I have a Carvin 200 amp Micro Bx that started to pulsate with air blowing from the input jack. Stopped working! Any ideas?
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Air blowing from input jack!
- Thread starter David Swanson
- Start date
welcome to talkbass. many ideas, but i am not qualified to diagnose amp failures over the internet...hopefully some more knowledgable folks will be along soon.
just remembered ... some folks have trouble with the ribbon cable inside of these amps. this thread may help Carvin amp problems
just remembered ... some folks have trouble with the ribbon cable inside of these amps. this thread may help Carvin amp problems
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Carvin exited the amplifier business in 2017 and does not do any repairs on any of their equipment, warranty or not.
What you are describing could be due to an oscillation in the power amp. See if the speakers are moving in and out when the amp is idling. If yes, it needs to be examined by a tech.
An overhead room fan can cause odd things to happen.
An overhead room fan can cause odd things to happen.
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If it has an internal fan, and the outlet slots are blocked, you could get air coming out of any hole, including the input jack. It'd make sure it was unplugged a good long while, take the top off, and vacuum up any lint, etc that I found.
Carvin is effectively no longer around. There will be no authorized service centers or anything like that. I hate to sound negative, but your best bet is to replace it.
A few decades ago I bought a David Eden cab. The manufacturer provided small plastic plugs that were intended to go into unused input jacks. Without the plugs, the cabs had a slight "wheezing" sound. Look into finding a plug that fits your unused jack and go for it!
It would probably be less expensive to just find another amp.
That seems unusual for a manufacturer to say "yeah its supposed to be like that"
A plastic plug should cost no more than a quarter. That is a cheap solution!
So, is the air "chuffing" thru the instrument input or a speaker input? The only 2 things producing air flow are a cooling fan or cone movement.
Riis
Riis
Any speaker cabinet that has a 1/4" jack in it unsealed and open will.pass air thought it to the outside world just like a port or any opening in the cabinet.
The amp may not be in a separate chamber from the speaker so the flow of air. As for not working, see if it has come undone from the speaker inside.
The amp may not be in a separate chamber from the speaker so the flow of air. As for not working, see if it has come undone from the speaker inside.
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I'd have to find a way to get it working but still have the air pulsating... then for a stage effect, connect a balloon and have it inflate and deflate to the rhythm of my bass.
I'm assuming you mean a BX250 Micro head, and not one of the MB combos, correct? If so, there is no fan and no possibility of a speaker causing air flow. Did you mean the sound output was pulsating?
What exactly do you mean "stopped working"? Does the power light come on but no sound comes through your speaker? If that's the case, do you get any sound from the headphone output?
I second the motion to check the ribbon cable connections as they have a history of flakiness. Otherwise, I'd recommend looking into a replacement unit, as it probably won't be cost effective to take it to a tech.
Yeah plus Carvin never had great resale to begin with (not being a critic, I actually own six of their bass cabinets); so on a good day that amp might be worth $200. You could easily spend close to that just fixing it and you would still have a $200 amp.
Analogeezer
I can't help with your amp. Just swinging by to say Welcome to TalkBass!!!!
