Putting the rectifiers back into circuit allowed the amp to power up with the regulators staying cool. Unfortunate for some of the surviving output transistors, the amp made them fail by over-volting them. I was able to monitor the state of things, and watched the rail voltage climb from an initial +-110v all the way up to +-135v after about 10 seconds of power; at which point the amp clicked off only to reveil the outputs could not take the voltage. They didnt even get hot; they just died. There is something wrong with the way this amp is trying to regulate the rail voltage for sure.
i had a couple transiistors on mine burn out,,im not sure if it was before or after i removed it from my car, since it was working when it was installed. i wasnt sure if maybe the power wires may have touched since i left them on. thought that maybe the caps in it were still live or something. my question is, where can i purchase replacement transistors?
thanks
thanks
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Send it to US Amps I say....They built it, let them absorb the huge repair costs involved with this size of amp....
You can buy a class D amp that does the same power at twice the efficiency and its about 35% of the size of this surf board, and it will likely cost you the same for the D amp as for the repair of one of these amps...And the D amp will likely have a no questions asked warranty which is good for the folks that need this sort of power level in a car.
You can buy a class D amp that does the same power at twice the efficiency and its about 35% of the size of this surf board, and it will likely cost you the same for the D amp as for the repair of one of these amps...And the D amp will likely have a no questions asked warranty which is good for the folks that need this sort of power level in a car.
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Just look at the groove behind all the transsitors. Thats like 30% of the heat transfer surface lost in favor of a crappy slot for screws. its like a double edged sword. Why also would the transistors be mounted so closely to the PCB? Oh I know - so that you CANT REMOVE them without damaging the board.
I also heard it was somewhat common practice for USAmps to disable the protection on these amps - from the factory. I guess they really wanted their last-of stock to go down in flames.
These amps are dangerous.
I also heard it was somewhat common practice for USAmps to disable the protection on these amps - from the factory. I guess they really wanted their last-of stock to go down in flames.
These amps are dangerous.
Tim,
Yes, the design and application is simple, its just all the nuances in the construct of the design which had me swearing. The way the components are inserted, twisted, and soldered makes removing them very tough. The board is probably strong, but the vias cannot handle much for component removal. The components mounted so close to the pcb makes them disapate de-soldering heat a rather tough affair. The outputs are not cheap in price either.
Do you want to buy the one I was working on? I'll sell it to you as parts for cheap, but Im telling you almost all the transistors need replacing at the very least. Please help me get this pile outa my repair stack.
Yes, the design and application is simple, its just all the nuances in the construct of the design which had me swearing. The way the components are inserted, twisted, and soldered makes removing them very tough. The board is probably strong, but the vias cannot handle much for component removal. The components mounted so close to the pcb makes them disapate de-soldering heat a rather tough affair. The outputs are not cheap in price either.
Do you want to buy the one I was working on? I'll sell it to you as parts for cheap, but Im telling you almost all the transistors need replacing at the very least. Please help me get this pile outa my repair stack.
well i can tell you this,,,it worked awesome when it was in my car,,which was like 3 days ago. so unless this happened while it was not hooked up,,,i have no idea what the deal is with it. either way, i cant complain because i paid $50 for it. guess i will have to hook it back up to see if its shot or not. is it possible this could have happened while the amp is not hooked to a power supply by the positive leads grounding out on the neg leads?
solved the mystery
yeah its toast
it never even crossed my mind that the amp could short out even if its not connected to a power source. i had left the wires still attached to it but not connected to the batt and they must have touched each other and fried a couple transistors. when i hooked it back up it instantly started to smoke them again...what a kick in the face...
yeah its toast
it never even crossed my mind that the amp could short out even if its not connected to a power source. i had left the wires still attached to it but not connected to the batt and they must have touched each other and fried a couple transistors. when i hooked it back up it instantly started to smoke them again...what a kick in the face...Dr Zeus,
i forgot to mention: thanks for taking the time to write about your experience with this amp. it was very useful
i was contimplating trying to track down replacement transistors since i only have two that are burnt out and the rest of them tested ok on my multimeter.
im still undecided if i will attempt a repair on this or not
i forgot to mention: thanks for taking the time to write about your experience with this amp. it was very useful
i was contimplating trying to track down replacement transistors since i only have two that are burnt out and the rest of them tested ok on my multimeter.
im still undecided if i will attempt a repair on this or not
The 2000X is a very specialised amplifier for competition use only that can drive loads down to a fraction of an Ohm. It is not designed to be for normal daily driver use. Hence it might not meet your expectations when compared to something not designed for such a purpose.
Standard US Amps amplifers do not come with the protection disabled.
2000x back from the dead
just to let it be known,,,i finally got around to bench testing my 2000x after changing out a few transistors and resistors, and what do you know,,,it works.
i had a question though,,shouldnt there be some kind of diode on the power and ground lead coming into the amp? seems that if i were to accidentally ground out one of the hot leads to the ground lead or terminals i mean,,it will discharge the caps. this is what my conclusion came to for what orginally fried the thing. i think since i left the power wires still attached to it when i removed it from my car, i think they grounded out toasted a few things.
and yes im referring to the amplifier leads not connected to a power source, just connected to the amp
just to let it be known,,,i finally got around to bench testing my 2000x after changing out a few transistors and resistors, and what do you know,,,it works.
i had a question though,,shouldnt there be some kind of diode on the power and ground lead coming into the amp? seems that if i were to accidentally ground out one of the hot leads to the ground lead or terminals i mean,,it will discharge the caps. this is what my conclusion came to for what orginally fried the thing. i think since i left the power wires still attached to it when i removed it from my car, i think they grounded out toasted a few things.
and yes im referring to the amplifier leads not connected to a power source, just connected to the amp
well i guess no one is paying attention to this thread anymore
but i will try anyways, my us 2000 is still working, but it overheats fairly easy and goes into protection. any ideas what may be the cause of this? i used the other transistors that were mentioned in this thread since i could not find the exact match for the originals. only other thing i replaced was one of the resistors, i beleive i posted a picture here too of the one that was blown. the amp never had a problem overheating before any of this.
thanks
but i will try anyways, my us 2000 is still working, but it overheats fairly easy and goes into protection. any ideas what may be the cause of this? i used the other transistors that were mentioned in this thread since i could not find the exact match for the originals. only other thing i replaced was one of the resistors, i beleive i posted a picture here too of the one that was blown. the amp never had a problem overheating before any of this.
thanks
i need some help identifying a mosfet or transistor. ive typed in the numbers on google but cant seem to find any helpful results. they are on a old xtant amp im trying to repair. any info will be appreciated.
IRF Z44 / I R 722c / 14 93
IRF Z44 / I R 722c / 14 93
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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