Author Topic: Did I Blow My 200s?  (Read 4950 times)

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Offline Smoothwound

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Did I Blow My 200s?
« on: July 17, 2018, 06:44:54 pm »
Hello everyone, its been awhile since I've been here as I have been playing my 200s with love for years since I first acquired it. Now I may have gone and done a stupid thing. We acquired a floor monitor for free, which I think (and I know I should have taken a pic of this before i posted) said 100 watts 8 ohm. It looked passive. So I plugged it into the external speaker to see if I could get my speaker and it working together. Next thing I know the 200s is dead. If I turned it all the way up to 7 it made this horrible cranking noise. Did I mess it up for good? Please tell me its just a fuse or tube or something.

thanks for any and all help on this one.

Dave

Offline loudthud

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2018, 08:58:03 pm »
Try the amp with the speaker you normally use. Same noise? Do you see any flashes of light in the big tubes?

Offline Smoothwound

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2018, 08:22:54 am »
The speaker I normally use was always plugged in. It is the original cab with JBL's. It worked before I plugged in the wedge, then no sound after.

Offline Isaac

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2018, 09:47:50 am »
Here's how I'd start off. First, disconnect the monitor and hook up the amp per normal and try it. I assume you've already done this, and that's when you got the horrible cranking noise. Next, I'd measure the resistance of the speaker, just to make sure it's all right (no strong reason to think otherwise at this point, but it's an easy check). Try a known good amp on the speaker. If it works, then you've proven the speaker and the cord. Try the 200S on a known good speaker (if the 200S cabinet tested good, then you're already there, as you tested it above). If you've reached this point, then you've proved that the problem is in the 200S head.

The head powers on, so you know it's not the fuse. loudthud mentioned flashes of light in the big tubes. Take that a step further: do they look normal? I had one go bad a few months ago. It had white ash inside. The other didn't. The two power tubes didn't look the same. I don't think one bad tube is your problem, though. Both, maybe.

Do you have spare tubes? If so, replace the tubes. If the amp works, then replace the original tubes one at a time. That is, turn the amp off, let the tubes cool, take one out and put the original back in. Turn the amp on, then test it. Tedious and time consuming, but effective. When the amp stops working, then the last tube you put in is bad. Replace it.

Everything I've described so far, anyone can do. If replacing the tubes doesn't solve the problem, then it's deeper, and more specialized knowledge is required, specifically an amp tech. I assume that you are not an amp tech, so, at this point, I'd suggest you take the amp to someone who is.
Isaac

Offline Smoothwound

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2018, 07:28:53 pm »
Thank you Isaac. I have the original Mulard KT-88's I can try.

I'll let you know what happened. If not, I'll take it to Hal at Guitronics in SF.

best,
Dave

Offline Isaac

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2018, 09:03:43 am »
Good luck.
Isaac

Offline Smoothwound

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2018, 09:53:10 pm »
I went to the amp tech but he was closed. Going again tomorrow. Went to the studio and found the make and model of the monitor. It a,

Crate Ufm-12h Stage Floor Monitor - 100w 8 Ohms

Model   -       UFM-12H
Type     -       Stage/Wedge Monitor
RMS     -       Power100W
Active/Passive     -      Passive

Again, what I did was plug the Sunn into the "Speaker out" 1/4" jack (like always) and took a 1/4" patch cord from "External speaker" too the input on the Crate Monitor.
 
I changed the tubes with the Sunn Cab. no sound.
I put a multi meter on each JBL D140f's and got 2.5 on each one. ?
I don't have another cab or head to test as you suggested.
The tubes are JJ KT-88's and they look brand new.

fingers crossed.



Offline EdBass

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2018, 09:54:43 am »
The good news is that a 200S is a very easy amp for a tech to work on, pretty straightforward and basic. Nothing weird or exotic, even the transformers are available fairly reasonable if either one of those end up being the problem.
 
Good Luck!

Offline loudthud

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2018, 09:35:01 pm »
The extension speaker jack is unique in that it has an isolated switch that is activated when a plug is inserted. This switch changes the tap on the output transformer so that the proper load is seen by the output tubes. The contacts of the switch may be corroded if the jack has not been used for a few years. Plugging the monitor into the extension jack may have aggregated the problem. Replacement of the jack is possible, but the part will be hard to find. I believe the proper replacement is the Switchcraft type 13A.

Offline Smoothwound

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2018, 07:51:53 am »
That's probably what happened then, as it had not been used for many years. I will pass this along to the amp tech when I bring it in. Thanks!!

David

Offline Smoothwound

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Re: Did I Blow My 200s?
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2018, 04:40:22 pm »
Well, it was the External Speaker jack. Hal put a new one in and she's like new. I have yet to turn it up, but in my apartment it sounds great. Thanks for all the help!
Dave