Coil completely burnt: is a problem of too distorted sound?

[Invisible]

i've completely burnt the coil of my Mesa Powerhouse 1x15. The man who fixed it told me "less power please!" But I use it together with a 2x10 (both 8ohm) with a Mesa 400+ or a Mesa MPulse 600, never more than 3.5 of volume. What's the problem? Some friends say to me " too much overdrive, too much fuzz" yes I often use distorted sounds but is it really possible to burn the coil with too much distortion? I use Fulltone bassdrive, ZVez Wolly Mammuth, EBS microbass, sometimes od and fuzz together (!) but I don't do it anymore!

 

[Mr. Foxen]

Its not the distortion that made the coil burn, but its probably the distortion that made you not notice the speaker distorting that warns you it is being overpowered.

 

[Invisible]

1x15 is 400W and 2x10 is 600 W, how I could overpower them with those amps?

 

[Dave W]

Realistically they probably take about half of that wattage. Those numbers you listed are probably their thermal rating.

In any case, you gave it too much power and the speaker blew.

 

[wcriley]

Which coil did you burn out?
The voicecoil in the driver or the inductor in the crossover?

 

[Stumbo]

Take a look at fdeck's HPF/pre VIII. It helps protect the speakers low end and will tighten up your tone.

Btw, the volume knob setting is usually not directly related to how much "wattage" your speaker is receiving. Obviously setting it a 3.5 didn't work out for you so even if you don't use pedals anymore, you still may have a long term problem. Do you amps have limiters/compression built in? Those will also protect your speakers. Check out some reviews/recommendations at at: http://www.ovnilab.com/index.shtml

 

[B-string]

1x15 is 400W and 2x10 is 600 W, how I could overpower them with those amps?

All those effects can add gain making my knob was at XX meaningless. As others have said those cab input ratings are thermal not how much power they can take of low end bass. Your 400+ is rated at <5% distortion and will output much more at higher distortion levels.
You poured too much power into your cabs, realistically (limited by the 15") your total cab power limit was about 400 watts "rms". Double the lowest rated cab when using two cabs at fundamental and second harmonics.

 

[dincz]

Realistically they probably take about half of that wattage. Those numbers you listed are probably their thermal rating.

If the voice coils are burnt, it's the thermal rating that was exceeded.

 

[Dave W]

As the voice coils are burnt, it's the thermal rating that was exceeded.

And that takes away from what I said how?

 

[Invisible]

The voice coil, crossover and other parts where ok. I still use pedals, I don't sum different distorsion anymore ;-) I recently bought a Thumpinator to cut frequencies under 30Hz, I hope that will help. It is possible that those cabs are not enough? It' unbelievable... How many cabs have I to use? i don't play in a stadium.

 

[B-string]

If the voice coils are burnt, it's the thermal rating that was exceeded.

Not necessarily, thermal limit can also be the point of coil former distortion, enamel burning or adhesive failure if the coil remains inside the motor assembly and is not driven outside of it (where there is no heat transfer to the motor assembly).

 

[B-string]

The voice coil, crossover and other parts where ok

Then what did fail? The voice coil is attached to the speaker cone and that is the only "coil" on a 15" speaker.

 

[wcriley]

Now I'm really confused!

 

[B-string]

Now I'm really confused!

Maybe it is an old electro-magnet speaker?

 

[Chainsaw Willie]

yeah, a field coil! Perhaps the previous owner snuck an Atwater Kent speaker into the cab and the field coil failed.

 

[wcriley]

Only members of the Grumpy Old Farts Club know what a field coil driver is...........

 

[dincz]

And that takes away from what I said how?

You said:

Those numbers you listed are probably their thermal rating

The voice coils overheated - i.e. a thermal problem

 

[Invisible]

Well... It's a Mesa Boogie cab! As I saud before people reconing it said "too much power", that's all I know. Last three lives. I did smell like Devil behind me...well now I know it was the coil going away

 

[Dave W]

You said:

Those numbers you listed are probably their thermal rating

The voice coils overheated - i.e. a thermal problem

Ummm, yeah.

Anyways, OP says the voice coils are fine now.

 

[B-string]

Only members of the Grumpy Old Farts Club know what a field coil driver is...........

With the HV of the 400+ I can understand how it burned.