Smoke rolled out of Kicker ZR240 amp

[chipper]

Okay this what happened my buddy and I were clearing out his shed and he found a few old amps so we decided to try out the kicker zr amp and I connected it to my car it turned on nice the red power LED turned on and five minutes idling I didn't connect it to my stereo yet and I looked back and saw smoke coming out and freaked out on what I saw. Does anyone know what may have cause the amp to blow up for no reason? I know there are quite a few knowledgeable folks on here. Oh yeah my voltage to my cars charging system was at 12.6v with out the car running. I even checked all wiring and polarity it was all wired up correctly.

[ampjunkielikeme]

sometimes old amps will do that. sounds like the power supply may have gave out on you..

[jol50]

I opened up an old amp once and a bunch of dead bugs fell out, like 20 of them. Other stuff can get into an amp, moisture can kill them, or maybe some caps blew from age. Of course they are repairable.

[Perry Babin]

Have you pulled the cover to see if you could find what smoked?

[chipper]

Originally Posted by Perry Babin

Have you pulled the cover to see if you could find what smoked?

Yeah the supply mosfets blew open. It looks pretty bad too. And yes I did find a bunch of spider webs inside and dust. As there was no module for it either.

[Perry Babin]

The soot will clean up easily with acetone and a cotton swab.

You can jump the terminals for the module if you want to use it without a module.

[chipper]

Originally Posted by Perry Babin

The soot will clean up easily with acetone and a cotton swab.

You can jump the terminals for the module if you want to use it without a module.

Yes that's what I used to clean it with my buddy of mine said to keep the amp since it's no good. Seems pretty "hefty". What's a good sub for the power MOSFET? Maybe I can get it to work?

[hardwareguy]

Power MOSFETS are fairly easy to substitute in car amps....you need a breakdown voltage of at least 35V (to handle the peaks from the transformer), the lowest Rd-s ON you can find and the proper current rating. Of course it also needs to be the proper package and type. (most are N channel)

The switching frequency is not high enough to worry too much about speed these days. Just about any modern switching MOSFET will work in that regard.

[chipper]

Originally Posted by hardwareguy

Power MOSFETS are fairly easy to substitute in car amps....you need a breakdown voltage of at least 35V (to handle the peaks from the transformer), the lowest Rd-s ON you can find and the proper current rating. Of course it also needs to be the proper package and type. (most are N channel)

The switching frequency is not high enough to worry too much about speed these days. Just about any modern switching MOSFET will work in that regard.

J

Okay the original had a rating of 50v and 75amps and yes this a N channel MOSFET but which is another good equvilant for this amp? Also it's a TO-247 pakage type.

[hardwareguy]

Ixys IXTH240N055T (55V, *240A*, Rds 0.0036 Ohms)
ST STW160N75F3 (75V 120A Rds 0.004 ohms)
Both are likely to be significant upgrades. The lower Rds on resistance will allow for cooler operation.

Fairchild makes quite a few as well.