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Hartke KILO Overheating - Help!

#21
Yeah it's HOT not warm. It was hot to the point that the bassist in the other band that was using my rig decided to use his head.

I've had it for a year or so and used it on many gigs. I decided to bridge it a while back so I didn't have to crank the gain and volume. It's never been used outdoors. Just bar gigs and practice in a basement. Never been in extreme heat. I don't think the fans are working properly. Bridging may be a contributor as some have mentioned.

I will have a Samson tech or authorize shop look at it once I go through the steps above. I have been using my SVT7 lately (mostly due to weight and ability to get a similar tone).

I tried to call Samson yesterday told them I was calling about a repair issues with a Hartke head - got transferred and no one picked up. I submitted an email this morning and will follow up today.

Stay tuned and thanks for responses. I know this is a relatively new head and there does not seem to be many out there.
 
#22
IMO, the bottom line here is that something must be defective with the head. A professional quality amp is designed to be run hard - without overheating. Of course it will get warm, perhaps very warm. That's normal. But never hot, to the point that one could get a burn by touching it.

If the fans indeed are not working, that could be the source of the problem. Get it checked out by a qualified amp technician - ASAP. You might also consider getting an external clip-on fan, and mounting it at the rear of the rack case - with the air flow pointed straight at the heat sink. That should do the trick.

MM
 
#24
UPDATE:

Spoke with Jessie in tech support. Since I've had the head for about a year and purchased it used he thought it was likely to be a first run model. He said that there is a known heat issue with the early models running in bridge mode. There is a mod that can be done. The amp is out of warranty (older and purchased used). He pointed me to an authorized shop a few towns away. He also stated that he did not personally recommend running amps in bridge mode since it puts more strain on the amp.

I plan to bring the amp to practice take it out of the rack and run it non-bridged. If it's still warmer than I think it should be I'll bring it to the shop.

Thanks again for the help, comments and advice.
 
#26
Quick update: talked to the shop. The KILO has 4 fans, they identified that the heat sink fan is bad. They think that explains the issue and that it won't need the mod referenced by the Hartke service tech.

Unfortunately the fan is not in stock at Hartke. It's on order. No ETA but the shop said that Hartke is normally quick to get out of stock items.
 
#29
Here's hoping all is good.

As far as I know, heatsinks don't really "go bad"...it's just a big chunk of metal. Perhaps it was underspeced and they put in a bigger or better designed one? Or was it the fans that were the problem?
 
#33
Another one bites the dust.
Went through long search to make sure the Kilo problem was long resolved. Just got one. Used it at a gig for the first time last night and died in the second song. Good thing I had a backup!
Shame-phenomenonal tone but I'll never take that onstage again! Back to the carvin bx1500.
Phooey Hartke.
 
#35
Yep-new. Assured it was new stock. Ran in bridged mode thru 800w 4ohm. Way disappointed. Sounded Great!! Warwick Lwa1000 or carvin bx1500. Had high hopes once I heard it! Would be a perfect amp otherwise...
 
#37
Well this thread seems kinda dead, but I recently acquired a hartke kilo (running it through a hartke 810 hydrive), and i am having the bridged mono issue. My amp dosent seem to be getting hot at all, but after 30 seconds or so in bridged mono it cuts. The previous owner said it was rex Brown's from his Kill devil hill tour and that he had extra fans I stalled but they don't even seem to spin. I messaged hartke and they said to send it to them, but being as I just bought I the amp I am kinda broke...
 

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