Low volume on Profex 2, early warning sign!

[Ken Fox]

Just got one in yesterday with low volume. The battery had leaked and was starting to conduct the two resistors near the battery together! I have seen several with holes eaten thru the board due to this shorting out, as well as burmed traces and voltage regulator burn out.! I just got an email this morning from another Forum member with the low volume problem. He checked and the acid is starting to leak on the resistors!

Check those batteries!!! I am seeing a lot of damaged units lately. The Tubefex really gets hammered, even with the slighest leakage. I have seen no damage yet on a Transtubefex, as they are the newest units. Be assured they will suffer as well from battery leakage. It is not a matter of "if" but "when" for all these units!

[c c johnson]

Ken did you awile back offer something that eliminated the batteries? CC

[Donny Hinson]

Battery? Leaking onto the board?

I have a term for that. Crappy design!

Don't get me wrong, Peavey makes some great stuff, but problems like this (along with those stupid Molex connectors and their "top vents"), really hurt their image.

[Jack Stoner]

Considering the "era" the Profex II's were designed, the computer type battery was not a bad engineering move. Today, no one uses batteries for backup.

Heat rises, the top vent, although it seems a poor design, really allows for the heat to escape. I see top vents in a lot of commercial and consumer electronic equipment.

I do agree the Molex connectors were a poor application use. Eventually Peavey saw the light and engineering changed to a more modern "signal" type connector.

[Darvin Willhoite]

I have two Digitech 2112 processor/preamps that use a 2032 computer type battery, and a snap in holder. I change them every two or three years and have never had a leakage problem. They are easy to change with the unit powered up so the settings are not lost. A much better design than the Peavey Fex's. I had a couple of Tubefexes that required extensive rewiring to make them work because of circuit board damage from leaky batteries. I had a MIDIBASS sound module that could not be repaired because of battery leakage. The best thing you can do if you own one of these is have Ken put the chip in it.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

[Ken Fox]

Yes, I still do the battery-less chips. Did about 15 in the past 2 days!

[Leland Ogle]

Any one with a profex should send it to Ken for the battery eliminator. Then you don't have to worry. Besides you get to do business with one of the best, Ken Fox.
Lee

[Donny Hinson]

Well Jack, as Darvin stated, there <u>are</u> better ways to do the battery/PC board thing. In a computer, it was seldom a problem, as they're usually obsolete by the time the battery's bad. Not so with an amplifier, which everyone recognizes as something that might be used for decades. I also still can't agree in the "top vent" argument. Equipment that's likely to see spills shouldn't have top vents, period! If jukebox, cash-register, and computer manufacturers are smart enough to recognize that fact, musical instrument amplifier manufacturers should be too, don't you think?

Part of my job as a "consultant/troubleshooter" is to point out obvious things to those who often fail to recognize them. When I see something good, I tell people. When I see something bad, I do likewise.

To Peavey's credit, they did (finally) do away with the troublesome Molex reverb connectors. Shucks, they even developed their own version of a LeMay mod kit!

[Roger Light]

A bump for Ken. You can't go wrong doing business with him. Sent a Profex 2 for the upgrades and had EXCEllENT service. He recieved it last Sat. and it was done and sent back out to me on Monday. It sounds awsome! Thanks Ken