Help, what have I done? have I screwed my new TC amp?

[Clarky]

Took brand new TC 450 Classic head to band practice this evening. Big ugly Fender combo in the practice room. Great, I think, I'll disconnect the in-built 15" speaker and feed the TC head into the speaker and - bingo - my own tone. Except ...

I plugged the TC into the speaker socket without realising I had grabbed a pedal-connecting cable not an amp cable (this may or may not be relevant). The red 'on' light came on with the TC ,then after few seconds it faded and died. No noise came out (apart from a faint electrical whistle when I turned it off and on again), no bang, nothing. It is now dead as a dodo, albeit when left for a while there is this slight whistle when I turn it on.

What have I done and is it fixable? Was it the incorrect cable somehow overloading the amp? Is it a faulty amp (although I tried it last weekend through my Barfaced cab and it sounded just fine)? is it a simple fuse issue (not that there's an obvious fuse to change)?

Its a brand new amp (was my birthday pressie last week) and I am horrified ...

All help gratefully received

Edited July 30, 2010 by Clarky

[Beedster]

So an instrument cable not a speaker cable mate?

[Clarky]

[quote name='Beedster' post='906473' date='Jul 26 2010, 11:23 PM']So an instrument cable not a speaker cable mate?[/quote]
One of those double-ended cables you use between pedals, yup. Stupid I know but it looked very similar. Only realised the mistake too late when I was looking for reasons.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Clarky

[Beedster]

Mmm, you might be lucky 'cos you can get away with it, but I've seen a few amps go that way. There's a reason manufacturers discriminate between cables! Let's hope it's a fuse mate

C

[Clarky]

[quote name='Beedster' post='906482' date='Jul 26 2010, 11:31 PM']Mmm, you might be lucky 'cos you can get away with it, but I've seen a few amps go that way. There's a reason manufacturers discriminate between cables! Let's hope it's a fuse mate

C[/quote]
If its not a fuse, have I just blown five hundred quid in one absent-minded moment?

[Paul_C]

I stand to be corrected, but a solid state amp doesn't need to see a load in the way that a valve amp does (so not plugging in a cab will blow the output transformer) and the reason you shouldn't use an instrument lead is because it isn't designed for the current from an amp output and might well catch fire

Reading the manual suggests there are a number of safety devices built in and those should protect the amp up to a point.

I suggest if it still doesn't work after a period of cooling off (and it's not just a blown fuse) then just send it back as faulty.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Paul_C

[Clarky]

[quote name='Paul_C' post='906490' date='Jul 26 2010, 11:35 PM']I stand to be corrected, but a solid state amp doesn't need to see a load in the way that a valve amp does (so not plugging in a cab will blow the output transformer) and the reason you shouldn't use an instrument lead is because it isn't designed for the current from an amp output and might well catch fire

Reading the manual suggests there are a number of safety devices built in and those should protect the amp up to a point.

I suggest if it still doesn't work after a period of cooling off (and it's not just a blown fuse) then just send it back as faulty.[/quote]
Thanks Paul. I've read the manual and there is no mention of a fuse anywhere (it does say "do NOT use instrument cables" but no mention of the consquences), so there appears to be nothing I can do. Just turned it on again and there's a slight electrical crackle from the on/off switch at the rear and nothing else.

Edited July 26, 2010 by Clarky

[gafbass02]

Hearts in my mouth for you on this one bud. I REALLY hope it turns out ok :-(

[molan]

[quote name='Clarky' post='906506' date='Jul 26 2010, 11:45 PM']Just turned it on again and there's a slight electrical crackle from the on/off switch at the rear and nothing else.[/quote]

I think that crackle is very common - mine often does it & so did the only other one I've tried.

Have you checked boring stuff like the fuse in the mains plug & the plug itself to make sure there isn't a loose wire somewhere?

[Beedster]

[quote name='Paul_C' post='906490' date='Jul 26 2010, 11:35 PM']Reading the manual suggests there are a number of safety devices built in and those should protect the amp up to a point.[/quote]

Yep, there'll be something in there to protect it from that sort of thing

C

[Clarky]

[quote name='molan' post='906532' date='Jul 27 2010, 12:06 AM']I think that crackle is very common - mine often does it & so did the only other one I've tried.

Have you checked boring stuff like the fuse in the mains plug & the plug itself to make sure there isn't a loose wire somewhere?[/quote]
Just changed the mains plus fuse, no change unfortunately

[Clarky]

Looks like a cap-in-hand phone call to Mark at BassDirect tomorrow to see what he suggests

[Beedster]

Well let's hope he's not reading this!

Seriously mate, most modern top-end amps will be protected against this sort of thing (that Mark Bass R500 I got from you certainly was), so the problem is either coincidental or solvable. Either way, I'm sure you're OK

C

[escholl]

The good news is, there is no way that the cable you used would have done this to the amp. You shouldn't use instrument cable, no, but in this instance it sounds like it is really just bad luck that it happened when it did. Even if briefly connected to a shorted load, most modern amps will have some sort of output protection and would not have suffered this fate, especially not when they'd just been turned on and weren't exactly delivering a high-power output at the time.

Sounds to me like a faulty power supply, should be covered under the warranty. In fact, if its only a week old, the store should do a straight swap for you.

[wateroftyne]

Fingers crossed for ya.. I'm sure Bassdirect and TC will sort it quickly.

[Clarky]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='906628' date='Jul 27 2010, 06:56 AM']Fingers crossed for ya.. I'm sure Bassdirect and TC will sort it quickly.[/quote]
Thanks WoT. Just dropped Mark at BassDirect an email so fingers crossd here, big-time.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='escholl' post='906609' date='Jul 27 2010, 02:50 AM']The good news is, there is no way that the cable you used would have done this to the amp. You shouldn't use instrument cable, no, but in this instance it sounds like it is really just bad luck that it happened when it did. Even if briefly connected to a shorted load, most modern amps will have some sort of output protection and would not have suffered this fate, especially not when they'd just been turned on and weren't exactly delivering a high-power output at the time.

Sounds to me like a faulty power supply, should be covered under the warranty. In fact, if its only a week old, the store should do a straight swap for you.[/quote]

+1

[Clarky]

The wonderful Mark at BD is sorting everything for me. Huge relief and yet again kudos to BD for great, customer-friendly service

[chris_b]

Are you sure you didn't buy the AntiPunk model? You probably blew the "Punk? Not In My Lifetime, Sunshine" fuse.

[Low End Bee]

Sure it will be alright Clarky.

Bet it's a fail safe. Probably just having a Hal 9000 moment.

[SteveO]

[quote name='Clarky' post='906462' date='Jul 27 2010, 12:16 AM']Took brand new TC 450 Classic head to band practice this evening. Big ugly Fender combo in the practice room. Great, I think, I'll disconnect the in-built 15" speaker and feed the TC head into the speaker and - bingo - my own tone. Except ...

I plugged the TC into the speaker socket without realising I had grabbed a pedal-connecting cable not an amp cable (this may or may not be relevant). The red 'on' light came on with the TC ,then after few seconds it faded and died. No noise came out (apart from a faint electrical whistle when I turned it off and on again), no bang, nothing. It is now dead as a dodo, albeit when left for a while there is this slight whistle when I turn it on.

What have I done and is it fixable? Was it the incorrect cable somehow overloading the amp? Is it a faulty amp (although I tried it last weekend through my Barfaced cab and it sounded just fine)? is it a simple fuse issue (not that there's an obvious fuse to change)?

Its a brand new amp (was my birthday pressie last week) and I am horrified ...

All help gratefully received[/quote]

Ahem... A "friend" of mine did something similar with his new head. Unfortunately for him, what he thought was a "speaker in" socket on the combo was in fact a "Satellite Speaker out" connection. It was marked simply "Speaker" and he didn't have a manual. anyway, the new powerful head managed to fry the amp on the combo. he was lucky as the combo was a cheap nasty jobbie. If it had been the other way round I would have been seriously pissed.
the moral of this is be careful when plugging into combos.

Hope its fixable.

[Colledge]

well this thread is a wake up call... ive used instrument cables loads of times as speaker cables.... speaker currents arn't really that great so i figured i'd get away with it, never had any adverse effects. I figured that the only real difference is better shielding and maybe slightly thinner gauge wires.
anyway, +1 on not the cables fault. A few years ago i had some amp problems with the fuse blowing all the time... turned out to be a shorted speaker lead.

[EBS_freak]

Good on Mark for sorting this out.

Hate it when gear goes wrong!

[51m0n]

[quote name='Colledge' post='906897' date='Jul 27 2010, 11:50 AM']well this thread is a wake up call... ive used instrument cables loads of times as speaker cables.... speaker currents arn't really that great so i figured i'd get away with it, never had any adverse effects. I figured that the only real difference is better shielding and maybe slightly thinner gauge wires.
anyway, +1 on not the cables fault. A few years ago i had some amp problems with the fuse blowing all the time... turned out to be a shorted speaker lead.[/quote]


Err wong, speaker currents are easily great enough in a bass amp to at the very least melt an instrument cable, which may or may not have adverse effects on the amp/speaker as well.

Remember there are 1200 watt bass amps out there now, but even a 500w bass amp can knacker an instrument cable, especially a cheap as chips nasty as anchovies ickle plastic patch cable (may they all be destroyed tomorrow in a freak yachting accident)....

Dont risk it, use speakons with at the very least 13amp mains cable between them, nothing else is as 'safe'.

[Musicman20]

Thought it would get sorted

Are you enjoying the tone of it? (Before it went wrong!)