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Amp issues mid-gig. Random, or time to replace?

Cleezmo

Cleezmo

Feb 25, 2015
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#1
Wondering if the wise minds of TB have any thoughts here. I have a Class D head I purchased new in 2021. I'll leave the brand out of this for now. The last few times I've used the amp at a gig, it has had two problems:
  • At a jam session a few weeks ago, a player unplugged his bass without muting via the tuner pedal in line with the input. The clip light went solid red, the power light flashed, and all sound stopped. I had to turn the amp off, then back on, and it operated normally. This happened twice the same night (before I figured out that it was the same guy doing it and talked to him).
  • At a gig this weekend, I turned off the amp after our first set. When I tried to turn it back on for the second set, it would not turn on. I know it had power because everything else connected to the power strip was on. After a few minutes of not-quite-panic, it did turn back on.
  • Three songs into the second set, the clip light went solid red (but I had not changed anything in the signal chain – bass, pedals, gain, etc.), the power light started flashing, and all sound stopped. I turned the amp off, waited about 10 seconds, then turned it back on, and it operated normally the rest of the gig. I don't think it was overheating because it was an outdoor evening gig, and it was mid 60s out out.
  • It was not maxed out in either case, gain was at 2:00 and Master was at about 9:00-10:00.
Note that nothing weird like this has happened when playing the amp at home either through the cab or via the headphone out. I have several gigs coming up later this month and next month, and right now I'm paranoid that this will keep happening. Any ideas? Or it is time to start shopping?
 
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#4
Zooberwerx said:
Check the manual / contact the manufacturer. The fact that it re-booted is a good sign as **** that is TRULY broken does not repair itself. At a first glance, it appears the gear is kicking into a self-protect mode (impedance, heat)...but why?

Riis
Click to expand...
I have emailed the customer service email address, waiting for their response. And yes, what's frustrating is that nothing really has changed in terms of bass, signal, etc. And it performed fine at several outdoor, 90F+ gigs earlier this summer. Weird.
 
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#5
Cleezmo said:
I have emailed the customer service email address, waiting for their response. And yes, what's frustrating is that nothing really has changed in terms of bass, signal, etc. And it performed fine at several outdoor, 90F+ gigs earlier this summer. Weird.
Click to expand...

I wish failures like this were predictable...it would make our lives so much easier. Are you able to reproduce in a practice / rehearsal scenario? What's the amp-in-question? It would assist our tech support search.

Not a bad idea to keep spares on hand. I'm cobbling together a kit with cast-off components.

Riis
 
#6
First question… is it still under warranty? If so, contact the manufacturer to determine how to proceed. A 4 year old amp shouldn't have problems unless there is something wrong with it, 4 years is an unreasonably short lifespan.

Second question… what is the speaker load that you are trying to drive? What is the minimum rated load the amp is capable of?
 
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#7
agedhorse said:
First question… is it still under warranty? If so, contact the manufacturer to determine how to proceed. A 4 year old amp shouldn't have problems unless there is something wrong with it, 4 years is an unreasonably short lifespan.

Second question… what is the speaker load that you are trying to drive? What is the minimum rated load the amp is capable of?
Click to expand...
Warranty is 36 months, so I'm past that unfortunately.

The amp puts out 500W at 4ohms, I'm running it into a RevSound 2x12 4ohm cab rated at 600W. I've been using the same setup since last I got this cab last November and never had any issues until the last couple weeks. And it hasn't done any of these things at home practicing.

Edit, the amp is rated at 250W at 8ohms, 500W at 4ohms, and 700W at 2.67ohms. Gain is usually between noon and 2:00, Master is at maybe 10:00. So nowhere near maxed out.
 
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#8
Cleezmo said:
Warranty is 36 months, so I'm past that unfortunately.

The amp puts out 500W at 4ohms, I'm running it into a RevSound 2x12 4ohm cab rated at 600W. I've been using the same setup since last I got this cab last November and never had any issues until the last couple weeks. And it hasn't done any of these things at home practicing.

Edit, the amp is rated at 250W at 8ohms, 500W at 4ohms, and 700W at 2.67ohms. Gain is usually between noon and 2:00, Master is at maybe 10:00. So nowhere near maxed out.
Click to expand...
Contact the manufacturer, ask them who handles factory authorized service in your area.
 
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#11
I remember when my Eden WT800 would do that ...while on tour at larger venues....Thankfully I had my Sansamp BDDI that saved the day.
Took it to an Eden repair place in Montreal while we played there.
A simple fix...reroute internal wiring...If I remember correctly

No more problems after that fix.

Sorry...I should say this was in the early 2000s and I have only used Mark Bass ...QSC PLX and now Mesa Subway since then
 
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#13
murphy said:
I remember when my Eden WT800 would do that ...while on tour at larger venues....Thankfully I had my Sansamp BDDI that saved the day.
Took it to an Eden repair place in Montreal while we played there.
A simple fix...reroute internal wiring...If I remember correctly

No more problems after that fix.

Twas many moons ago......
Click to expand...
So, what were we bypassing? Stuff like this kinda scares me...as it should.

Riis
 
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#14
As others have mentioned, get it to a qualified service tech. Since you're running it within the spec'd ohms, my guess, and this is only a guess, is there might be a fault interruption issue - could've overheated when the guy overloaded the circuit by not muting when the instrument cable was unplugged from a bass.

If so, and if it's an ICEPower core power section, replacement PCB's are available for a significantly lower cost than a lot of new amps.

700 watt amps that use ICEPower include Ampeg's Venture V7, Aguilar's Tone Hammer 700 and AG700 & Seymore Duncan's Power Stage 700.
 
#19
Pocket Dave said:
As others have mentioned, get it to a qualified service tech. Since you're running it within the spec'd ohms, my guess, and this is only a guess, is there might be a fault interruption issue - could've overheated when the guy overloaded the circuit by not muting when the instrument cable was unplugged from a bass.

If so, and if it's an ICEPower core power section, replacement PCB's are available for a significantly lower cost than a lot of new amps.

700 watt amps that use ICEPower include Ampeg's Venture V7, Aguilar's Tone Hammer 700 and AG700 & Seymore Duncan's Power Stage 700.
Click to expand...
Beware that there are counterfeit ICEPower out there coming out of China. No ICEPower modules are manufactured there.
 
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