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  • Hammond XK-3c issue

    Howdy!
    A couple years ago I bought a used XK-3c. Used with the lower manual and pedals, I've been very happy with it. There is a bit of an issue however. It seems like it overheats.

    If I've been using it for a while in the air-conditioned comfort of my living room and I switch it off, I am unable to switch it back on for about 15 minutes. The opening message that says "Music's Glorious Voice" just gets to "Music's Glo" and then it freezes. Some lights come on, but it doesn't play or work as it should. As I said, after at least a 15 minute rest period (cool down?) it will re-start as usual.

    I was on a gig not long ago which was outside in the hot Texas sun. It had sat in the case in the van for a few days prior, so the organ was nice and hot. It didn't start up at all until about 90 minutes into the gig.

    Have any of y'all seen this before? What's a remedy?

  • #2
    Originally posted by Basil McJagger View Post
    Howdy!
    A couple years ago I bought a used XK-3c. Used with the lower manual and pedals, I've been very happy with it. There is a bit of an issue however. It seems like it overheats.

    If I've been using it for a while in the air-conditioned comfort of my living room and I switch it off, I am unable to switch it back on for about 15 minutes. The opening message that says "Music's Glorious Voice" just gets to "Music's Glo" and then it freezes. Some lights come on, but it doesn't play or work as it should. As I said, after at least a 15 minute rest period (cool down?) it will re-start as usual.

    I was on a gig not long ago which was outside in the hot Texas sun. It had sat in the case in the van for a few days prior, so the organ was nice and hot. It didn't start up at all until about 90 minutes into the gig.

    Have any of y'all seen this before? What's a remedy?
    Short answer: No, I haven't heard of this (nor experienced it with m XK-3c, lower, pedals).

    I had often wondered how warm those 2 internal tone tubes might get and have put my hand back in that area (left rear corner) after the unit has been on for a while to see ... yeah, it gets warm there, but never hot. So I would check to see whether you experience more heat arising from that area than a normal amount - if so this might indicate something you an easily address.

    But more generally, the symptoms you describe sound like something pretty weird is going on with the chip/operating system bootup. I'd suggest contacting Hammond/Suzuki directly and asking them what this symptom means.

    Best wishes for an easy resolution - OneWatt

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Basil McJagger View Post
      Howdy!
      A couple years ago I bought a used XK-3c. Used with the lower manual and pedals, I've been very happy with it. There is a bit of an issue however. It seems like it overheats.

      If I've been using it for a while in the air-conditioned comfort of my living room and I switch it off, I am unable to switch it back on for about 15 minutes. The opening message that says "Music's Glorious Voice" just gets to "Music's Glo" and then it freezes. Some lights come on, but it doesn't play or work as it should. As I said, after at least a 15 minute rest period (cool down?) it will re-start as usual.

      I was on a gig not long ago which was outside in the hot Texas sun. It had sat in the case in the van for a few days prior, so the organ was nice and hot. It didn't start up at all until about 90 minutes into the gig.

      Have any of y'all seen this before? What's a remedy?
      What serial # does it have and what version of the OS? I haven't heard of the first problem you list but it may be related to the second which I have. There was an issue with early XK-3c's where if they were in a hot vehicle or direct sun for a while the LCD would get hot and not respond to the POST quickly enough at power on. The XK-3c would not power on until it cooled down. IIRC Hammond made a software change to give the LCD more time to respond and may have made a change to the LCD assy.

      Good luck.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by JJMcS View Post
        What serial # does it have and what version of the OS? I haven't heard of the first problem you list but it may be related to the second which I have. There was an issue with early XK-3c's where if they were in a hot vehicle or direct sun for a while the LCD would get hot and not respond to the POST quickly enough at power on. The XK-3c would not power on until it cooled down. IIRC Hammond made a software change to give the LCD more time to respond and may have made a change to the LCD assy.

        Good luck.


        Ooh!
        That makes sense. Thanks. It's serial number 10113560.

        Comment


        • #5
          Your XK-3c was made in Nov. of 2010 and the last OS update was in 2009 so yours should have the software change. I don't think the software change completely resolved the problem it just reduced it because I have heard of the problem several times over the years.

          Check the OS version (Menu page E:2 scroll up to Version) it should be Main: 1.024 or possibly higher.

          Comment


          • #6
            You are not alone on this problem. I got my XK-3c several years ago and had that no start issue many times. I recently upgraded to a full traditional setup with lower manual, bench, and pedals before those became hard to find. Now I make sure not to turn it off until I am through playing and have had no problems.

            Comment


            • #7
              If it is heat related, one possibility is heat from the tubes is warming up the inside under the display enough to cause the problem. I don't know how hot recent manufacture tubes get. I have old 50's/60's Era tubes in my XK-3c (a 12BZ7 in the AX socket and a 12AV7 in the AU socket). I've never had the problem but I don't think I've ever turned it off and then back on. I turned mine on a few minutes ago and will let it sit for an hour or so and turn it off and back on to see what happens. I'll post back with the results.

              After 2 hours I turned it off for ~10 seconds and back on and it powered up properly.
              Last edited by JJMcS; 10-30-2018, 10:38 AM. Reason: Add info.

              Comment

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