Hartke BA900 Bass Amp Combo - Transformer Needed

[davidyoungs]

Hello there,

1st post here for me and hoping someone might be able to help - I have a Hartke BA900 bass combo amp. Great little unit, has done me good service for years since I bought it s/h, but died yesterday - no sign of life.

Had it to bits to find both inline T1.6A fuses blown, so got some new ones. Blew the new ones straight away. Diagnosing the fault seems to point to the (pretty big and possibly torrodial) transformer being the issue - when I disconnect the xformer o/p from the PCB (i.e. just the AC jack, power switch and xformer in the picture) it still blows the fuses so dont think its the amp board.

Disconnecting the orange wire which runs to the xformer input stops the fuses blowing, switch neon stays on but no amp noise or action at all. So I think the winding is probably shorting.

I cant find *any* trace of Hartke online - old post pointed to Korg, who told me helpfully today that its Hal Leonard Pro Audio who support these... HL dont have a service dept to phone, just proaudio@halleonard email - tried them and got a bounce back from their server - duff address :-(

Anyone got any idea where to get a replacement xformer at all? Seems a real shame to scrap the amp for a 10 min swap out job.

Many thanks for any help you can give,

Cheers
David

 

[JonSnell Electronic]

If you remove the load by disconnecting the secondaries and it doesn't blow the fuse, it is probably OK.
It is probably the 2500 amplifier fitted to it under the name of Samson; part of the Loud Technologies group.

 

[Enzo]

Hartke is a division of Samson, in New York. Samson may be distributed by Loud in the UK, but Samson is not part of Loud.

As to nothing online, where did you look?

Hartke | Samson Technologies

 

[davidyoungs]

Thanks guys for the very quick and useful replies !

@JonSnellElectronic - the fuses still blow with the PCB disconnected, so I'm pretty sure its the toroidal transformer that's gone bang (short circuit winding I guess), as there's nothing I can see to go wrong with the AC input jack or the power switch.

@Enzo - thanks too, I did find Samson's site yesterday but it appeared to be down. Maybe pilot error on my part or their website was fubar. It's up today - I'll give them a spin, thanks .

I did also take a pic of the transformer/writing on it in case that was useful - attached here now. Googling around I think this site might have one

Standard Range

Type: TM060A
Continuous power rating: 300VA

Primary: 0-230V @ 50Hz

Secondary: 33-0-33V @ 4.55A rms

Dimensions: approx 122x57mm

Mounting: mounting kit


Not 100% sure if that is going to be a valid replacement though. And looks like these sort of components are around £40 or so... might be better off putting the cash towards something like a TC Electronic BAM200..

Thx again for your help!

David

 

[bucks bunny]

and did you check the rectifiers?

 

[davidyoungs]

Hi - thanks for the idea on the rectifiers, but with the PCB completely disconnected (see prev post) the fuses still blow - so its not anything on the board :-(

For anyone else who needs Hartke support it is Hal Leonard in the UK who provide it, but they actually back end it to Samson - here's an email if anyone wants it:

HLE Pro Audio <proaudio@halleonardeurope.com>

Sadly this was the response I got:

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Hi David,

Here’s Samson’s response:

The BA900 has been discontinued for a number of years now. No spare parts are available.

We recommend the newer Hartke combo, the HD15 or KB15.

Sorry we can’t be of more help.

Best,
George

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They came back really quick and were very helpful but my amp is just toooo old. Selling on eBay for parts...

Cheers all for your help though, really appreciated.