Odd Occurrence

[Pappy]

A few times in the last month while playing w/ our band, my 5:25 Express combo w/ a 10" speaker has just lost power! Lights on everything looks fine, but no sound!
I turn power off, and then, almost immediately back on and I'm ok to go!
W.T.F.?
Then, last practice I could only get a ghost of a volume out of the 5 watt power setting. The 25 watt setting was fine. I get her home and she works fine on both settings. Again, W.T.F.

Anyone have any ideas on what may be the causes?
Should I take her in for a check up?

Please advise oh wise Boogie Forum members.

 

[EtherealWidow]

Dude I have no idea what it is. I would take it in for a check up if it were me.

 

[Pappy]

After reading my post, I should clairify:
The amp doesn't lose power, it just loses sound.
Lights are on, but no sound, until I turn it off and back on.
I did notice, after the 5 watt ghost thing I mentioned, that the 2 tubes were kind of at an angle, as if the amp had been jarred, or dropped on it's side, which it wasn't as far as I know. It doesn't leave my possession. Nobody touches it but me. Anyway I straightened out the tubes and all seems fine now concerning the 5 watt ghosting. We practice tomorrow night. I'll see if the probem presists.
Maybe moving her twice a week from home to gig/practice has something to do with it.
I lay it down, flat on it's back in my SUV when I take it out.
Maybe I should leave it upright and strap it in int front passenger seat?
:?:

 

[a2dconverter]

Hey Pappy,

This used to happen to me all of the time...I always jarred the tubes when taking out or replacing the power cord out of the back of the combo...
I made a shield out of aluminum to protect the tubes...

Hope this helps

seeya

 

[Pappy]

By Jove, That could be it!
I have my power and foot switch cords wrapped up and fastened w/ some computer cord velcro management strips. That makes them bulky to put in and out of the back of the amp. I'll give it a try.
Thanks for the advice a2dconverter!

 

[Newysurfer]

Are there you go - that'll be it.
the 5:50 has a factory fitted cover/guard over the tubes so they're fully protected.
another little difference between the 2 amps. :mrgreen:

 

[J.J]

The export 5:25s come with a tube/finger grill across the back. I was told some idiot managed to burn themselves badly, so Mesa added the grill.

 

[a2dconverter]

The export 5:25s come with a tube/finger grill across the back. I was told some idiot managed to burn themselves badly, so Mesa added the grill.

Does anybody have a picture of this grille for the 5:25?

 

[J.J]

I'll try and get a photo.

The grill is made of punched steel mesh and is a dirty grey colour. It really needs to be taken off to change tubes, but you can get the pre tubes in and out if you have good feel and patience. I took mine off to get a good look at the power tubes and it has not gone back on yet.

 

[Pappy]

Well, Bad news for me!
My 5:25 Express lost power twice during practice Sat night.
Guess the problem is more than just loose tubes.
The amp totally shut off. I turned it on and off a few times and after a minute, or so, it came back on, but it was really a bummer.
I guess it's a trip to the warrenty repair shop for me!

 

[Don]

Look for a bad pre-amp tube before sending the amp out for repairs. I had a very similar problem when my pi/driver tube (V4) went bad.

 

[Pappy]

I took my little Boogie to the closest registered warranty repair shop.
I bought this amp used on Fleabay and the original owner didn't have the purchase receipt, so M.B. had him send a bill of sale to me shortly after I purchased it in July 2009 and they transfered the warranty to my name.
The owner of the local repair shop wouldn't touch it as a warranty repair w/o that original sales receipt, so home I went :x
I got a hold of M.B. warranty dept and explained my dilemma. The next day I got a call from that local repair facility apologizing and asking me to bring the amp back and they would gladly repair it for me.
I got to hand it to Mesa Engineering. They had it cleared up in less than 24 hrs!
I'll let you know what the malfunction was when I get it back!

 

[Pappy]

The saga continues.....
The M.B. warranty shop had my 5:25 Express for 2 weeks and could not find a problem.
Picked it up on Dec 28th. At practice on the 29th the same problem happened. In the middle of a song all powered up, the amp loses power. Just quits! No lights, no nothing! :x
After 30-45 seconds she lights back up after repeated on / off w/ power and standby toggles.
I called Boogie and a tech called me back within 2 hours to discuss my quandry.
He thinks the power outage is caused by vibration. He thinks that since it only shuts down when I'm playiing it, causing a certain amount of vibration. He thinks the warranty shop just turned it on w/o playing it, it didn't shut down for them.
He told me to try afew things, such as making sure the power cord is securely plugged into the back of the amp and if it happens again bring it to the other warranty shop in my area and have them call him at Mesa Boogie and he will work w/ them to try and find my problem.
If the other warranty shop can't find and fix my problem, send it back to Mesa Engineering and they will fix it, or send me a new amp.
Although I'm bummed out about the issues I'm having w/ my amp, I have to admit that I'm impressed w/ the attention I getting from M.B.
I'll let you know what happens.

 

[ifailedshapes]

Does this happen when you're playing at home? Do you use the same outlet every time you plug it in at home? When you're not at home, are you playing different clubs, or do you always play in the same place, i.e. church, practice room, etc?

My gut instinct as soon as I read the first post is dirty power. I would HIGHLY recommend investing in a power conditioner. Monster makes really good units, but even a cheap Furman would do the job!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=power+conditioner

 

[Pappy]

ifailedshapes: It happens intermittently, At home and at practice. I notice it mostly in the 5 watt mode, because that's what I use most.
I just got a killer set up on my Firebird "V", so I dragged out my little express when Mama was gone for a few hours and wailed for about 1 1/2 hours - no problems played fine. Sounded great.
To test your theory of it being the outlet I'm using. I took the Express to practice last night and plugged her into a power strip w/ a GFI reset button and 1/2 hour in on the 5 watt mode, she shut down. Light was still lit in the power strip, but not on the amp, so I'm kind of leaning towards thinking it's the amp.
She shut down momentarily twice last night.
It just shuts down for a few seconds and usually comes back on before I can even touch it, but sometimes it stays powerless until I turn it on and off a few times. Very frustrating!!! :x
I've blown off taking her into the other local M.B. warranty center, because it's inconvenient and I'm lazy, but I have to now, because I can't stand something that doesn't work as it should, especially a high $ amp! I'm reluctant to take a chance and gig with her the way she is now!

 

[rwil]

I would try another pair of el84. I had problems with mine few months ago and one of the problem was the lose of power. Since, all is fine.

 

[Old BF Shred]

First off, sorry to hear about your problems with your amp. I can relate...I bought my Ace new and had intermittent grief for over a year before it could be fixed.

Next, pardon me if I missed this but I do not recall if you had actually tried to replace any tubes. If the shop saw no issue, they would not have either. This is a common cause of trouble and I can't help but feel Mesa would/should have you try this first.
If it were me, I would get at least 2 spares of preamp tubes (more than one can be bad and it never hurts to have extra spares....you WILL need them one day). You should also get spare output tubes as well (el84...come in pairs...Mesa only while under warranty, to avoid problems). These tubes do all the heavy work and will wear out regularly, now and then. That's normal and you will use them eventually...no wasted $ there. either.

Start with the output tubes, go to practice and see if it happens.
Also if it happens ONLY when you use 5 watt mode, which uses just one tube, swap them in the sockets and see if you still have problem.
Actually you can try this before you buy any new tubes...that may save some money.

Next, if trouble still happens, try the small preamp tubes (12ax7) and replace one at a time. If this does not happen in all modes, channels and settings, you can eliminate certain mode-dedicated tubes (the manual tells you which does what).

If the tubes are the issue, Mesa will exchange for new ones (well, if still under warranty).
If you are uncomfortable doing any of this, go ahead and take it in....but Mesa does encourage us to replace tubes first.

If not a tube issue, could be many things. My Ace had a bad filter cap in the power supply and would do similar to what you described except it would also act up when switching out of 'standby' into playing mode. You did not say you noticed this.
A bad cap will definately drop out the sound.
Hope it gets repaired quickly either way.
It could be worse. It took 2 months to get mine fixed, but that is because it took 6 weeks for the problem to act up so it could be traced down. This does not seem to be the case for you as it happens quite often.

In any case.....
Good luck!

 

[Pappy]

Well.....Due to reoccurring problem of my amp shutting down during band practice, I brought my ailing 5:25 into the other M.B. warranty repair shop in the PHX area 2 weeks ago. They called me yesterday and it was done and ready for pick up. They said it was a faulty fuse holder that was shorting out or losing connection due to vibration, causing the amp to shut down.
I took it home and ran it thru the ringer and all seems to be in order. Didn't cut out once.
I won't pass judgment until I try her out at practice, since that seems to be where it happens most times.
At least these guys found something wrong with the amp. The first shop I took it to said nothing was wrong. I just hope this problem is solved!
Thanks for all the good advice.

 

[Pappy]

Well ... Looks like my problem is finally fixed
First practice last night since I got my 5:25 Express back from the second warranty shop.
Worked like a charm, purred like a kitten......
Man, I sure missed her while she was ailing! Great to have her back again.
I was using a Jet City 20 watt JCA20H Amp while my Experss was in the shop and while I got to admit that the JCA was pretty good, it can't hold a candle to the Boogie.

 

[Pappy]

Well she took a dump again.
My 5:25 Express worked good for 1 practice. Took her to a gig last Sat night and in the middle of a song she died again!!!
Fiddled w/ power and standby switches and she powered up again, but shortly after down she went again. Happened 3 times in a 2 hour gig.
I'm sending her off to Petaluma today for the techs at the Boogie plant to give her a thorough going over. She's really unusable for perfroming as it is now.
I'm a little disapointed at my experiences w/ my first Mesa Boogie product.
Jeez, I wait most of my life to get my hands on a Mesa Boogie and I get stuck with a Lemon! :x
I hope the manufacturer can find and fix my problem. Sounds like this is my last option.