Update.......My Katana died

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midlifecrisismidlifecrisis Frets: 2341
edited March 2019 in Amps
switched on, nothing, no lights, no sound, checked mains lead, checked plug sockets, zilch. ive had it two years, bought used so doubt its under warranty. have gigged it every week, plus practise, been brilliant until now. ive opened it up to have a look, not that i know much but found the little fuse, i tested that for continuity and thats working so im not sure what to do now. I dont know if these things are repairable by amp techs or whether roland/boss will repair them.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    Even if it's not under warranty, it's worth someone having a look at it. No lights/nothing is actually one of the more hopeful faults - as opposed to lights but no sound, which with digital gear is often a bad sign.

    When you say you tested the internal fuse, did you test it out of the circuit or in place?

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ICBM said:
    Even if it's not under warranty, it's worth someone having a look at it. No lights/nothing is actually one of the more hopeful faults - as opposed to lights but no sound, which with digital gear is often a bad sign.

    When you say you tested the internal fuse, did you test it out of the circuit or in place?
    i tested it out of the amp, put a multimeter probe either end and current passed through,
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6635
    ICBM said:
    Even if it's not under warranty, it's worth someone having a look at it. No lights/nothing is actually one of the more hopeful faults - as opposed to lights but no sound, which with digital gear is often a bad sign.

    When you say you tested the internal fuse, did you test it out of the circuit or in place?
    i tested it out of the amp, put a multimeter probe either end and current passed through,
    Did you check the mains lead fuse as well. That’s as far as my knowledge goes.
    Karma......
    Ebay mark7777_1
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Which Katana- 50W or 100W?

    It is a bit of a gamble- what is the hourly rate for a tech?
    £60?
    Two hours work is more than half the price of the a new 50w Katana- at £190 new with a warranty.
    I don't like chucking stuff away but the chance that it is a quick fix is outweighed by the chance of having to spend to fault find and then repair vs just buying a new one.

    I'd probably sell the broken one on eBay as broken/for spares and then buy a new one with a warranty.
    Or keep the old one for spare parts.
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  • mrkb said:
    ICBM said:
    Even if it's not under warranty, it's worth someone having a look at it. No lights/nothing is actually one of the more hopeful faults - as opposed to lights but no sound, which with digital gear is often a bad sign.

    When you say you tested the internal fuse, did you test it out of the circuit or in place?
    i tested it out of the amp, put a multimeter probe either end and current passed through,
    Did you check the mains lead fuse as well. That’s as far as my knowledge goes.
    i tied a different lead, a known working one im afraid

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  • octatonic said:
    Which Katana- 50W or 100W?

    It is a bit of a gamble- what is the hourly rate for a tech?
    £60?
    Two hours work is more than half the price of the a new 50w Katana- at £190 new with a warranty.
    I don't like chucking stuff away but the chance that it is a quick fix is outweighed by the chance of having to spend to fault find and then repair vs just buying a new one.

    I'd probably sell the broken one on eBay as broken/for spares and then buy a new one with a warranty.
    Or keep the old one for spare parts.
    its a 100w comb o, i bought used for a good price so ive had value out of it. i gues ive now got a 12" speaker and cab. but ill see if it can be fixed. I dont like b inning stuff from an ecological point of view
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    midlifecrisis said:

    i tested it out of the amp, put a multimeter probe either end and current passed through,
    Definitely OK then...

    If there's no apparent power getting through at all, there could be other fuses. Many modern Roland amps have sealed PCB-mounted fuses too, which are a nuisance to change. The real problem is that if it is a fuse failure, the chances are that it's the result not the cause.

    Or it could be something else fairly simple on the power side, eg the switch itself - you really need someone to meter round the circuit with it turned on, if you're not confident enough to do that yourself. That should at least give you an idea if it's worth spending more time and money on.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ICBM said:
    midlifecrisis said:

    i tested it out of the amp, put a multimeter probe either end and current passed through,
    Definitely OK then...

    If there's no apparent power getting through at all, there could be other fuses. Many modern Roland amps have sealed PCB-mounted fuses too, which are a nuisance to change. The real problem is that if it is a fuse failure, the chances are that it's the result not the cause.

    Or it could be something else fairly simple on the power side, eg the switch itself - you really need someone to meter round the circuit with it turned on, if you're not confident enough to do that yourself. That should at least give you an idea if it's worth spending more time and money on.
    i will test the contacts after the switch measure the voltage on and off to see if power is getting through. anything more than that i better give it to a tech
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  • @ICBM ; noticing a very quiet electrical hum when switched on, not coming from speaker but from the amp itself.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    @ICBM ; noticing a very quiet electrical hum when switched on, not coming from speaker but from the amp itself.
    Does it have a conventional power transformer? I haven’t seen inside one.

    If so it probably means the power is getting to that, and the failure is on the secondary side.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • ICBM said:
    @ICBM ; noticing a very quiet electrical hum when switched on, not coming from speaker but from the amp itself.
    Does it have a conventional power transformer? I haven’t seen inside one.

    If so it probably means the power is getting to that, and the failure is on the secondary side.
    yes there is a transformer
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31367
    edited February 2019
    octatonic said:
    Which Katana- 50W or 100W?

    It is a bit of a gamble- what is the hourly rate for a tech?
    £60?
    Two hours work is more than half the price of the a new 50w Katana- at £190 new with a warranty.
    I don't like chucking stuff away but the chance that it is a quick fix is outweighed by the chance of having to spend to fault find and then repair vs just buying a new one.

    I'd probably sell the broken one on eBay as broken/for spares and then buy a new one with a warranty.
    Or keep the old one for spare parts.
    its a 100w comb o, i bought used for a good price so ive had value out of it. i gues ive now got a 12" speaker and cab. but ill see if it can be fixed. I dont like binning stuff from an ecological point of view
    Me neither, which is why I've gone back to analogue. 

    My 100w Katana died in the same way, just out of warranty. Given that it's an MDF cab with a pretty harsh speaker it just went in a skip I'm afraid.
    It's a big ol' lump to keep as spares when the only usable spares are a handful of ugly knobs. 
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7349
    This is why I ultimately backed out of going Katana/Blues Cube/Nextone despite thinking they provide really decent sounds. 

    The general lack of repairability as witnessed by some here who have been left with unrepairable amps or in a difficult decision about financial viability of getting it looked at just feels wrong. 

    Its been a thing for a long time - but back then if your CMOS battery died in a first generation digital amp it  had probably lasted 5 or 6 years at least. 

    I wonder if if the savings these companies make by not having a sensible support setup (aimed at cutting purchase price) will ultimately limit people’s preparedness to buy them at all 
    Red ones are better. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    TimmyO said:

    I wonder if if the savings these companies make by not having a sensible support setup (aimed at cutting purchase price) will ultimately limit people’s preparedness to buy them at all 
    It hasn’t affected sales of new TVs or computers.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    turn it off and on again... download the latest drivers for it... reinstall the OS
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    57Deluxe said:
    turn it off and on again... download the latest drivers for it... reinstall the OS
    I bet it's the sound card...
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11411
    ICBM said:
    TimmyO said:

    I wonder if if the savings these companies make by not having a sensible support setup (aimed at cutting purchase price) will ultimately limit people’s preparedness to buy them at all 
    It hasn’t affected sales of new TVs or computers.
    You can get 5 year warranties with a lot of TVs these days.  Given the rate of change of technology, a lot of people are looking for an excuse to upgrade after 5 years.

    That will slow down.  Resolutions above 4k won't show any significant difference in picture quality in 95% of situations.
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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Actually, thinking about the Katana, it has to be worth hooking it up and re installing the Firmware, nothing ventured etc

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  • sweepy said:
    Actually, thinking about the Katana, it has to be worth hooking it up and re installing the Firmware, nothing ventured etc

    how can you reinstall firmware without powering it on, please explain, connecting to pc doesnt even recognise it.
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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    My mistake, I thought you said that the lights were on with no sound, makes note to find glasses next time :)
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