20 Most Recent Line 6 Spider Iii 15 Modeling Guitar Amplifier 15 Watt - Page 3 Questions & Answers

Not a transformer problem... this is likely filter capacitors, rectifiers, and PROBABLY a bad amp chip. Service this before it wrecks the speaker.

If the fuse has blown DO NOT replace without repairing the cause!!! You will do more damage.

This is likely a power supply issue so have it serviced if you are not electronically skilled.

"A strange noise" does NOT give us much to go on...

Please note that relatively low volume digitizing noise often exists from teh digital effects processors... it should be well below the normal playing volume.

I had this in a Behringer and the problem was the filter capacitor for the 5 volts to the DSP. The DSP would start then the voltage would drop below the operating point and it would reset causing a clicking noise.

Check for a bad electrolyic associated with the five volt power in your unit.

Parts like this require soldering skills and also troubleshooting skill. You might want to find someone with electronic skills if you don't have the skills yourself.

Since you have tried all external possibilities, this will require troubleshooting. If you are not adept in electronics, you best take this to a shop familiar with this model.

If I were troublleshooting this, I would suspect the power amp transistors or connections to them might be bad, but the testing would likely use an oscilloscope to trace the signals in an expedient manner..

One schematic for Crate I found uses darlington transistors TIP142 and TIP147.

Poor contacts at jacks can cause this... it results in the contacts acting like a small capacitor passing only the high frequencies at very low level.

Power amp inout jacks are notorious with switch contacts that pass the preamp signal to the power amp if the power amp input isn't used.

There are many other possibilities and only hands on troubleshooting will determine the cause.

MOST likely the power amp chip is blown. They use a TDA2050 chip that is in a seven lead power tab package similar to the TO220 transistor package. Readily available from DigiKey.com for just under $3.

If you keep replacing the fuse, you may damage other components.

The other possibilty is a diode and/or filter capacitor has shorted.

Open the amp and INSPECT the jack. It may require replacing OR simply need to have the pins re-soldered.

These jacks used on guitar amps for the most part are JUNK and easily damaged.

Hint: Loop guitar cables through the handles before plugging in or use a right angle adapter to avoid accidents that bend the plug sideways and BREAK the internal jack in the amp.

The problem here is likely with the reulators on the power supply. Overheating is causing failure. Replace +15 and -15volt regulators as required

Secondary problem may be with the AMP IC itself. Check to make sure it is not overheating during operation by using a temperature probe. Check to make sure airflow is constant.

Do not electrocute yourself and/or fry the amp any worse than it is.

resolder the three legs of the pots back down to the pcb. usually the treble feeds the bass, then from bass to mid then to ground. so if treble and mid are working its hard to imagine why the bass wouldnt be working. i would try to resolder, as you might have cold solder joints. keep it unplugged, pull off the knobs, open it up, remove the pcb screws and pull/flip out the pcb and resolder all of the pots.

This MAY be due to overdriving the amp. The single chip amplifiers used in these have thermal protection usually and will cycle on and off if you drive it too hard. This is a tiny amp and is for use as practice and is NOT suitable for heavy use. Most of these use chips like the TDA 2050 and MANY of them have VERY substandard heatsinks and often don't even use thermal conductive grease under the chip.

If you want loud, then you need to step up the size of amp you are using to say a 100 Watt one that is designed to take the power.

Here is the site you need:http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Support/SerialNumberSearch/

Check their site here under Support:http://line6.com/community/message/59307 if you do not feel comfortable servicing it yourself. They will be able to tell you where the nearest service center is and if you can't get it to one then the specs for the pot. Any good electronics supplier should be able to sell or order you the exact replacement you need. The trick is providing them with the technical info they need. If you or a friend or a nearby reputable electronics service perso can disassemble the amp and unsolder the broken pot from the circuit board it is quite easy to take it to a supplier and have them match it.

Often a broken input jack is the problem causing this. Wiggle the cord plug when it occurs to see if that might be the problem.

Also tweek the controls slightly to see if you can get a change in the problem when it occurs.

User manuals here:

http://line6.com/support/manuals/?families=45&submit=Submit&1st=1st

Nobody will have a 12 AXT because it doesn't exist.

It is likely a 12AX7

Search for the right number, they are readily available.

Acoording to the manual hold the tap button for a few seconds and the tuner will come up in the LCD display. Here is manual in pdf form...

http://line6.com/data/l/0a060072ba114a95b315b526f/application/pdf/Spider%20IV%20Advanced%20Guide%20%28Rev%20A%29%20-%20English.pdf

sounds like something shorted. you probably have a shorted relay and maybe more. depends on when the protection circuit kicked in during the short. the relay being shorted will not allow power to even go to the power supply on/off switch. you can test with a mulitmeter, just be care full, black/groung lead grounded to chasis (a must!!!!!! can use a screw hole to stick the test probe in). then set your meter to read 200 ac volts and touch off on a leg of the switch, etc. look at your readings and see what kind of voltage is rolling thru. you should be getting close to 120 acvolts. carefull!!! if nothing then the problem is before the switch, relay, power resistor, diode, etc. The worst case would be a transformer but i am not to sure line 6 power schemes. the relays are hard to find, you should have part numbers on it, for parts goto mouser.com. you can get almost anything.

Line 6 has the manuals on their site.

The Spider III 15 is in two parts: part 1 and part 2
The first is the manual, the second is the sample settings.

Both are PDF files.