My Lonestar blew up...need advice FAST

[AMP10]

Boogie Heads,
My Lonestar Special went kaput last night at rehearsal...Volume started rising and lowering, then the amp itself shut-off...Thick, electrical smelling smoke then billowed out the back...there was no fire though...any advice??? What does this sound like???

 

[Mr. Stiletto]

What happened before the amp blew up?
Was the amp connencted to a correct impedance?
Did you run the amp extremely loud or with other extreme settings?

 

[Platypus]

Sounds like a power tube went and took the screen grid resistor with it maybe? Smoke is never good, you will need to replace the tubes, fuse and still have it looked at before firing it back up again.

 

[AMP10]

I was running the amp at rehearal volume....bout 3 on the master, 9 on pre...I had a g-major in the loop...nothing out of the norm...

 

[domct203]

Sounds like a power tube went and took the screen grid resistor with it maybe? Smoke is never good, you will need to replace the tubes, fuse and still have it looked at before firing it back up again.

+1

If it is under warrenty (and you were using Mesa tubes), get the ball rolling now.

Dom

 

[Barry]

call mesa at 707 778 6565 . Monday through Thursday

 

[Murphy Slaw]

All amps have smoke in them.

It's okay until...........

It gets out.

Best of luck.

 

[AMP10]

Hey Fellas,
Just got the amp back from the hospital...Blew out a couple pre-amp tubes, fried some resistors...140$ fix, and I had the amp for my show on Wednesday...good stuff...Here's a little info I got that I feel may help diagnose some amp troubles...
Concerning Smoke from Amp,
1. Smells like electrical smoke-Blown tube and fried resistor...no biggie
2. Smells like tar-Chances are, that's your transformer...Big money fix
3. Smells like burnt popcorn...good-bye circuit board

The lonestar special, as pretty much everyone on this board knows, runs in class a...thus, learning from experience, keep on top of your tubes...If you practice and gig on the regular, than make sure you check your tubes EVERYTIME you play for signs of wear and tear, I.E. microphonics, volume fluctuations, and in my case, burnt, tar looking bottoms...Much love to my boogie brothers for the advice...I can tell you guys were pulling for me...God smiled upon my amp, and only left me 140$ lighter...Good Stuff

 

[richt]

Excellent!!!! Glad that it was a relatively cheap fix and you got some good knowledge from the experience! Thanks for sharing and all the best!

Richt

 

[richb]

help diagnose some amp troubles...
Concerning Smoke from Amp,
1. Smells like electrical smoke-Blown tube and fried resistor...no biggie
2. Smells like tar-Chances are, that's your transformer...Big money fix
3. Smells like burnt popcorn...good-bye circuit board

Thx man,Hopefully this never happens to any of us proud Mesa owners but it's always good to know...
glad to hear all is cool again.
richb