Picked up another Crown XTi 2000 from CL... one channel prob

[bzb]

Picked up another XTi 2000 for a great price on Craigslist... unfortunately it has a problem (that I bet the owner was aware of, which is why he was asking so little).

Did a little research on Google about the issues people had with the old ones. This one was manufactured in 2006, IIRC from the label. It has a Crown warranty label on it in a random location, which makes me think that it was already serviced. However, here's the issue with it:

On occasion, Channel 2 will drop out. It makes the *slightest* of noise, letting you know it still exists, but it's no louder than a whisper. If you smack the front grill, it magically comes back on.

Me and some buddies were in the garage for about 3 hours... uh... playing Rock Band We experienced this phenomenon once during our "gig". It seems to do it just about every time you power it on, though.

Since it's well out of warranty (or is it??) what should I do? Was there an easy fix for this one? I can't think of a good reason why smacking the grill would "fix" the issue every time.

[netwerks]

If that fixes it, you've fixed it. Haven't you?

[bzb]

My pimp hand is strong, but I fear there's a limited number of uses before the XTi stops turning tricks.

[BrentEvans]

If a nice smack fixes it, you have one (or more) of a few problems, which can all be summed up under "something's loose."

First, find out if it's under warranty. If not, decide whether you wan to try a DIY repair, or whether service charge is worth it to send it in. If it's something as simple as a loose connector, you could snap it back in and be good to go. It could be a bad solder joint, or something grounding inside... lots of potential for loose bits in there.

Of course, it could be something more nefarious like a bad cap, transformer, etc. Or it could (in theory) be outside the amp... bad speaker cable, shorting lugs... you wouldn't think a smack would fix those things but if it was in the connectors, they're physically coupled to the amp. Rule all that out first.

Good luck!

[bzb]

If a nice smack fixes it, you have one (or more) of a few problems, which can all be summed up under "something's loose."

First, find out if it's under warranty. If not, decide whether you wan to try a DIY repair, or whether service charge is worth it to send it in. If it's something as simple as a loose connector, you could snap it back in and be good to go. It could be a bad solder joint, or something grounding inside... lots of potential for loose bits in there.

Of course, it could be something more nefarious like a bad cap, transformer, etc. Or it could (in theory) be outside the amp... bad speaker cable, shorting lugs... you wouldn't think a smack would fix those things but if it was in the connectors, they're physically coupled to the amp. Rule all that out first.

Good luck!

I'll have to call Crown this week and see what I can do. I was hoping someone else may have had an older one (along with a fix) since it seems a lot of guys have been using XTis with Bill's equipment for some time, and this used to be a common issue, apparently.

Check on ruling out externals. The speaker wire was fine, as we swapped the channels and it was only Channel 2 doing this. Same with the XLR cables. Swap em and Ch1 continued working fine.

Internally, I don't know, as my guess at first was similar - bad connector, solder joint, etc. Did a once over and didn't see anything obvious. I'll have to crack her open again and see if I can find something.

I don't like sticking my hands in a powered device, although that might make it easier for me to figure out what's wrong

[netwerks]

sure the ribbon cable to the display is seated...maybe disconnect it and reseat it. That was an issue early on.

[BrentEvans]

Unplug all connectors inside the amp (molex, ribbons, etc) and look for loose pins. Not sure what's inside those, but sometimes internal connectors shake loose.

[Drey Chennells]

be careful in there or even better discharge the caps..

[wallywally]

+1 on the ribbon cable. I have also experienced a channel drop on 1 of my Xti 2000's but it is software based. It does it about every 6-8 months I reflash it and it's good.