this to happen?

It's never happened to me before. Can this be fixed or is it totalled?

[hunter]

Maybe the guy did something wrong, power wise or maybe he used an instrument cable or faulty speaker cable or only connected one side or used wrong Ohm resistance.

I would tell him that and reject any responsibility, as my first assumption is a wrong usage, but might be wrong of course ...

[Kilby]

It's sad to say but second hand items are bought as seen.

Unfortunitely theres too many things he could have done to cause it to go Pffffttt

If you do feel the need to do something to help him pass him the number of a good amp tech, the tech can also tell him what most likely caused the problem.

Rob...