My amp blew up!

[aende]

Hi All,

Right my Ashdown LG has self destructed; One of the electrolytic capacitors has set fire to itself: 390uF 100v.

So, I called Ashdown, there is nothing they can do as they have no more LG parts or modules in stock.

Options
[list]
[*]Replace capacitor, see if it works - however, I suspect that there is an underlying root cause as to why the capacitor has fried itself.
[*]Get a Pro electronics enginer to diagnose and repair it - could be costly to diagnose and repair (labour charge) and may not fix all the issues - something else could then go wrong.
[*]Buy a new amp!
[/list]

**My new amp options are limited due to owning 2 x 4ohm cabs. I either need monoblock amp that will work down to 2 ohms or and dual block amp. I have 500w cabs, but would like to maintain a lightweight head. I could use a specific cable/box and build my cabs into a single 8 ohm load, but this would be a faff and as most amps operate full power a 4 ohms, it would be fruitless unless I buy and use another cab! I don't want to go down the preamp/power amp route.

New Amps that I can think of (around the £500 mark) - I would like some headroom, so ~700watts.

Hartke 1000 - okay, but limited features and 1/4 jack only, I would need new cables...
Eden WT550 - Perfect, but never tried one
Carvin BX1500 - Perfect, but not sure if it will growl enough


I want the sound to be Gallien'ish, but with a but of Hifi in there too....

Ugh - and I just bought a bloody Musicman!

[Mr. Foxen]

Caps die, its more something they take with them to look for. If the fuse went then may well have saved everything else. Size measurements of the cap are probably the thing to look for in replacing, you can go higher on either or the other specs.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='aende' timestamp='1370614109' post='2103493']
So, I called Ashdown, there is nothing they can do as they have no more LG parts or modules in stock.
[/quote]Try Alto, that's where Ashdown got them from.

[Krysbass]

I've been using an LG1000 since 2010 - with two 4-ohm cabs, so I'd be in the same dilemma as the o.p. if mine let go. No problems so far and I've grown to really like this amp so I'd probably look to buy another one secondhand if it came to it.

But one thing I noticed from the outset was that this amp gets very hot. The built-in fan spins briefly when the amp is switched on, but after that it never seems to kick in during use, so the amp would be very hot after an hour's use at volume. The cooling fan seems to work on a thermostat, but clearly the heat threshold for this is too high.

The get round this, I soldered a PC cooling fan to a 12v power supply, put some self-adhesive rubber feet on the base of it and then I place the fan on top of the amp, so that the fan is drawing the heat out of the amp. A bit of a hassle per haps, but I can leave the amp switched on all night and it's barely more than hand hot. By the way - I also attached some self-adhesive rubber feet to the base of the amp itself, as this also helps cooling.

Hope the above is some help to any other Ashdown LG (or Superfly) users out there.

[chris_b]

What do you do?

You've got to get it fixed, whatever the cost.


A good engineer will fix the problem and the cause and hopefully spot any other issues that might be developing.

When you've done all that you might as well keep it, but I would get another amp just in case.

About your replacement list; I like the Eden but I don't know the others. There was an Eden WT800 in the FS section not long ago. I'd love to play one of those again. I'd keep the LG as a backup.

[gjones]

Thomann are selling remaining little giant stock cheap for £211. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/ashdown_little_giant_1000.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/ashdown_little_giant_1000.htm[/url]

[grandad]

Its a poor show from Ashdown who are normally good at after sales service. The LG range are not that old. It sounds like the power supply has cooked. A common fault with switched mode types. There will almost certainly be a couple of other associated components to replace.

The provision for service and repair by manufacturers seems to vary so much. Roland Peavey and Yamaha are good in my experience as are the high end of the market. This would not happen in the motor trade.

Commiserations.

[Beer of the Bass]

At this stage, you don't have much to lose by replacing the capacitor with one of the same rating and seeing what happens. I'd try that first.

[aende]

Right - I have ordered a complete capacitor set for the amp and will replace all of them....hopefully it will fix the problem. A couple of the other capacitors look dodgy and a rwad up on the brand used suggests 'cheap and nasty'!

I think I will be looking for a 'gigging' amp though.

Possibly a Carvin BX1500 or a GK 1001RB ii....not sure which!

[aende]

You won't believe this; my Ashdown Superfly has now died! Won't power up!!

Ffs; unreliable rubbish.....!

[Ghost_Bass]

Well... that's odd! Not the part of LG or SF dying, that happens more often that we'd like to hear about it but happening to the same person with days of interval... humm...
Could this be a case of a fault with your house's electric instalation? Were they plugged in to the same wall socket when they stopped working?

[aende]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1371206085' post='2111135']
Well... that's odd! Not the part of LG or SF dying, that happens more often that we'd like to hear about it but happening to the same person with days of interval... humm...
Could this be a case of a fault with your house's electric instalation? Were they plugged in to the same wall socket when they stopped working?
[/quote]

Sadly not - there is no linked issue between the amps.

** Both for sale in 'other' as fixer projects!