I think it's fried....

brownbob06 · Post by **brownbob06** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:35 pm

The amp: Cerwin-Vega XL300.1
The Sub: Alpine Type S Dual 4 ohm 12"

Ok, so I'm riding down the road on Sunday and I smell something burning...then my amp shuts off...When I get home I keep my car running and look at the amp in the back, it is HOT on the edges, but not the center, and a little bit of smoke is coming out... And it's in protect. I turn it off, and come back a lil later after it is cooled off, and start the car again, amp kicks on, sub kicks on, all is great.
This morning, on my way to work, music turned up I smell something bad, so I turn off my CD player to stop pushing the amp...Smoke starts rolling out of my back seat...I pull over, pop the trunk, check the amp, it's in protect, and it's blowing out LOTS of smoke, but still, the center's not hoth, the sides are. I take the power wire out to stop running power through it. Later on in the day I come out, power on the amp, it's out of protect, but not giving any power to the speaker wires...

I don't know how I fried it, the amp is 2 ohm stable, it's mono, but has 2 channels (one for each Voice Coil) It says in the manual, no load lower than 4 ohms per channel, I have each voice coil hooked up to on channel, each voice coil=4 ohms, so I'm wired up correctly.

The only change I made Saturday to the wiring and amp was that I upgraded from 8 ga. to 4 ga. wiring (some was in a car my dad bought so I got it free) and I pulled all the wires through the firewall to hide them instead of through the fender and into the door jam. I also wired up a small Jensen amp to my 6x9's in the back.

If you have any idea what went wrong, please let me know...I am going to try to take the amp somewhere to have it repaired this weekend...thanks in advance guys...

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:47 pm

you may have your gains set too high, and the bass cranked.. also it sounds like the mosfets fried, which would explain why the sides were hot, because they are on a rail on the sides of the amp..

brownbob06 · Post by **brownbob06** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:56 pm

Is that fixable? Also, I think you're right, I was trying to get WAY too much out of that amp, the gain was up almost maxx (stupid, I know, I should never run above 75% gain) and the stupid switch was on +12Db...I usually run it on 0...dunno why it was on +12...

but anyways, if it was the MOSFETS, is that fixable? if so, is it expensive? thanks.

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:59 pm

it is fixable.. there are a few companies out there that do fix fried amps and such, and price usually varies depending on the problem.. take the amp out of your car, and open the case, and take a couple pics for us.. see if you can find anything blown..

off hand i would recommend this guy for amp repair:

http://www.db-r.com/

if you find anything blown, send him the pics and see what he thinks and ask him if he could give you an estimate on how much it will be, if anything, get a new/better amp..

cargodz · Post by **cargodz** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:48 pm

brownbob06 wrote:I was trying to get WAY too much out of that amp, the gain was up almost maxx (stupid, I know, I should never run above 75% gain) and the stupid switch was on +12Db...I usually run it on 0...dunno why it was on +12...

Actually, you should NOT have the gains set any higher than where they NEED to be... You may be under the false impression that the gain control is a volume knob for your amp... It's not... Read the "How to" for installing amps in the FAQ threads to see what I mean

And I am sorry to hear that you fried such a nice lil amp.

brownbob06 · Post by **brownbob06** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:26 am

yea, o well, I'm still in my learning process, and yes, I did think that's what it was because on one of my guitar amps that's what it did, haha.

The fact is, I should know this, tsk tsk.

Kriszilla · Post by **Kriszilla** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:45 am

From what you described, I have to agree with Scarrell. It definitely sounds like you blew the MOSFET's in your output stage. Once you get it repaired, make sure you set the gains properly. :happy055:

Kriszilla · Post by **Kriszilla** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:46 am

deleted: duplicate

brownbob06 · Post by **brownbob06** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:08 pm

Here are the pics!
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f26/S ... iedAmp.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f26/S ... pclose.jpg

breakjunki · Post by **breakjunki** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:17 pm

yup, fried pretty well sums up what u did to it!. blown mosfets.. I'm not the most skilled person when it comes to amp repair, but it looks like you may have damaged the board beyond repair. send those pics to the amp guy he recommended, I've seen his name on a few forums. plus whats cool he'll do free estimates. well someone on here will know from the pics, the extent. good luck