Stiletto Fuse

[Charlie]

Kind of a dumb question but does anybody know how to get this thing out? The 4 amp slow blow on the back of the chassis. Not sure what the cover looks like on anybody else's but mine is a little red square that says 'fuse' inside a small black 'frame'. I didn't blow a fuse or anything just figuring out how to change it just in case.

I tried pushing in on it.... can't figure out what else to do.

I tried looking at the manual and the fuse cover looks totally different.

*edit* Here's a pic:

 

[Charlie]

Anybody?



Bumpity bump...

 

[inkwachemis]

it looks like u need a tiny screwdriver and stick it in that little hole on top and pry it open carefully. it looks like it should snap right off when u do that

 

[Charlie]

Yeah, I thought of that but I don't want to end up breaking it off if there is some other wy it's supposed to come off.

 

[Charlie]

Well go figure.

I went and played with a drummer today (had a blast!) and after about 20 minutes of jamming the amp blew a fuse.

Pushing the end of a paper clip down the hole on the top does the trick.

Still don't know why the fuse blew but the amp worked fine for the rest of the day after I replaced it.

 

[jbird]

Theres usually a good reason for a fuse blowing!

 

[disassembled]

It could have been a power issue but Jbird is right USUALLY something causes the fuse to blow but it might not always be a fault of the amp. I would be really cautious with the rectifier and power tubes as they can really ruin your day if something goes wrong. Then again it might just have been a bad fuse, a wrongly rated fuse, etc.

Greg

 

[Charlie]

Dammit. I threw the fuse out without even looking at it I should have made sure it was rated correctly. I bought the amp used so I don't know its history but it looks like it was well taken care of.

I kept an eye on the tubes after I installed the new fuse and everything looked alright. All of the power tubes are brand new.

Hopefully nothing is wrong with it.

I've never had a fuse blow in an amp before so I don't know if I should be worried about it or not.

 

[Russ]

A blown fuse can say time to replace power tubes. It can also say tranny is ready to go south. Most of the time it is the former. You can also check your speaker cable and connections. Something is causing your amp to suck on the fuse.

 

[Charlie]

A blown fuse can say time to replace power tubes. It can also say tranny is ready to go south. Most of the time it is the former. You can also check your speaker cable and connections. Something is causing your amp to suck on the fuse.

Crap. Well I just replaced all of the power tubes so that probably isn't the problem. The signal to the cabinet doesn't seem to be cutting out or anything - is there any way to check the connection? I was using my other cabinet.. I've only used my 4x10 with it up until now.

Ugh.. anything else I should check on? I'm wondering if I should bring it in to a tech or if I should just wait and see what happens. The amp ran fine for about 2.5 hours after I put the new fuse in.

This bums me out first I had problems with my F-50 when I first got it and now I'm having problems with this thing. Never had any problems with ANY of my amps in the last 15 years. No bad tubes, no blown fuses... nothing. I know it's bad luck and not the design of the amps... but it's annoying the hell out of me.

 

[Platypus]

Just because power tubes are new doesn't mean they can't just flake out or go bad.. had it happen to me once with power tubes and once with rectifier tubes.

 

[Russ]

Well, if the amp ran fine with the new fuse the old one may have been the wrong type too. I will attest to having bought new tubes (NIB) that were bad before as well.

 

[Charlie]

After I replaced the fuse I turned the amp on in standby mode and watched all of the tubes for a couple of minutes and everything seemed fine. Then I turned the standby on and watched again... then watched again while I was playing and everything seemed ok.

Would a bad preamp tube blow the fuse? I am kicking myself hard in the a@@ for not checking the blown fuse for the correct rating before throwing it out.

Anyway, thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Russ]

Usually a bad preamp tube just keeps your amp from making noise or makes your amp make terrible noises. I have never had one blow my fuse.

 

[Charlie]

Yeah I kinda figured that would be the case. I guess I'll have to bring a spare amp to practice and see if this thing blows up!

:roll:

 

[disassembled]

Make sure your power tubes all have a blueish glow when in operational mode. I don't think you have too much to worry about and it was maybe just a coincidence.

BTW you should ALWAYS have a back up with you (even if it's just a POD).


Greg

 

[domct203]

Hmm.... You say you bought it used?

Do any other Stiletto owners have a fuse holder like this one?

The previous owner may have changed it chasing a fuse blowing issue. How long have you had the amp?

Dom

 

[Charlie]

Hmm.... You say you bought it used?

Do any other Stiletto owners have a fuse holder like this one?

The previous owner may have changed it chasing a fuse blowing issue. How long have you had the amp?

Dom

I've only had the amp a couple of weeks. It's a real early one (#47) so maybe Mesa was using a different fuse holder during early production? Should I give Mesa a call?

 

[domct203]

I would. Once you get a straight answer from Mesa maybe you could even quiz the previous owner. My '01 Triple Recto had the same fuse holder as my '07 Roadster.

Dom

 

[Charlie]

I called Mesa and they said it sounds like that isn't the original fuse holder.
Who knows though.. like I said it's an early one maybe they used these for some reason the guy didn't sound like he was 100% sure when he answered my question.

I guess I'm just going to see if it blows another fuse and if it does I'll take it in to a tech... might take it to a tech regardless.