Problems with a Trace Elliot Cutting Out

[jonsebass]

Hi,

Ive had a problem with a Trace Elliot 4x8 Combo cutting out mid gig.

In the past, ive had a speaker cone glued, and more recently the heat sink replaced - both by a professional repair person.

Since the heat sink (and a couple of caps) were replaced, ive noticed that the amp has been cutting out at gigs after about half an hour. The repair guy i use is on holiday, and i need to try and get this sorted!

Ive tried;

*Giving it a good hard bang (maaaatron)
*Patching the effects loop in the back of the amp
*Giving it a good clean out
*Different power leads
*Different jack leads
*Different basses

When the sound goes, theres no audible buzzing, crackling, or thump, it just goes.

Is there anything ive missed?

Please help!

 

[BassmanPaul]

The heat sink was replaced??? What on earth for??

This makes me think that the bias compensation might not have been attached to the new HS properly. This might well cause the amp into thermal run away and the heat sensor open up the speaker feed.

 

[InsanityAmps]

Take it back to the tech. Unless you are knowledgeable with electronics, leave it up to him since you know it did not do this before. I agree it sounds like a thermal cutout issue. Is the amp noticeably hot when the sound cuts out? If there was a bias problem you would probably also notice it getting warmer than normal just sitting there turned on with no signal running through it. And why would he replace the heatsink?! I've never heard of a chunk of aluminum going bad...

 

[B-string]

Dare I mention heat sink compound used over a transfer pad or some similar assembly mistake.

 

[BassmanPaul]

On my amp, a GP7 - 300, a 150W amp, the transistor for bias was connected to the heat sink by a blob of heat sink paste and nothing more (Bear PCB). No physical contact whatsoever. I consider this a very poorly made amp. I was disappointed in Trace Elliot!

 

[orangejulius3]

I had the same problem with mine 3 years ago.
I replaced both (speaker and amp) fuses, and lowered the lowest frequency and it help.
Also, I kept the input and output volume at 11:00.
It didn't cut out as often.
I had the GP7 4x10 combo UK version
Very nice sounding amp

It never use to do it, but one day at home, I'll be playing and the volume just dropped to a merely 5 watt sound with some distortion.

After awhile of that happening, I kept extra fuses with me.
Another thing I did is I would slap the E string very violently or a good thump and it would pop it back into place/playing level again.

I could not trust it for gigs anymore and it was too bulky for practice at home, so I traded it at SAM ASH for a nice looking Red Warwick Corvette $$ double humbucker. Never looked back. The amp is still for sale!

 

[Stevehill]

Hi,

Ive had a problem with a Trace Elliot 4x8 Combo cutting out mid gig.

In the past, ive had a speaker cone glued, and more recently the heat sink replaced - both by a professional repair person.

Since the heat sink (and a couple of caps) were replaced, ive noticed that the amp has been cutting out at gigs after about half an hour. The repair guy i use is on holiday, and i need to try and get this sorted!

Ive tried;

*Giving it a good hard bang (maaaatron)
*Patching the effects loop in the back of the amp
*Giving it a good clean out
*Different power leads
*Different jack leads
*Different basses

When the sound goes, theres no audible buzzing, crackling, or thump, it just goes.

Is there anything ive missed?

Please help!

Hi, I've seen one of these up for sale and am quite tempted to buy it. What was your opinion of the amp while it was working? Sorry to resurrect this thread, Hope you got it sorted by the way!

 

[BlushResponse]

I'd ask that question in the Trace Elliot thread. Everyone on this thread, with the exception of the guy that actually posted a picture, were fairly vague on what exact amp they were having issues with.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I'd ask that question in the Trace Elliot thread. Everyone on this thread, with the exception of the guy that actually posted a picture, were fairly vague on what exact amp they were having issues with.

Agreed - very knowledgeable and helpful people there.