Smoke coming from a bass cabinet

[ToBeAnnounced]

I loaned my ampeg and avatar bass cabs to our local blues society for a show. I wasn't there to see it, but I'm told the Avatar (2x10 delta) was smoking by the end of the night.

I suspect the guy was using a guitar cord to hook it up, but can't confirm this. I do know he had a 800 watt amp with a preamp kind of set up.

 

I took the jack plate off, and saw that the pot had a few hardened drips of burnt substance near the vents. It was hard to turn the pot at first, but it eventually loosened up. The horn and speakers sound good to me (I don't normally use the horn, and had requested that they not turn in up). The pot was a little scratchy at first when turned, but that eventually went away.

 

Question is - was that burnt stuff some kind of lubricant? I've got an old can of contact cleaner, is it safe to spray that into the pot vents? I tried Avatar to see if I could get a replacement pot, answer was not from them. Can anyone suggest a replacement?

 

I'll probably use this thing tonight just to see if it goes the distance, but looking for any advice. Thanks!

[ToeJamFootball]

let this be a lesson to ya, i learnt it the hard way a long while ago, never lend anyone you gear!!

 

ToeJam

[ToBeAnnounced]

that's usually been my motto - but I figured it was a 'touring national artist' (Duke Tomatoe - I've heard him on the Bob and Tom show), they had their own tech. Plus, the Blues Society is a non-profit, and they've tossed a few gigs my way in the past. What could go wrong? Lesson learned.

[Craig Vecchione]

It sounds like the horn attenuator has or will shortly fail. This is actually not uncommon if the knob is set for only slight attenuation...the current is dissipated across only a very short length of the windings, so it's much more prone to overheat. If it hasn't completely failed, you might be able to just leave it fully on (0dB cut) and run it that way until you can replace or remove it.

[ToBeAnnounced]

 

Originally posted by Craigv It sounds like the horn attenuator has or will shortly fail. This is actually not uncommon if the knob is set for only slight attenuation...the current is dissipated across only a very short length of the windings, so it's much more prone to overheat. If it hasn't completely failed, you might be able to just leave it fully on (0dB cut) and run it that way until you can replace or remove it.

 

 

Is the attenuator the same thing that I call the 'potentiometer' (a.k.a. the 'knob'?) You are correct, I usually keep it a a quarter.

 

never mind - re read your reply and realize they are one and the same. thanks!