trouble with Peavey Max 450

Tony-bobs · #1 09-02-2010, 01:50 AM

I just started playing with a guy who is letting me borrow his max 450 (that he got for free, probably because the previous owner was having the same problems!) and I love the amp. After we get about an hour into practice though, it just stops making noise. not a huge problem cuz I have the max 160 to run through. the 160 is able to keep up for now, but I like the assurance of having the extra power of the 450. today after practice, I plugged back into the 450 and it fired back up. Like it's over heating or something. I pulled it apart thinking maybe it was just dirty inside, but it was sparkly clean. Any ideas on what's going on here? I'd like to keep the amp, as it allows me to save the money I would buy on a new amp once we start gigging, but I would rather not have to set up two amps knowing that one is going to fail half way through a show...

BbbyBld · #2 09-02-2010, 09:28 AM

I would say it overheated.

Make sure you are not exceeding the 2 ohm minimum load by running too many cabinets.

The cooling fan may not be kicking up into high speed when it's heating up.

Maybe try to verify that by playing it really hard and listening for the fan after a while. You can try heating it up faster by blocking the vents, but don't run it that way more than a couple minutes.

Tony-bobs · #3 09-02-2010, 01:11 PM

I'm running an 8ohm carvin 410, so I doubt that's what's going on. I'll check the fans this evening. Its possible that one or both of them got unplugged somehow.

Tony-bobs · #4 09-03-2010, 01:20 AM

So tonight I pulled it apart and cranked it and played for a while, but never saw the fans kick on. I did, however, almost catch my speaker cable on fire. I later realized it wasn't a speaker cable, just a short inst. cable that I had grabbed when I wasn't paying attention. I used the head during practice, with a real speaker cable, and it shut off in the middle of a song, so I didn't get to look and see if the fans were going. The fans in most amps are in the back, but on the max 450, they are at the front of the amp right behind the knobs. I felt the front and back of the amp after it shut down and the front was cool but the back was warm, not hot. I figured that if the fans are working, the front should at least be a little warm? maybe, maybe i'm dumb. I'll get in touch with someone @ peavey and see if I can't get their opinion on the amp and maybe order some new fans. Thanks for the help!