Hartke HD150 speaker suddenly stopped working - help.

[lazylazylicks]

I was using the amp normally, suddenly it stopped working. Tested the board with a headphone, the signal is coming through and the eqs are working as expected.

Connected the headphone in the aux in jack and oddly it was sending signal to it.

The speaker is not working. Does anyone have a service manual or schematic for this amp or any insight about how to fix this issue?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Welcome to TB. Sorry to hear about your amp troubles.
Everywhere you tested (headphone and Aux) didn't necessarily test the power output stages or the speaker.
To know for sure if it's the amp or the speaker would require additional testing/substitution.

Not knowing your skill level with electronics, or comfort level for working on amps, I am hesitant to suggest you dig in too deeply. There are dangerous voltages involved, even with solid state amps. If you have some training in these things fine, let us know. If you aren't up to this, you should seek a qualified technician.

Did you notice anything odd (sounds? smells? ect.) around the time of failure or was it just D.O.A. when you turned it on.

At this point I can suggest trying to bypass the send/return. Sometimes those jacks get corrosion after not being used. Simply insert a 1/4" to 1/4" cable into both jacks. This can be your guitar cable if that's all you have. Insert and remove each plug several times. Hopefully this may clear any corrosion on the passthrough contacts of those jacks. Listen for something at the speaker while doing this.

Also, many people have been known to just start spraying "stuff" like contact cleaner, or heaven forbid, WD-40. Please don't be temped to do this without checking back here first. There are different chemicals that are appropriate for different parts of your amp. Using the wrong ones can lead to addition damage.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[lazylazylicks]

Did you notice anything odd (sounds? smells? ect.) around the time of failure or was it just D.O.A. when you turned it on.

At this point I can suggest trying to bypass the send/return. Sometimes those jacks get corrosion after not being used. Simply insert a 1/4" to 1/4" cable into both jacks.

I was playing bass at volume 1 while watching my newborn son (3 weeks old) yawning in his bassinet in this sunday morning.

Turned off the amp, unplugged the pedal I was using (ehx bass micro synth), went to the kitchen to make a new baby bottle, got back. Left it to cool off and turned on the amp again without the pedal, and the speaker stopped working all of the sudden, no smoke or odors of any sort, no sparks, no nothing.

Tested send/return and tried to insert/remove the plug, nothing happened as well.

I can't say this is the first time this has happened, back in 2018 this amp went cold on me during a live show, after a year+ I found a technician that was able to find the problem and fix it (at least, at the time). Apparently, without any power surge of any source the power supply had to be replaced in order for the speaker to be operational again.

Now the same problem happened and I'm really bummed about keeping this faulty amp here and expending more money to get it fixed again.

Sincerely, Idk if it is a faulty component or a factory defect, but this amp keeps failing all of the sudden. Dunno if anyone else experienced these problems as well.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Well congrats on the new young-un, Dad!

If the power supply failed as was the case last time, I wouldn't expect you to get any sound at the headphones.
Signs point to the speaker, as you suggested, or the amp's output stage, or the wiring between the output and the speaker.

I am not an amp tech, but do have 50 years under my belt as an electronics technician. I wouldn't have any qualms about working on my own stuff, and do when the need arises. Unless you have some training and experience in electronics maintenance, my recommendation is to find a qualified service tech.

 

[agedhorse]

Qualified service tech time

 

[Dadum]

Does the amp have an “on/power” LED?
Did you check the fuse? There should be one. See Pic in this link.
http://www.samsontech.com/site_media/support/manuals/HD75_HD150_EN_v1_1.pdf

Does the cooling fan in the back spin?

Unplug from both back of box and wall and don’t plug back in for an hour. Then plug back into a different outlet in the house.( some devices require time to reset. This makes no sense but try it anyway)

I think it’s possible for headphones and EQ to somewhat work because they use passive components, although I’ve never tried it.


Here is a prior thread.


Hartke HD 150 Schematic?

 

[lazylazylicks]

Well congrats on the new young-un, Dad!

If the power supply failed as was the case last time, I wouldn't expect you to get any sound at the headphones.
Signs point to the speaker, as you suggested, or the amp's output stage, or the wiring between the output and the speaker.

Thanks I'm half asleep, half awake most of the time and happy to play my baby something to lull him to sleep or just make him experience his firsts few tunes.

Anyway, I'm no expert but I've got a multimeter and used it to monitor components whenever I need to. I live in Brazil, qualified technicians that know the equipment are rare and I generally try to troubleshoot the issue beforehand to avoid being ripped off (unfortunally, a common practice here).

The amp led is turning on and the cooling fan is working. Measured both fuses, they scale about 0,9 ohm (not sure if this mesure means it is working or else).

Will try your suggestion about the power outlet, if it works I'll post the results here.

 

[agedhorse]

It's not the power outlet or turning on-off. Don't waste your time.

Unfortunately, unless you know a lot more than you say you do, it's time to find a qualified service tech. Don't make the problem worse by poking around. Don't get hurt either, somebody needs to feed the baby...

 

[Dadum]

Thanks I'm half asleep, half awake most of the time and happy to play my baby something to lull him to sleep or just make him experience his firsts few tunes.

Anyway, I'm no expert but I've got a multimeter and used it to monitor components whenever I need to. I live in Brazil, qualified technicians that know the equipment are rare and I generally try to troubleshoot the issue beforehand to avoid being ripped off (unfortunally, a common practice here).

The amp led is turning on and the cooling fan is working. Measured both fuses, they scale about 0,9 ohm (not sure if this mesure means it is working or else).

Will try your suggestion about the power outlet, if it works I'll post the results here.

If the LED and fan are working, then it isn’t the power outlet. Checking the outlet was only in case the fan isn’t on. The fan shows it isn’t the power supply.

 

[Dadum]

It is best not to open it up yet.
(Re-edit after rereading original post. )
If you plug a CD player, keyboard or other line level device into the aux in, can you hear it through the headphones? Or if you don’t use headphones, through the speaker?

Based on posts, it seems power works, guitar input connector works because you can head the guitar through the headphones.

Is it true that when the headphones are plugged in, the speaker is muted? The other thread mentions this as a possible mechanical failure point.

 

[lazylazylicks]

So if you play your guitar, can you hear it in the headphones? If you plug a CD player, keyboard or other line level device into the aux in, can you hear it through the headphones? Or if you don’t use headphones, through the speaker?

I can hear the guitar in the headphones, audio through aux in is passing through to the headphones, exclusively.

If I remove the headphones, the speaker doesn't play the audio from the aux in, and it isn't playing anything from the input and return jacks.

Basically, the eq controls are working as expected with headphones. I've not tested the direct out, will try that tomorrow. Thank you all for your assistance.

 

[Dadum]

I can hear the guitar in the headphones, audio through aux in is passing through to the headphones, exclusively.

If I remove the headphones, the speaker doesn't play the audio from the aux in, and it isn't playing anything from the input and return jacks.

Basically, the eq controls are working as expected with headphones. I've not tested the direct out, will try that tomorrow. Thank you all for your assistance.

Good idea to check the direct output. I didn’t notice it had that.

 

[Bass Jones]

A couple of other simple things you can test before you take it in to a tech...

You can test the power amp by plugging your bass directly into the effects return. Start with volume on the bass down! (especially if the little one is asleep! )

If you still get no sound and you are comfortable with removing the speaker you can check to make sure the speaker connectors are not loose. While you've got the speaker disconnected, with your ohmmeter you can test the resistance of the speaker. The resistance of the speaker should read a little less than its impedance.

 

[Dadum]

The amp has a woofer and tweeters. It seems both do not work. I think this means that individual speakers don’t need to be checked (unless there is a short circuit). They are sourced through a crossovers network that splits the high and mid-low frequencies.

Also, the use of the headphones jack causes the speaker to cut off. This could be checked later but I’m not sure of the best way.

 

[Bass Jones]

The amp has a woofer and tweeters. It seems both do not work. I think this means that individual speakers don’t need to be checked (unless there is a short circuit). They are sourced through a crossovers network that splits the high and mid-low frequencies.

Also, the use of the headphones jack causes the speaker to cut off. This could be checked later but I’m not sure of the best way.

Yeah, depends on how the speakers are wired I guess. I had a TC combo with tweeter that would get no sound from either speaker when it was tilted back. On that one it turned out to be a loose speaker cable.

On those headphone jacks that switch off the speaker I'm not familiar with how they work these days. Without seeing the schematic it's hard to know if it's an old timey switched jack or if it's an IC that detects when something is plugged into the jack.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Thanks I'm half asleep, half awake most of the time and happy to play my baby something to lull him to sleep or just make him experience his firsts few tunes.

Anyway, I'm no expert but I've got a multimeter and used it to monitor components whenever I need to. I live in Brazil, qualified technicians that know the equipment are rare and I generally try to troubleshoot the issue beforehand to avoid being ripped off (unfortunally, a common practice here).

The amp led is turning on and the cooling fan is working. Measured both fuses, they scale about 0,9 ohm (not sure if this mesure means it is working or else).

Will try your suggestion about the power outlet, if it works I'll post the results here.

Your fuses are OK. Checking them on a meter is a GO-NO GO thing. There is continuity/very low ohms reading. Or nothing/fuse is blown.

But it seems that it's either qualified tech time, or new amp time.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I was playing bass at volume 1 while watching my newborn son (3 weeks old) yawning in his bassinet in this sunday morning.

Turned off the amp, unplugged the pedal I was using (ehx bass micro synth), went to the kitchen to make a new baby bottle, got back. Left it to cool off and turned on the amp again without the pedal, and the speaker stopped working all of the sudden, no smoke or odors of any sort, no sparks, no nothing.

Tested send/return and tried to insert/remove the plug, nothing happened as well.

I can't say this is the first time this has happened, back in 2018 this amp went cold on me during a live show, after a year+ I found a technician that was able to find the problem and fix it (at least, at the time). Apparently, without any power surge of any source the power supply had to be replaced in order for the speaker to be operational again.

Now the same problem happened and I'm really bummed about keeping this faulty amp here and expending more money to get it fixed again.

Sincerely, Idk if it is a faulty component or a factory defect, but this amp keeps failing all of the sudden. Dunno if anyone else experienced these problems as well.

The baby did it!

 

[lazylazylicks]

Tested the Direct output, it is fully functional. Just sent it to a technician for their take on it. Not sure if I'll maintain this amp after this repair. It is brand new comparing to some equipment that I have and use and they never faultered.
The eq, definition and tones are ok, but due to all the problems over the years I really wouldn't recommend this product to anyone. Ampegs may have a clunkier design, behringers are demonized by being cheap and all but I had combos and bass heads of all these brands and never had they just died out without a cause or a warning.

The baby did it!

Didn't forsee this hypothesis. I'll test another smaller amp I got for him (fender rumble 15W) and put his habilities to a new test.

 

[lazylazylicks]

As a token of my gratitude for the replies, here is a photo of him waiting for an estimate of hartke's hd150 repair budget.
Guess he'll have to be a fender entusiast for awhile.

 

[Bass Jones]

As a token of my gratitude for the replies, here is a photo of him waiting for an estimate of hartke's hd150 repair budget.
Guess he'll have to be a fender entusiast for awhile.

He's rockin' that t-shirt!!