Carvin BX500: Pt. 3

[MarTONEbass]

You and your playing would sound great through any amp. Your drummer isn't hurting anything either, must suck to be you Nice job!

Oh, man! Thank you so much. Kevin is a monster, he definitely pushes me to bring my A game, always has. You know players and friends like him are hard to find, and we do make a great team. It's great when you find those people you just lock in with and who always push you to be be better.

 

[tekhedd]

The DeoxIT adds 15 bucks to the budget price. But you can use the DeoxIT for other things too. It it weren't for the Carvin BX500 and TalkBass? I would even be aware of the stuff, but its in the same category as WD40 and duct tape!

DeoxIT F5 (FaderLube) is a pretty awesome product too. Don't go spraying D5 on your volume pots or you'll be unhappy though--it will clean the conductive lube right off of the surface.

 

[evil-g]

So my BX500 was making the white noise and I re-seated the ribbon connectors. It seems to have fixed the problem. Thing is all I had on hand to clean it with was CRC QD Electronic Cleaner so I did not clean them. Is the CRC the same as Deoxit? It seems all I hear is use Deoxit.

 

[Lia_G]

Any electronic contact cleaner should work. It's just that Deoxit is one of, if not the, best and is well known.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[evil-g]

Thanks.

 

[bassfreakah]

Does anyone have a pic of the guts of this amp?

 

[Jarrett]

Just snapped this pic of mine:

Which ribbon connection gives issues? And what's the stuff I need to have on hand? Detoxit?

 

[Lia_G]

All ribbon connectors are suspect. Deoxit D5 contact cleaner is the stuff.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[DJ Bebop]

Has anybody thought of just taking a little silicone caulk and dab
a little on the outside of the ribbon cable connection so they won't be bothered by movement?

I have some older equipment that has this done from the factory.

 

[Jarrett]

It seems like they had some goop and put it elsewhere, but chose not to do that on the ribbon cables.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I need to call and ask why not

 

[Jeb]

Just snapped this pic of mine:

Which ribbon connection gives issues? And what's the stuff I need to have on hand? Detoxit?

Technique for getting to the upper left connector? That's a tough one.

 

[chucko58]

You pretty much have to unscrew all the knobs and switches from the front panel and remove the preamp board, to get to all the connectors.

Beware when reassembling not to overtighten the nuts! I did this last weekend and the Active switch came apart. It still works, but I'm stuck in passive mode until I can replace the switch.

 

[dharmashawn]

I know all about the search, but didn't come up with anything and there is a LOT of info on this little guy here.

Anyway title says it all When ever I power up (even with the mute switch engaged) the Protect light comes on for a few seconds. Not just a flash.

Thoughts?
Ideas?

Thanks Much

 

[B-string]

From the manual: "If the
PROTECT LED stays lit for more than 5 seconds check your SPEAKER OUTPUT connections, the 2 OHM
switch, or a blocked fan intake."

Up to 5 seconds is normal during power up pre test (boot up).

 

[evil-g]

So should I spray the connections on the board or just the disconnected cables.

 

[Lia_G]

I just spray inside the disconnected connectors then work them on and off a few times.

Liam

 

[evil-g]

Thanks

 

[Passinwind]

So should I spray the connections on the board or just the disconnected cables.

Deoxit Gold in the paint pen style applicator also works really for jobs like this. Less mess, and tends to last longer IME. Also really good for vacuum tube pins and sockets.

 

[Troph]

Well, the BX500 overheated badly during a rehearsal last night. At first I didn't know what was going wrong; the volume just dropped to about 5% of its previous level. I noticed the top was warm, and the fan wasn't running. We took a break, and I unscrewed the top, and the heatsink was too hot to touch.

Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever heard the fan on this thing turn on...

In any case, I left the top off and set up an oscillating fan blowing over the top, and it worked great for the rest of the evening (another 90 minutes or so). The heatsink cooled off and never even got warm after that point.

So: Has anyone else had overheating problems? And if not, how often have you noticed the fan turn on?

Thanks!