Turk Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I've been using the same Hartke HA2000 head since I bought it new about 25 years back and it's not once let me down. Great sound and all the volume I've ever needed. Played some fairly loud gigs over the years and never needed the master above half way. The average pub/club gig it's at just over two, with no more than four taking care of the larger 'rock appreciating' weddings and functions. I run it through a 2x10 and a 1x15, with nothing through the PA, Over the last month or so I've found I can turn it on, the 'power on' LED illuminates, but that's all. No sound. Turn it off and back on again and it's fine for the whole gig. I recently replaced the pre-amp tube, but I think the 'start up' issue may have been there before as well, and I just hadn't noticed. Saturday evening it needed a couple of the 'off and on' routine before it decided to behave, and my concern now is that one night it may just not fire up at all. Any ideas what it may be ?. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Before the amp will switch on it goes through a series of 'tests'. An intermittently faulty speaker cable can cause it not to switch on. You could also try linking the 'send' and 'return' sockets together using a spare guitar lead - they're switched and are a known failure point. Unfortunately, there are a number of older Hartke amps out there that suffer from dry joints, so that'd be my next guess if you don't have any luck with the first two suggestions - that'll be an amp tech fix if you aren't proficient with a soldering iron I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Twenty-five years without problem is impressive, and testament to the quality of gear like this. I had one open a few years back for a friend of mine, to try and track down a similar problem to yours. Apparently it would sometimes not 'start up' unless switched off and on again. This got worse until the amp was taking about five restarts to get going. The culprit turned out to be a dry & loose solder joint on one of the cables going from output board to the speaker connectors (if I remember rightly, that is). So I think icastle may have a good point there. Cheers Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turk Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) Cheers guys. I'll try different speaker leads and if no joy there, I'll get it checked out by someone that knows what they're doing. I'm fine with soldering cables, but that's about it. Yep, fair dooz, it's been faultless for the last 25 years, and for just 200 watts, it'll punch well above its weight. My mate used it with his cabs for a few gigs and commented that it blows away his HA2500. Edited December 3, 2013 by Turk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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