F30 Started Smoking!

[Akanatural]

Last night I was sitting in the lounge watching TV when I noticed a burning smell.

I followed it down the hallway to my studio where I had been playing through my Mesa Boogie F30 1x12 combo at low volume a few hours earlier.

The smoke was thick and it was coming from my F30.

I had left it on as I was meaning to go back and play some more before I got sidetracked by the TV and something went wrong with it in that time.

Anyway, I just took the rear metal mesh thing off and the tubes are in good shape... so I'm guessing it's something in the circuitry.

I know nothing about that stuff so I've just unplugged it and left it alone.

My dilemma is that I live in Gisborne, and we don't have any amp-tech types here.

There is however, a good electrical guy who serviced the amps and electronics of all of the guitars where I work.
He is really good!

I'm just wondering if I should bite the bullet and send the amp off to Wellington (It's heavy and expensive) or should I let the local electrical guy at it?...

Thoughts?

Oh and this is a new username/profile - I use to be DariusLovehall but I couldn't remember the password... hence using a new account... hope that's ok.

It's shit timing to lose my amp as I was just transitioning back to pedals after 4 years on the AX8... so I'm just putting together a new pedal-board and I have a bunch of shows coming up... time is of the essence.

[AiRdAd]

if you've got a good guy locally, that'd be my first stop.

[Bg]

That sounds crazy hope you can get it sorted

[olegmcnoleg]

Shame, the F30 is a stellar little amp. Hope you get it fixed

[Akanatural]

if you've got a good guy locally, that'd be my first stop.

Yeah i think call my local guy - he may at least be able to assess it for me.

As a sidenote... I actually bought the amp about a year ago off Trademe, but I only started using it a couple of days ago.
I just haven't needed to use an amp - most of my gigs have backline and I generally use the AX8 anyway.
I'm just glad I smelled it burning and noticed the smoke... If i had been asleep it could have been a disaster.

Anyway yes it;s a great lil amp - I def hope it's salvageable

[NippleWrestler]

Just FYI rockshop are the licensed mesa techs in NZ. They fixed my dual rec after local guys couldn't diagnose the issue. RS had it fixed in 3 days.

[robthemac]

Just FYI rockshop are the licensed mesa techs in NZ. They fixed my dual rec after local guys couldn't diagnose the issue. RS had it fixed in 3 days.

Pretty sure it'll still involve them shipping it to Auckland and back for the repair. And don't worry, they'll charge you for the privilege.

They did great work on my old 2061x, to be fair. Wasn't their fault that it blew power transformers like the Proteas blow a lead.

[RectifiedAmps]

A smoking amp is usually caused by either burning screen resistors or a burning power transformer. Screen resistors dont usually produce heaps of smoke (unless something nearby is getting burnt as well) but the smell will linger - overall it’s usually a symptom of shorted power tubes. A shorted power transformer can produce heaps of smoke before they totally die or blow a fuse.

Either way, it sounds like your local electrician should be able to find the issue. Otherwise, if youre comfortable with it, you could just pull out the chassis and send it off for repairs- that’d slash the cost of shipping.