Fix a car amplifier?

 

Silver Member
Username: Riskyb

Post Number: 526
Registered: Feb-06
How hard is it to do this? I have a perfectly good hifonics sitting around that won't power up. I don't even get a 'protect' light. I opened it up and nothing looked charred or burnt. The fuse looks fine. Any ideas?
 

Silver Member
Username: Skies

Courtenay, British Colu... Canada

Post Number: 448
Registered: Aug-05
Bust out the DMM?

Check for continuity on power/ground. Something just may have come loose and broke the circuit.

Possible the power supply could've been toast too.

How about a story on how it went? anything intesting?
 

Silver Member
Username: Riskyb

Post Number: 527
Registered: Feb-06
lol not really. My friend had a 1,000 watt hifonics and two of the wires touched to together and now it won't power up or it wouldn't power up when we tried it a year ago lol. It's been sitting in his garage ever since. I asked him about it today and he said I could just have it. Oh and he also gave me his sheisty blown volfenhag 15'' today too haha. I was trying to break the magnet off of it to just play around but I couldn't get it. I took a blowtorch to it but the magnet cracked because of the heat lol.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nd4spd18

Southeast PA

Post Number: 1150
Registered: Jul-06
They're not easy to fix unless you have an extensive knowledge of electronics.
 

Silver Member
Username: Riskyb

Post Number: 529
Registered: Feb-06
I got it to power up. It won't output anything though : (....

Any ideas?
 

Silver Member
Username: Renegadesrun

Lafayette, IN US

Post Number: 664
Registered: Oct-04
Boat anchor?
Door Stop?
Wheel Chock?
Paper Weight?

Send it to T.I.P.S.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Chaunb3400

Huntsville, Alabama U.S.

Post Number: 11982
Registered: Jul-05
paper weight-ftw
 

Platinum Member
Username: Glasswolf

Wisteria, Lane USA

Post Number: 11747
Registered: Dec-03
go to www.bcae1.com and buy his amplifier repair tutorial CDROM.
it teaches you all you need to know to repair amps, and tells you what tools you'll need.
 

New member
Username: Christogq

Post Number: 7
Registered: Mar-07
Just take it to a flea market and let them repair it. $60-70 bucks well spent.
 

Gold Member
Username: Illuminator

USA

Post Number: 4868
Registered: Apr-05
That's interesting that it powers up, it sounded like it was strictly a PSU problem, but apparently the damage is more extensive (and certainly the PSU could still be at fault)...speaking of which, how DID you get it to power on? It would be best to test out the mosfets etc. with a DMM on diode check...instructions for such are on www.bcae1.com, but as Glasswolf has mentioned, you should just get the amp tutorial on CDROM. It's awesome knowledge.
 

Silver Member
Username: Riskyb

Post Number: 534
Registered: Feb-06
It powered on when it got good and ready lol. After not even powering on it sat in a garage for a year. I hooked it up a few days ago and it magically powered up but didn't output anything. Maybe the part that the RCA wires are plugged into is messed up?

I would love to get that bcae1 thing but i don't want to spend the money and from the looks of it i would also need to buy a Digital Multimeter and an Oscilloscope.
 

Silver Member
Username: Riskyb

Post Number: 535
Registered: Feb-06
I have learned quite a bit of electronics from my physics class. How hard is it to fix an amp? Is it simple once you know the procedure or do you need to be a senior in electrical engineering? lol
 

Silver Member
Username: Jaguar600

Post Number: 135
Registered: Jul-05
I am in the process right now of trying to repair my amp. I think I have found a transistor that is shorting? If the ohmmeter is reading an abnormal reading does that mean its shorted?
 

Gold Member
Username: Illuminator

USA

Post Number: 4894
Registered: Apr-05

quote:

I have learned quite a bit of electronics from my physics class. How hard is it to fix an amp? Is it simple once you know the procedure or do you need to be a senior in electrical engineering? lol




Not too bad, actually. You'll need a DMM and good soldering iron/soldering skills, and a scope would be a good idea in the long term. It's mostly just experience (know what parts are probably bad) and what parts you need to test and how to test them. Parts are relatively cheap and most can be purchased from digikey.com or mouser.com. Knowing how to read a schematic is helpful as well.


quote:

I am in the process right now of trying to repair my amp. I think I have found a transistor that is shorting? If the ohmmeter is reading an abnormal reading does that mean its shorted?




If one transistor is bad, then it's likely all of the transistors in the row are bad, unfortunately. A better place to ask a technical question like that would be here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=38
:-)
 

Platinum Member
Username: Glasswolf

Wisteria, Lane USA

Post Number: 11758
Registered: Dec-03
soldering station
oscilloscope
dummy load
adjustable switching power supply
DMM
spare parts
amp schematic
misc hand tools
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