Whats the life expectancy of the AxeFx2?

[Chris@KatsuKuriMedia]

the answer is 42.

or what scott said.

[jzacharia]

Components on the board, power supplies, and other things can fail even if the are given "clean" power, are properly cooled, and not stressed. That being said, they will most likely last a very long time if they have not failed early on.
My Ultra was sold to my neighbor, it was one of the first few sold by Fractal. It is still going strong with no issues. I know people with standards that are a couple of years older than that and the are still going strong. I also have digital effects that are still going string that are decades old.

Oh definitely, I've been building and messing with computers for a majority of my life, and I've seen some pretty random hardware failures that weren't instigated by mistreatment. It happens. In a perfect world, with proper treatment and care, it should outlast the owner.

Good to see that Ultra still kickin'

[Gamedojo]

the answer is 42....

[themaidenmaniac]

hmm interesting thread. Usually the capacitors are the first things to go on the boards right? Good ones apparently last for around 50,000 hours? Could be 6 years of continuously powered on Axe Fx 2. That translates to 135 years of axe fx if you play for an hour every single day

[aleclee]

There's a goodly bit of rack gear (esp. high end stuff like Eventide & Lexicon) that's still in service 20 or more years after it was manufactured. The AxeFx probably won't last like a re-capped Fender Twin but I'd expect a lot more than 5 years out of it.

[luke]

It will likely be obsolete before it matters.

I power mine off whenever I'm not going to use it for five minutes, but I do that with every light and appliance in the house.

[bammbamm]

It will likely be obsolete before it matters.

I power mine off whenever I'm not going to use it for five minutes, but I do that with every light and appliance in the house.

Probably not obsolete since it will still have the great sounds as always and will still be ahead of most competitors by then... I would say it will be 2 or more generations back before we start to see some dying down. The Standard and Ultra are still going strong.

[Ole]

I heard that some of the circuits in the Axe might take dammage, from listening to intence swearing about Axe-Edit not working.
So some might live longer then others...

[henryrobinett]

The most damage to occur to a PCB and its components is when the system is turned "on". This process basically blasts static components with current and voltage, and is typically considered to be the most fatiguing process in the world of computers and related periphery.

Right r wrong it's for this reason I generally leave my components on, including the Axe2. I'm not sure whether I'm ding it harm or not.

[Chris Hurley]

I can appreciate the question since this concerns me as well.

Certainly not all tube amps from the 60's, 70's 80's or 90's are still kicking but lots of them are and they are mostly easily repairable if they die, unlike more sophisticated electronics from those periods.

Take computers form the 80's, and set aside the question of "why would you want to" for this exercise- lots of them are unrepairable because they used custom chips that are no longer available... or they get damaged from capacitors dumping their guts out...

The axe-fx II sounds great now. I can imagine that you might want to use it in 20 years if you still had it. The DSP certainly won't be available if it got damaged.

I suppose this is one way that tube amps are probably better... sorta...

[GreatGreen]

Here's an interesting question. Would it be better in the long run for the Axe-Fx II Mark II to cover the side vents with electrical tape?

Cliff himself has said the venting is totally unnecessary, after all. And if that's the case, covering the vents could only prevent dust from entering the unit.

[vinnieRice]

It'll last longer than you will care.

[ventura]

Here's an interesting question. Would it be better in the long run for the Axe-Fx II Mark II to cover the side vents with electrical tape?

Cliff himself has said the venting is totally unnecessary, after all. And if that's the case, covering the vents could only prevent dust from entering the unit.

This would likely fall under the "exercise in futility" category. It would be utterly pointless, and I think even concerning oneself with such an exercise may indicate one's distorted paradigms of reality.

The Axe-II will be obsolete through evolved iterations of itself and competing technology. If it hasn't failed in the first 50 hours of normal use, the likelihood of it failing prematurely thereafter is slim. Dust doesn't do much to non-mechanized components - sure - it does create an insulating layer to some extent which "could" aid in the thermal fatigue of some components; but seriously, sweating this shit is borderline OCD.

V.

[CyberFerret]

FWIW - the other day I had to fire up an IBM ThinkPad that was 16 years old, and had been in storage for about 10 years. A client from way back then asked for a copy of some work I had done for them in 1998 !!

It worked beautifully!

I've worked in the IT field for over 20 years now, and in that time I've seen PC's that have completed FUDed themselves after only a few weeks, to PC based servers that had been running for nearly 3 years continuously without a reboot or a hiccup. No kidding, I once walked in to inspect a 80286 based Novell server that had a continuous uptime of 951 days!

It's like anything else - there is no guarantee that anything will last a determinate amount of time. However, taking care of your equipment will usually translate to a longer lifespan. Doesn't mean you have to baby your gear - just treat it with respect and due dilligence.

In the case of the Axe-FX, if you routinely use power conditioners, and minimise the number of start/stop cycles and generally don't bang the box around when transporting it, it should last a while.

[Jack Napalm]

I just fired up my Digitech GSP21 Legend. It was made back in the 20th Century. Still sounds like it did back then.

[count_chocolat]

My day gig is industrial automation. If I use my field experience of using high quality electronics in extreme conditions and apply it to the axe...then I figure if it does not die on you within the first month, your probably good for 15 to 20 years.

[toolfanem]

This would likely fall under the "exercise in futility" category. It would be utterly pointless, and I think even concerning oneself with such an exercise may indicate one's distorted paradigms of reality.

The Axe-II will be obsolete through evolved iterations of itself and competing technology. If it hasn't failed in the first 50 hours of normal use, the likelihood of it failing prematurely thereafter is slim. Dust doesn't do much to non-mechanized components - sure - it does create an insulating layer to some extent which "could" aid in the thermal fatigue of some components; but seriously, sweating this shit is borderline OCD.

V.

I wouldnt call caring about your equipment OCD. It seems like a very valid question to ask.

[Lkdog]

I would not venture a guess as to the long term stability of the units.
Have not been in the wild that long. These things are modular to an extent.
The motherboard has smaller parts that even if quality parts can go out. They are not expensive, but require tech service time.
The CPU's are unlikely to ever fail unless abused by heat for extended periods. They are the most expensive parts.
The motherboard itself could go bad- it is a computer. It happens.

The power supplies seem to be the weak link. They are cheap to replace.

We will all find out over the next few years how they hold up.

[erockomania]

it's not running on Windows so it'll certainly last more than a year... lol..

Ha!!

[Axe5288]

Answer 315,360,000 seconds..........................What is the 1/2 life of the Axe FX 2