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Help with multiple broken Hartke HA2500 heads

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by bassmish, Jun 20, 2008.

  1. Jun 20, 2008 #1
    bassmish

    bassmish

    Jun 20, 2008
    hello, first post here.

    My friend and I both own a Hartke HA2500 each, mine is about 3 to 4 years old and the other is 2 to 3 years old. They have both developed the same, intermittant problem whereas every so often almost all of the power disappears and the sound becomes very fuzzy/farty, then later on, sometimes when the amp is moved, sometimes not, it will work fine again.

    This is really annoying as I love the amp but it's pretty unreliable now.
    I'm guessing it's something simple like a dry joint or something similar in the pre amp stage but before I get the soldering iron etc out!... Has anybody ever heard of this happening before to anyody they know or to them? (and do you know what was wrong?) It would be really helpful if anybody could shed some light on the problem because I'm sure it's something simple.

    Any help much appreciated.

    BASS
     
  2. Jun 20, 2008 #2
    sublime0bass

    sublime0bass

    Aug 2, 2007
    Boone, NC
    someone i knew had this problem on a peavy TMAX amplifier (about $1200 new 500w amp)

    he sold the "broken" amp to me for $100

    i tightened the input jack with my fingers, hasn't had a problem since.

    sorry, thats kind of anecdotal, but i figured it might remind you to check little dumb things like that
     
  3. Jun 21, 2008 #3
    toobalicious

    toobalicious

    May 6, 2008
    triad, nc
    does that amp have an effects loop? those shorting jacks are notorious.
     
  4. Jun 21, 2008 #4
    figuredbass

    figuredbass Supporting Member

    Jul 11, 2007
    NYC vicinity
    It sounds like a bad solder joint. On my HA3500 I found that the solder joint candidates most likely to fail over time are the ones where there are extremes in temperature where they regularly expand and contract, until the joint finally loosens up. I've had to re-solder a few of them over the years, but the good news is that if you get lucky and find it the problem will be completely solved. 99.9% of the time it's just one joint that has loosened but while it's easy to fix, it's not always easy to find.

    I would start by looking at the solder joints at the preamp's two voltage regulators located on the preamp circuit board, and the power transistors on the power amp module. You could also check any of the multi-pin connectors - check both their solder joints and also see if they need to be re-seated.
     
  5. Jun 22, 2008 #5
    sublime0bass

    sublime0bass

    Aug 2, 2007
    Boone, NC
    interesting, the effects loop on the afformentioned amp doesn't work......