Clock Setup error solution

Since Kemper will not give any statement as to the "why" this has happened to so many.... I will give you my experience and fix

I bought my profiler stage in December from UK dealer. Didn't use it much until February or so. Updated firmware and all was fine until about May. A firmware update in May seemed to start the dreaded clock setup error. Maybe this was a coincidence but all of the problems seen on the forum seemed to point to the same date which I find weird.

Kept updating firmware when it came out and no fix.

My problem was the same as many: turn power to the unit, clock setup error. Leave it plugged in for some length of time and still would show clock error at next boot. Unplug the power cable and the Kemper would always boot no matter what power state I left it in.

I did file a warranty claim, but did not have the original box anymore and it just seemed something so small that it seemed ridiculous to send it back to Germany just to probably have the CMOS battery replaced,

I used to design amps for Crate and Ampeg and loudspeakers for Dolby. I am a mechanical engineer, but I've done a lot of circuit design and programming. I don't get scared easily by taking things apart. So today I decided to just see what was inside and see where the battery was. Opened the unit up, replaced the CR2032 battery. Powered on. set the clock. Powered it back down. Unplugged unit power. Plugged it back in. Unit was powered off still. Pressed power button. Unit booted and was fine. No clock error. Did this MANY times. Working as expected.

So apparently, Kemper got a bad batch of CR2032 batteries. And all seemed to fail at around the same time or one of the firmware updates exposed a bad battery situation. Why there is nothing in the firmware warning of a low battery or similar is beyond me. And why Kemper haven't owned up to the issue or said anything but "send it back" is also a bit beyond me. But basically the $1500 unit "failed" because of a $2 battery.

Your mileage may vary. I don't recommend doing this unless you know what you are doing. And even then, it will probably void your warranty. But to me, knowing what the real problem was was quite important and I'd rather spend 10 minutes changing a battery than packing it all up and shipping it back and waiting with no explanation of the fix. That way I know what to do next time.

But it did resolve my issue. I will update if anything changes but I would say it is fixed

Quote from G String

no. as it turns out, that's the wrong conclusion.

if you face the battery error issue, please contact support and we'll take care of the repair.

and yes, opening up the unit voids the warranty.

Please explain, then, why replacing the CR2032 solves the problem? You guys have been absolutely horrible about telling people what is going on with this issue!

Quote from Ibot39

When Kemper says it's not the batteries fault and the unit needs "repair" the conclusion maybe is, the unit is draining the battery?! Why don't they just tell us, what is broken? But it seems that is Kemper strategy also with other faults.

I would be much better if they would just say what the problem is. Very disappointed. Personally, I am OK with swapping the battery every few months as it is literally under a 10 minute job. But for that matter, having a battery inside that will ultimately fail after some time and having changing it void the warranty is kind of ridiculous... So if you had a 5 or 6 year old unit and the battery fails you are supposed to send it back for them to replace? Just disappointed in their handling of this...

Quote from G String

It's not about hiding what's broke guys and it's not about being horrible to you.

we have loads of different users, some are great with tech, others, well, not so much. This forum ends up in the google cache and when people look for a solution to the this issue we want to make sure that the solution solves their problem entirely. in plain english: a person like Jemmicat can fix this himself, I guess he knows what he's doing but his tips above are too advanced for the average Profiler user.

if you have a battery which is not (already) too weak and you also install the very latest update (8.5.8 or higher) you probably will be able to solve the issue instantly. though that means that you need to open the housing and that's a warranty issue - you'll loose the warranty because there are no "user serviceable parts" in your Profiler. for this reason alone we cannot simply advice to service the Profiler yourself.

this entire issue is caused by a couple of things, that's why not every user is seeing it in the first place. The good news is that there are not a lot of people who face the problem in the first place.

so: if you have this issue and you're not sure what to do: please contact support.

Display More

Herself... "She" can fix it herself... please don't assume all guitar players or kemper users are male

Also, having a battery inside that WILL need replacing constitutes a "User serviceable part" - especially since it is in a battery holder. If it were soldered to the board, that would consitute non user serviceable part. Believe you should check your definition of that term.

Quote from GuitarSlinger70

I agree with @G String and Jemmicat + other members here. Look, there are solid reasons for all these statements. Some of us are techies and don't mind tinkering, some are not comfortable with taking things apart. All is ok. Kemper has their reasoning and is trying to protect us from ourselves , and us the end users, just want answers and a solid fix. Always best to contact support with any issues first!

But for those who are curious-

My thoughts after doing the battery swap are:

• Well, It solved the Clock Setup error issue for me. But also be sure and update to at least OS 8.5.8 (I feel that the issue was not just the battery, and that they fixed something else within the firmware)

• I am not suggesting or encouraging anyone here, just sharing my experience. Open the unit at your own risk- Once you do this you void your warranty But, If you don't want to wait, and are experienced with electronic repair, or simply changing a PC CMOS battery, it's a similar experience. Use caution and take time and care, all should go well.
• If you are a guitarist who can't even change his/her own strings without a catastrophic event occurring, you probably want to send the unit in for repair.
• DIY- Warranty is void, or send it in +retain the warranty. (I disagree with Kemper's stance here but it is what it is.)

Again, I only performed the battery swap because I was comfortable doing so. If you are not sure, please get in touch with support for help. It's an expensive piece of gear and you don't want anything going wrong.

Display More

If it ever came down to it, having the battery in a battery holder that is meant so that it can be easily replaced would negate their definition of "non user serviceable" in a court of law... They probably need to rethink this whole stance

Also, using standard TORX and Phillips screws as opposed to tamper proof versions would not do well for their claims there...

I used to design medical devices as well and those had to use fasteners that the average person didn't have around or could get their hands on easily.

Quote from GuitarSlinger70

Yeah, it's things like this that drive us all nuts. I'm happy you posted your resolution and that you did the work, and solved the issue. It helped me decide to do the same and see what happened with my unit. To me, it's like owning a car that starts behaving oddly or making a noise. What's the first thing we do? Open the hood to look around! LOL Sometimes it's an obvious issue we can fix at home, sometimes it needs to go to the dealer. Everyone will have their thoughts around this whole debacle, but at the end of the day, if it's fixed and we know that it's one of two possible causes or both in conjunction, a lot of people will be happier Kemper users. We can get back to making music with the thing, instead of getting annoyed every time we power it up!

Yeah... I am glad I did it. Basically they confirmed my exact diagnosis... battery failure and firmware that exacerbated the issue... At least they FINALLY said what the problem is... but it took my posting for them to do it