Fuse burned out in shipping? ?

Hi guys, this is a fantastic response and I am very appreciative! It is apparent my original post left out some critical information. As I am a bit short of time I will post again, but here's what I have for the moment:

Packaging: the amp was wrapped in one very thin layer of bubble wrap and then put in a box stuffed with shredded paper. Since the box was only a bit larger than the amp itself--about 1" extra on most sides--there wasn't much room for packing material to begin with. Sadly, the shipper didn't even really stuff the box with shredded paper, so the amp could easily moved inside. So it is entirely possible this amp was damaged in shipping.

The box looked like a big ball of tape. I'm not kidding. Every inch was taped, sometimes three, four, five times over. The top of the box had caved in some during shipping, but the massive amount of tape kept it all together, so to speak. I'll take another, closer look later tonite.

As for the amp, I haven't noticed anything that I would call shipping damage. There are plenty of signs of aging, but no bent fins, dented structure, visibly broken internal parts, etc. What I DID find, though, was that is was readily apparent that this amp has had many hands inside it before. It is missing some of the screws for the top case and those that are there are different (and visibly different ages as well).

The fuse- the fuse isn't broken, it is burned. There is a lovely scorch mark in the center of the glass where it is blackened. However, I did not check this before plugging the amp in. Here is what I did:

I happened to have one speaker readily on hand that wasn't already hooked up, so I hooked it up to the left channel. Sounded peachy. Turned the amp off and waited a few seconds. Disconnected the speaker cable and moved it to right channel. Turned amp back on and never heard a peep. Turned amp back off and checked the fuses. Left channel fuse looked fine, albeit a little old. Right channel fuse looked like it had been the main course in a BBQ.

Okeedokee, so I wrote the seller about this. Meanwhile, I went and put the left channel fuse in the right holder and tried turning the amp on again. Still no sound. I went and put the fuse back in the left channel and moved speaker wire back to left to make sure that the fuse was still good. Left channel sounded just fine... Again. So this time I left the left channel fuse and put in my own fuse with same ratings. Nothing. Tried raising volume. Nothing.

One point of note: all the new fuses put into the right channel fuse holder have been fine going in and coming out. The channel isn't blowing fuses AND it isn't making sound.

Could I have crossed some wires? I hate to say never, but I feel very connfident about this. I did all of the attaching and detaching with the amp off and even allowed about 3-5 seconds for drain time. Even so I try to be sure that leads never touch because electricity can remain in the amp well after that short period. That said, I won't pretend to be infallible. What I am sure of is that I didn't check any fuses before turning on the amp. I didn't think of it although I may in the future.

I'll write more a little later, I've got to put the kids to sleep right now. Thank you all very much!

Aaron

IIRC, the Halfer amps have "inside" fuses also. Make sure you check them. I think they are on the botttom of the inside of the amp in dual mount fuse holders, (2 for each channel). I bet they are toasted too.

I have a few moments here to add to my post: I actually did get to remove the top panel (I alluded to that in my previous post) and looked for damage. There was nothing out of the ordinary that I could detect. None of the capacitors look like they are bulging, I didn't notice any loose parts, broken connections, etc. But the real kicker is that the internal fuses were intact. That said, they looked newer (less age accumulated crud) than the back fuses. Also, as I mentioned before, the top of this case has been removed, probably MANY times. It was a hodgepodge of screws of different types and ages.

Still, the fuses aren't blowing when I turn the amp on or anything, there is just no sound. I know this amp is old, but I don't see any VISUAL evidence of a problem. Then again, I'm sure I could be more thorough
As well as more educated about what to look for, so feel free to take that with a bit of skepticism. I build computers a lot, do soldering, etc., so I'm not lost inside an amp case, but I'm just not an expert either.

In any event, I can buy, in theory, that the amp was damaged in transit and that the fuse blew when I turned the amp on. But then why doesn't it blow when I put a new fuse in? That's what bothers me.

I could buy that maybe I shorted the terminal and blew a fuse (in theory, I feel confident I didn't) but then why doesn't a new fuse get things going again?

Finally, I think what bothers me the most is that the channel never made a peep. It wasn't like there was this very brief sounds and the fuse blew cutting the sound out, I mean it was like my speaker was hooked up to nothing. The closest I came to getting sound from this channel was when I jiggled the connection a bit to keep it from sliding off and I got a nasty type of static (and come to think of it I can't recall for sure which channel that was.... Damn my brain).

I specifically asked the seller to package this amp well because I have had an awful run of luck getting electronics lately (this is the 5th item damaged in transit in 3 months). He ignored me completely, at least IMO, and I've got a damaged amp. Nevertheless, I don't want to accuse him of trying to steal if this is a shipping accident. OTOH, if he did send a dud then he can go @&!&$@! himself.

Oh, he told me I should file the insurance claim.... AFAIK, doesn't the sender have to file this? After all, he is the one who purchased the insurance. This just feels like someone trying to send me off on little errands until I either forget or don't care.

PS- I paid with Paypal, so if the seller is trying to scam me he is going to be disappointed.

Sorry, that turned into a little bit of a rant.

Do a PayPal dispute immediately. They will put a hold on the money. That will get him to do something. Doesn't sound like he wants to work with you. If you bought here you can initiate a dispute as well. Keep us posted.

If you are not happy ( and I wouldn't be), PayPal will take care of you on this matter.
If the seller isn't responding to you in a fashon that you are satisfied with, I would open a dispute with PayPal and forward all of the emails to them and ask for a refund.
Good luck with your venture.