Dead Powerstage 170

monquixote

I've just turned on my Powerstage 170 and it's completely dead, no lights, no fan, nothing.

I've tried the kettle lead into a different device and it's totally fine. 

I'm a bit pissed off as I've only had it 6 months and it's probably only been used about half a dozen times.

Any ideas of anything I could try, or anyone who might be able to fix it?

ICBM

It's worth opening it up yourself and having a look for internal fuses - there will be one somewhere, although whether it's a type you can change yourself I don't know. If it's a standard glass or ceramic cartridge fuse in a holder you can change it - although it is likely there's another fault which has caused it to blow, if the amp was totally dead immediately (ie didn't very briefly come on and then go off again) there's a small possibility that the fuse has just failed.

monquixote

ICBM said:

It's worth opening it up yourself and having a look for internal fuses - there will be one somewhere, although whether it's a type you can change yourself I don't know. If it's a standard glass or ceramic cartridge fuse in a holder you can change it - although it is likely there's another fault which has caused it to blow, if the amp was totally dead immediately (ie didn't very briefly come on and then go off again) there's a small possibility that the fuse has just failed.

Cheers

Are these the kind of things which if properly broken are going to end up in the bin?

ICBM

monquixote said:

Are these the kind of things which if properly broken are going to end up in the bin?

Yes. But if it's only six months old then a replacement should be given under warranrty, if they can't fix it.

monquixote

ICBM said:

monquixote said:

Are these the kind of things which if properly broken are going to end up in the bin?

Yes. But if it's only six months old then a replacement should be given under warranrty, if they can't fix it.

Sadly bought it off the classifieds so not under warranty of any kind.

ICBM

monquixote said:

Sadly bought it off the classifieds so not under warranty of any kind.

In which case I would recommend sending it to @Danny1969 - it's a switch-mode power supply/Class D amp, and he's the most familiar with that sort of thing on here. It may or may not be fixable but it's probably worth the cost of postage to find out.

Have a look for the fuse first if it's something you're comfortable doing though, there's no issue with voiding a warranty now and there's a small chance it might be just that.

monquixote

ICBM said:

monquixote said:

Sadly bought it off the classifieds so not under warranty of any kind.

In which case I would recommend sending it to @Danny1969 - it's a switch-mode power supply/Class D amp, and he's the most familiar with that sort of thing on here. It may or may not be fixable but it's probably worth the cost of postage to find out.

Have a look for the fuse first if it's something you're comfortable doing though, there's no issue with voiding a warranty now and there's a small chance it might be just that.

Cheers, I'll give him a nudge.

welshboyo

hmm, is this my old one? Sorry to hear that mate - it never ever missed a beat with me.

I seem to remember something on a forum somewhere (when I was researching them) with the speaker jack needing a decent connection to earth or something and a possibility of blowing the internal fuse if that was to fail in some way. It also had something to do with input/output jack not crossing (sounds like bloody Ghostbusters!!) or touching in any way

Let me see if I can find the post.

monquixote

welshboyo said:

hmm, is this my old one? Sorry to hear that mate - it never ever missed a beat with me.

I seem to remember something on a forum somewhere (when I was researching them) with the speaker jack needing a decent connection to earth or something and a possibility of blowing the internal fuse if that was to fail in some way. It also had something to do with input/output jack not crossing (sounds like bloody Ghostbusters!!) or touching in any way

Let me see if I can find the post.

Indeed it was your old one.

Don't worry about it, it was working perfectly when I got it. I probably accidentally shorted it as you say.

I'm going to send it to @Danny1969 so hopefully he can fix it.

welshboyo

Here's the post mate..

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/warning-for-seymour-duncan-powerstage-170-users.2151115/

Whether that's Bullshit or what I'm not sure but might be worth a thought...it certainly made me think about jacks and stuff when I was mounting to a pedalboard.

If you need one for a gig or something and you are stuck then give me a shout, I ended up buying another - you can borrow this one.

monquixote

Cheers chap.

I'm not gigging at the moment so it's no problem and I used it as an excuse to buy a valve amp

digitalscream

welshboyo said:

Here's the post mate..

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/warning-for-seymour-duncan-powerstage-170-users.2151115/

Whether that's Bullshit or what I'm not sure but might be worth a thought...it certainly made me think about jacks and stuff when I was mounting to a pedalboard.

If you need one for a gig or something and you are stuck then give me a shout, I ended up buying another - you can borrow this one.

Holy hell, that's one massive design flaw! In addition to the problem of the cap being on the wrong side of the power switch, so you can end up with an irritating shock if you switch it off, unplug it and then get your fingers too close to the IEC socket pins when picking it up.

Interesting that the Harley Benton GPA-100, which is basically designed as a direct competitor for 75% less money, doesn't seem to have these problems.

monquixote

It's also a soldered on fuse I think so it requires a repair to fix.

Keefy

I play bass and have owned quite a few Class D bass amps. Many use two Class D modules in bridged mode, which requires that neither speaker terminal be earthed - some have a printed warning on the back for this reason. SD should really have done the same. You can see in the pic below that the speaker output is isolated from the enclosure with an insulating washer, but there is still a risk of accidental grounding as per the GP link.

Beexter

digitalscream said:

Interesting that the Harley Benton GPA-100, which is basically designed as a direct competitor for 75% less money, doesn't seem to have these problems.

Just a note re. the Harley Benton - it needs feeding with a line level signal. The SD PS170 can get 'kin loud from an instrument level signal and also takes line level.