Simmons DA200s Blown Fuse

[dangerfield31]

Hi all

I have a Simmons DA200s Drum Amplifier and I seem to have blown the fuse in it. I turned it on and as soon as I hit the switch it made a loud pop and lost all power completely. I was using a replacement power chord and forgot to check the voltage, and it turns out the one I was using was way over the amplifiers specification.

Anyway, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to opening these things up and doing any sort of electrical work on them. So I was wondering if there is anyone out there with any experience in changing the fuse for any sort of amplifiers, or specifically the Simmons DA200S that could give me a few tips? Any pics or anything to help me would go a long way.

I might be asking a bit much with my first post but hopefully there is someone out there who has made the same rookie mistake as I have!

Thanks

[Jazz P Bass]

I was using a replacement power chord and forgot to check the voltage, and it turns out the one I was using was way over the amplifiers specification.

What does this statement mean?

If it is a Vac power chord, the wire size has nothing to do with it blowing a fuse.

[Enzo]

Agree^^^^

A plain old power cord is just a power cord. If you are talking about a power adapter, that is different. Power adapters come in types. The connector must fit the device. The adaptor will have a voltage, like 9v, 12v, 16v, 24v . It will have either AC or DC output, and if it is DC, there will be a polarity.

[Jazz P Bass]

Well. in researching this, I got totally confused.
The official instruction manual is vague.

I copped this pic off of Google Images.

IEC connector.

[J M Fahey]

Sorry dangersfield but your amplifier seems to be blown and way beyond anything you can do.

If within warranty, send it back to shop for repair/exchange.

If not, get into the Simmons page to find some nearby Authorized Service Tech or ask the shop who they trust.

[dangerfield31]

Sorry for the confusion - I gotmy terminology a bit mixed up. It was an 'adapter' which I used (not a power chord). The adapter was a different voltage to the one that came with the amp and when I turned it on it went POP and the light immediately shut down and now there is no power to the amp at all.

Is it true what JM FAhey said that the amp is blown? Would the fuse not protect the amp from something (incredibly stupid) like that?

[Enzo]

Take everything we all said with a grain of salt, because we did not know what you had. If you have a power adaptor, then the rear panel IEC connector picture that Jazz posted does not apply, and remarks asuming it was that sort no longer apply.

I did make a brief description of adaptor types. Depending on what yours needs and what you connected to it instead, a wide variety of problems could have occurred. There may be an internal fuse that opened, you'd be lucky. Many adaptor powered things have protective diodes inside, and those can then give their lives.


Fuses can;t act as fast as electricity flows. Fuses are mainly there to protect your house from the equipment, the fuse doesn;t protect the unit very much.

[MarkusBass]

I'm still confused. I think that the picture posted by JPB is correct. Look at this one: http://beatsenseless.files.wordpress...2/img_0342.jpg
This raises a question what exactly you mean by "power adapter", a transformer, or what?
It looks like the amp can be only powered with IEC connector. In this case the fuse is at the bottom of the IEC connector. You can open it with a screwdriver and see if the fuse is blown. Then you can explain what exactly the "power adapter" is.

Mark

[Enzo]

Mark, I believe you. I just looked up the unit, and it is a wedge amp combo. So unlikely to operate on an adaptor.


A "power adaptor" to us means that small square thing you plug into a wall outlet, and then a small wire trails from it to a round hole on the back of the unit. The kind of thing that would power a phone answering machine or computer router. Or most things that have to be charged has an adaptor for charging. We call them wall warts too.



A power cord to us means just the detachable power wire, a lot of folks call them computer power cords, since computers all seem top use them.

[MarkusBass]

The only problem is that this amp has no "power adapter" input . How can an amp fail from powering it up from "power adapter" if the amp has no "power adapter" input? Miracle?

Mark

[MarkusBass]

[dangerfield31]

ok looking at the pics that enzo posted - it was a 'power cord' (the second pic with the 3 pronge plug) that i used. so what i originally said was correct. i actually used the one from my computer. So are you saying that by using this it wouldn't make a difference? When I read the voltage on the power cord from the computer it was a lot higher than the one that came with the amp - would this not allow an overload of current flow into the amp possibly blowing the fuse?

...by the way thanks for your replies i really appreciate the help here

[Jazz P Bass]

When I read the voltage on the power cord from the computer it was a lot higher than the one that came with the amp - would this not allow an overload of current flow into the amp possibly blowing the fuse?

The voltage from your wall outlet is what matters.
120Vac.

Whether you use a single strand of copper wire (like a hair) or a coat hanger, you will still be passing along the 120Vac from the outlet.
The difference here is the amount of current each can withstand.
The current is governed by the load.

In your case, with what sounds like a fried amplifier, it will demand a lot of current.
The little strand of copper will become a fuse & the coat hanger will become a heater.

What is marked on the actual cord is the voltage rating of that specific cord that the manufacturer spec'd it at.

Personally, I would not recommend that you pursue this any further, as it appears that you have a damaged unit.
Find a good tech & take it in.

[Enzo]

What he said. All those higher numbers mean is the power cord can be used for more things.


So you have some blown amplifier type problem. It will require identifying parts on the board, unsoldering them for removal, then installing new parts in their place. I am not sure that is within your skills at this point.

[g1]

Suggest you try replacing the fuse (with EXACT same type) once and only once. There is a very slight chance it just blew by fluke due to the turn on surge.
If the new fuse blows, find an authorized service center to take it for repair.