Carvin "Special" Parts?

[MetalUpYerEye]

Hey guys a friend of mine gave me a Carvin SX200 amp head for free because it broke. He said he was using it and it just turned off and now it doesn't work anymore. I looked at the guts and saw some burn marks but that was about 3 weeks ago and I was drunk so I dont remember much, but when he took it to a repair shop they told him it would cost $50+ because they had to order special parts from Carvin to fix it. Do they really make parts specific to each amp make? Also, what do you guys think may have happened to the amp?

[jonathan perez]

Do they really make parts specific to each amp make?

yes and no. they dont make the parts, but im sure there are specific parts required to put the amp back to ROCK. could be a number of parts...

[JimRayden]

Uhh, so let me get this straight, a guy just gives you a guitar amp because it would cost 50 bucks to fix it???

Now that's what I call a well-off society.

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Jimbo

[bancika]

There's great chance you can find some substitutes, if not equal parts. Post list of parts, maybe someone can help

[MetalUpYerEye]

Well i'm not sure what kind of parts i'll be needing, I was wondering if anyone had any kind of idea what may be wrong with it.

Jim - He gave it to me because the repair shop told him it'd cost 50-150 to fix when he paid 150 to buy it. He was also using it for a keyboard (but yes, its a guitar amp - go figure)

[JimRayden]

Well i'm not sure what kind of parts i'll be needing, I was wondering if anyone had any kind of idea what may be wrong with it.

By the information you offer (some burn marks and being drunk 3 weeks ago), it's not that easy to figure it out, as you might presume.

I don't think any part is that specific it can't be replaced. Well, perhaps special Carvin knobs or the logo. But I don't think they invent their own electronic components. Especially for amps that cheap.

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Jimbo

[captntasty]

Can't diagnose the problem but can shed some light.  As for the cost estimate, that's a ball park...  $50 would be a minimum repair charge meaning that it is not something major.  $150 would mean that a major component needs replacing or a lot of little ones, or the repair shop is keeping it's options open as to how much they want to charge regardless of what actually needs to be done.  I know all this because I work in a music/repair shop and that's how I would approach it.  Depends on the shop - do they do the repairs on site or do they have a subcontracted repair tech?  All things considered, $150 isn't a HUGE total when you factor in labor which will always be the bulk of any repair bill.

With regards to Carvin proprietary components - here's a couple links for manuals on two/three SX200 models...  this one really only lists mechanical components and a few items that may need to be ordered from Carvin would be the ribbon cables - they may be somewhat generic parts but where do you source them and know you're getting the right part?  Best to go direct to the manufacturer...  it doesn't seem that this would ber a high failure part but you never know.
 
http://www.carvin.com/manuals/SX50C.pdf

This one lists resistors, caps, trannys, the whole 9 yards... there are a couple trannys that sound a little obscure but may be available outside Carvin, but again, where do you source them?  This is a chorus version and is a more complex amp than the first.

http://www.carvin.com/manuals/sx100d.pdf

Anyhow, now you are armed with some info if you decide to have it repaired.  It looks like it could be a pretty nice amp if given some TLC.  Unless your very knowledgable and skillful and have worked on amps before I'd suggest having it repaired - a good tech who knows his stuff will be able to troubleshoot/repair it quickly.  If the shop tells you it needs a part from Carvin ask for the old failed component so you know something proprietary has been replaced - this can often be a ruse to charge more.  Maybe this shop is on the level and if you know so that's great, but do some homework before you go in.
Peace

[kusi]

hello,

if you have the amp open, could you tell me the value of the dual-gain-pot? and wich types are the LEDs? these are the missing notes from the schematic!

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/techdocs.html


mfg and thanks a lot,
markus

[MetalUpYerEye]

Ok here's an update...

I finally got time to open the amp up to see what was going on and here's what I found; a metal piece (apparently a heatsink of some sort) that sits underneath the circuit board has a small burn mark on it about 3/4 in. long and 1/2 in. wide. The PCB itself has a small burn mark on it about 3/8 in. in diameter near the edge, and one of the components is melted nearly half away. I was able to get the part number off the component but dont know where to start searching as I am unable to identify exactly what this component is. Its a small black box (the same size and shape as a box style polyester film cap only black) with 5 leads coming out of the bottom and the front reads like this...

             MRC
VIPer100A
  30F225
R

Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks again.

[JimRayden]

Looks like a power supply chip. And the datasheet doesn't seem to state that it's associated to Carvin in any way.

http://www.ortodoxism.ro/datasheets/SGSThomsonMicroelectronics/mXvrxwr.pdf

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Jimbo

[kusi]

hi,

all i can find, is that this MRC VIPER 100A is a DC-DC-converter in the "switched-power-supply". here you can find a datasheet, but i`m not sure that this is the correct one. please contact the carvin support, they can help you.

http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf/157018/STMICROELECTRONICS/VIPER100A.html

best regards,
kusi

edit; jimbo was a bit faster  

[JimRayden]

http://www.mouser.com/search/refine.aspx?Ntt=511-VIPER100A

And doesn't look like 50 bucks either, more like 5.

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Jimbo

[MetalUpYerEye]

Yesssss! You guys rock, the VIPer100A looks exactly like it (not the 022Y or whatever, the regular one from the datasheet) I'm ordering it up and it should be here by wednesday.
Thanks again!
Josh