TA30 - Transformer seems really hot after 30 minutes

[tele_jas]

Just picked up a, "supposedly", NOS 2014 TA30 1x12 combo today (in a trade).....The guy I got it from, bought it from from a music store going out of business 5 years ago. It looks brand new and still had all the hang tags on it. SN was in the upper 2000's (close to 2800), which looks about right.

Got it home and played it for about 30 minutes. Initial thoughts = GREAT sounding amp!! Every mode was spectacular sounding. Then when I went to get the pedal out of the pouch, inside the cab, my arm touched the transformer - OUCH!

It had some pops and crackles, from sitting around for 5 years, so I turned it off and did a good cleaning with De-ox/pot cleaner...... Played it again for another 30 minutes, it didn't have any more pops/crackles, but the transformer was back to being hot again.

I know some transformers run hot, some just warm, but this was pretty hot... I couldn't leave my fingers on it for more than 6 or 7 seconds.

Is this normal?

I played it for another 2-ish hours, at just above bedroom levels, sounded great the entire time. But the transformer was still the pretty HOT to the touch.

 

[bgh]

It's hard to tell "how hot is how" in text. But, the transformer on my TA-30 does get quite warm by the time church is over. At that point, it's been on for probably 5 hours, with about 2 of those being on standby,

 

[tele_jas]

I got a response from Mesa support....

They said:

That is completely normal - keep in mind that power is dissipated through heat.

 

[bgh]

I got a response from Mesa support....

They said:

That is completely normal - keep in mind that power is dissipated through heat.

Good to hear!