Tuesday, June 22, 2021

How To Change The Battery In Your Line 6 Vetta HD or Combo: The Vetta XONE: Part 5

at some point you will have to replace the internal CR2430 lithium battery.

The battery doesn't last forever, so it's an eventual issue that you'll have to address.

Guess what?
It isn't as hard as you think it is.

Really!




To begin, I'm still using my Line 6 Vetta HD (Ver2.50) that I originally purchased in 2003!! It's currently full of custom patches for the 42 songs in my band's live set. I'm still loving how it sounds after all these years. I also bought a used Vetta Combo (ver2.50) as a backup.


After successfully replacing the Combo's Battery,
I decided to replace the battery in my Vetta HD.

Here's how I did it:
Unplug everything from the HD
Take pictures before every step!


First I loosened the 4 main Chassis screws on the bottom of the HD.
Now you can pull the amp housing out by itself.


Next, you unscrew the 8 small Phillips head screws along the top and front of the Chassis. Lastly, you unscrew the 2 medium Phillips Head Screws in the two recessed spaces on the top. 

Then you can slowly open the two amp chassis.
You will need to disconnect 6 wires to separate the Chassis halves

Here are the 4 main wires that connect the two parts of the Vetta HD's amp chassis.
The small white wire in the front, comes from the Input Jack.
The next two ribbon Cables, 1 Small, 1 Large


Then, at the other end of the board, the Large White Multi-Wire


Next, un-hook the power leads from the power button



Now you can separate the 2 halves of the Chassis



I unscrewed the tiny Phillips Head Screws from the XLR Direct Outs, and the Plastic Nuts on the other I/Os. Then took out the 5 Phillips Head Screws keeping the Main Board in Place.

You can see the battery on the bottom right


There was a fair amount of dust inside,
so I cleaned everything up


I attached the board to my helping hands and turned the board on it's side


Here's the original battery with the factory silicone, holding the battery in place


I scraped off the Silicone with an xacto knife, keeping the original battery in place.

Here's the original battery, silicone off


Then I just flipped the board on it's back with the helping hands, and used my soldering iron to heat the solder on the 3 points where the battery is attached.

By heating those 3 points on the back, the battery falls right out


Battery removed


Now, just install the new CR2430 Battery. You'll have the bend the legs of the battery holder to fit them into the holes. Then while holding the battery in place with your finger, re-solder the 3 holes in the back. 

Flip over the board and add a small bead of solder to each of the back legs.

Now your battery is in place


Next, I added some new clear silicone to keep the battery in place for travel


I waited 15 minutes for the tack to set in the silicone.

While I did that, I replaced my original power button, which wasn't working, with a new one.

Old and new button



The new button installed


Then I re-assembled the chassis, connecting all 6 wires first, then the 10 Phillips Head Screws, 8 small, 2 Medium.

Don't forget to re-insert the stabilizers on each side


Put the Chassis back in the HD, and re attach the 4 Phillips Head Screws on the bottom.

Well Done!!

You have just given your Line 6 Vetta another 10-20 years of life!!!

Don't forget to read my other Line 6 Vetta articles in this Series:

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi XONE, I posted this same reply on the line6 forum/page, but in case you've missed that one I repost my questions here:


Hi XONE,

Thanks for your post! Last week I bought a Vetta HD head. I just could not resist. It was a bargain and I have good memories of that amp in the past. I friend of mine had one
and made it sound "killer". He used to be a Line6 sales guy in 2004 or so, and by that time it was the flagship. After reading your post I've got some questions.

1. Do you need to re-flash or download new firmware after replacing the battery? So far my Vetta seems to work fine, but I read some "horror stories" on fora about this issue :) I just want to keep mine in shape and I have a technical background, so I'm used to handle electronics, soldering etc.

2. Do you have to take some precautions concerning static electricity ( since we are dealing with an microchip environment )

Thanks in advance for your reply.
All the best from the Netherlands!
Ron