Corvine Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 I've recently bought a Hartke Kilo, second hand, but the amp is less than a year old and had been kept in a rack case and not used that much. However it seems to have a problem with getting hot and cutting out. It first did it in mono bridge mode, playing loud through a 4ohm cab it cut out after a couple of minutes. I have tried taking it out of the flight case to allow more air to circulate around it but it doesn't make a difference. It gets very hot underneath at the back. It has worked fine in stereo mode with 8ohms on each channel, but with 4ohms on each (it should be able to handle 2ohms per channel) the left channel cut out after a few minutes. Someone in the US on talkbass had the same problem and eventually Hartke replaced the amp (after servicing/replacing transistors which didn't fix the problem) but as I have not owned the amp from new and the waranty is non-transferable then this is not an option for me. Hartke charge £60 per hour for servicing it, so it'll be around £90 straight off the bat just to look at it, that's before parts, not to mention the cost of getting it to them (milton keynes). I don't mind paying to get it fixed if it gets sorted and that's that, but my worry is that they'll service it, say it's sorted and the problem will still occur. Or that they'll say they can't find a fault with it, as they wont push it hard enough to make it cut out. Anyone had any similar experience with this amp? Any ideas or advice on the best way to deal with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Have you talked to hartke yet? They're quite well renowned for good customer services Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvine Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 Yep, I have, but as I didn't own the amp from new it may end up costing me an arm and a leg to get the problem sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 That sucks mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 I've just bought a new one from Thomann and its knackered too so this doesn't hold out to well for me asking for a replacement rather than a refund. I've actually contacted Larry Hartke himself but still waiting on some kind of response. Not sure the time diff over there either and obviously he may well be too busy. Who knows ? Not a good sign tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 are you in Kent? I know of a very good amp tech in maidstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvine Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 [quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1378383368' post='2199420'] I've just bought a new one from Thomann and its knackered too so this doesn't hold out to well for me asking for a replacement rather than a refund. I've actually contacted Larry Hartke himself but still waiting on some kind of response. Not sure the time diff over there either and obviously he may well be too busy. Who knows ? Not a good sign tho. [/quote] Seems to be a problem with them then, shame as it's an amazing sounding amp! http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/hartke-kilo-bridged-mono-issue-907872/ Look at this thread here, this bloke's amp (in the US) eventually got replaced with one that worked fine and didn't get as hot. Maybe a later batch that had the problem fixed. Possibly the ones on sale in the UK are still from an older batch? At least as you bough yours new the warranty will cover it getting replaired/replaced. But it's a professional piece of equipment and should do what it is designed to do. I know I bought mine second hand but it is less than a year old and it has obviously been very well looked after by the previous owner. If it's a design flaw then Hartke should recall the faulty products and put the situation right, or they'll end up making a bad name for themselves. How did you get in touch with Larry? I PMed him on TB a few days ago but have not heard back. Do you have an email address to get hold of him on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvine Posted September 5, 2013 Author Share Posted September 5, 2013 (edited) [quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1378385759' post='2199476'] are you in Kent? I know of a very good amp tech in maidstone [/quote] I'm in Gloucestershire. when I spoke to Hartke they said that as the amp is still in production they wont release the scematics for it, so I guess that might make it difficult for someone else to work on. Edited September 5, 2013 by Corvine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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