My 2:90 died yesterday.

[bjoneill74]

I used it Saturday and it worked fine.. moved it for a gig on Sunday and nothing..
after futzing with cables and such I realized.. that while the blue light on the front was lit.. none of the tubes in the back are firing up.
I ended up using my rig through a borrowed amp for that show.

When I opened it up last night.. I saw a bit of yickiness on a connector. pictured in the links below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjoneill74/4127615295/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjoneill74/4128387252/sizes/o/

It seems to be what connects the main (guess as it's the largest) transformer to the board with the caps and such.

The Amp is probably 12 - 15 years old.
I don't want to spend $1500 for a new one.

I checked the front fuze and the two in the rear and they seem fine.

any ideas?

Brian

 

[gummx97]

pretty obvious burn marks, were you using a power conditioner? maybe severe voltage problems, i think you know that it needs to be looked at by an amp tech. hope there's one near your area that you can trust. good luck.

 

[bjoneill74]

yeah.. I have a Furman PL + in my rack.
I called Mesa yesterday and they say that they've seen this sort of thing happen before and that it's very likely that the transformers and the board are fine.

They estimate it to be a $100 fix, but it'll cost me an arm and a leg to get it to them.

Given that the amp is 15 years old.. I'll probably go ahead and have them look over the whole thing.

I have my Lonestar 2x12 I can use in the mean time.

Brian

 

[gummx97]

let us know what Mesa finds, interesting how you were plugged into a power conditioner and still had problems that might relate to voltage and/or current. I have my amp plugged into a power conditioner and your problems concerns me. If your problem is related to power after the conditioner, that's a big "uh-oh" for us that use power conditioning!

 

[sonicjunki]

Same burnt wire.

I have a newer 2:90 with the same burnt wire. My amp hasnt stopped working completely yet but it sounds like total ass. Lows are farty highs are weak and no balls to speak of. This problem has arisen in the last three gigs. I ordered a new set of tubes that are supposed to be in tomorrow. Im glad to hear mesa tell you the transformer and board are prolly ok. I have a gig friday so i need to get this fixed on my own like (NOW). My question is does anyone know what that connector is called and where i might be able to find one locally?

Tom F%$#ed in florida 772-486-7782

http://gallery.me.com/sonicjunki/100007/Connector1
http://gallery.me.com/sonicjunki/100007/Connector2

 

[bjoneill74]

When I talked to Mesa (Rich).. they said that they have a schematic on how to have this fixed.
He also mentioned that the fix means they solder the wires right to the board and do away with the connectors which is better in several ways (he didn't elaborate).

I hope there isn't something bigger wrong with the amp, as it would suck to have to buy another $1500 tube power amp. I think I'd want to switch directions (heads/combos) a little bit if forced with having to replace it.

Brian

 

[ando]

Same burnt wire.

I have a newer 2:90 with the same burnt wire. My amp hasnt stopped working completely yet but it sounds like total ass. Lows are farty highs are weak and no balls to speak of. This problem has arisen in the last three gigs. I ordered a new set of tubes that are supposed to be in tomorrow. Im glad to hear mesa tell you the transformer and board are prolly ok. I have a gig friday so i need to get this fixed on my own like (NOW). My question is does anyone know what that connector is called and where i might be able to find one locally?

Tom F%$#ed in florida 772-486-7782

http://gallery.me.com/sonicjunki/100007/Connector1
http://gallery.me.com/sonicjunki/100007/Connector2

Your photos show everything in focus except the connector you are asking about!

These things are generically known as "multi-pin connnectors" and they come in an enormous range of shapes, sizes and configuration. You could try a specialist electronics store or search for companies that make them. Manufacturers tend to make their own designs which are only compatible with themselves, but there are some standards - like those found on PC motherboards and power supplies. You may even be able to adapt one from a computer to suit, but you must make sure it is capable of handling the voltage you want. Easiest thing would probably be to find out from Mesa what brand of Multiping connectors they used in the 2:90. Or just do what another poster mentioned that Mesa does - get rid of the connectors and just solder the wires directly to the relevant parts of the circuit board.

 

[elvis]

Multipin connectors like this (especially the solderless press-fit type like this) are notorious for having connection problems. If the connection becomes poor, but not terrible, it gets quite hot when you run a fair amount of current through it. It was likely used for ease of manufacturing and repair, but these will almost certainly fail eventually. If it were me, I'd take the connector apart wire by wire and carefully solder each in where it is press-fit (if possible).

 

[sonicjunki]

Called boogie today,

Selected technician support and they emailed me repair sheet. Hand written LOL. Took about 15 minutes. Anyway seems to have done the trick, now if my tubes would have come in like i payed for ARRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Repair sheet photo.
http://gallery.me.com/sonicjunki/100031

 

[bjoneill74]

sweet.. thanks for sharing the info..

I'm still sending mine to boogie as I'm awful with a soldering iron and don't want to end up with an expensive and heavy paper weight.

 

[gummx97]

wonder if it would be a good idea to remove those connectors and spray them with contact cleaner as precautionary...

 

[elvis]

If it ain't broke...

You will probably risk more by moving the press-fit connections than you will gain by spraying the connectors.

 

[gummx97]

If it ain't broke...

You will probably risk more by moving the press-fit connections than you will gain by spraying the connectors.

you're probably right, just paranoia setting in.